A Municipality in Portugal Strengthens Ransomware Protection with Immutable Backups from NAKIVO

NAKIVO helps the Municipality of Cantanhede, Portugal, implement fast, intuitive VM backup with immutable storage, supporting critical services across six sites.

Business Challenge

The Municipality of Cantanhede is committed to being recognized as one of Portugal’s municipalities with the highest quality of life indicators. Their mission is centered around the sustainable development of the local socio-economic fabric through efficient governance, modernized resource management, and the provision of high-quality public services. The municipality also promotes active civic engagement and the professional development of its workforce.

The Municipality of Cantanhede operates across six sites, supported by four physical servers and around 30 virtual machines. These VMs store and run essential services such as file servers, databases, and email systems, handling years of municipal data and thousands of processes vital to community operations.

As data volumes grew, so did the risk of data loss. Reliable backup, replication, and recovery became critical to avoid disruptions, regulatory compliance issues, and potential service paralysis. The municipality had previously used other VM backup solutions, but found them lacking in reliability and versatility. Database recoveries were particularly difficult, and there was an increasing need for immutability to defend against ransomware threats.

Solution

The municipality selected NAKIVO Backup & Replication for the product’s ease of use, competitive pricing, and comprehensive features. The installation process was intuitive, and the web interface made system configuration and day-to-day management accessible, even for non-specialized staff. The solution is currently installed on a QNAP NAS, with plans to expand deployment across other environments.

Backup performance has proven to be efficient, while full backups take time due to the data volume, incremental backups are handled smoothly across different types of network connections. One of the most valued features is immutability, which protects backup data from modification or deletion, providing critical defense against ransomware attacks.

Additionally, the municipality benefits from instant granular recovery, which enables fast retrieval of individual files and emails, essential for day-to-day municipal operations. These capabilities, combined with NAKIVO’s well-organized and intuitive platform, have elevated the backup strategy of the organization to a new level.

"NAKIVO Backup & Replication is a very reliable tool to make backups of VMs, with very interesting features. The software is well-organized, intuitive, and has allowed us to simplify and improve our entire backup routine," said Carlos Galhano, IT Operations Manager at the Municipality of Cantanhede. NAKIVO also allows the municipality to easily perform backups to the cloud, offering further flexibility and long-term resilience.

Results

With NAKIVO Backup & Replication, the Municipality of Cantanhede has significantly improved the efficiency and reliability of its data protection strategy. Backup administration tasks are now faster and easier, allowing the IT team to focus on other critical responsibilities and eliminating the need for outsourced support.

Thanks to NAKIVO’s cost-effective licensing model, the municipality has also saved money on software costs, while benefiting from enterprise-grade functionality. Immutable backups have strengthened their cybersecurity posture, ensuring data remains protected against ransomware and unauthorized changes.

The use of instant granular recovery has made retrieving specific files and email items quick and seamless, greatly improving operational responsiveness. These daily efficiencies have enhanced the municipality’s ability to serve the public and manage digital services reliably.

Support from Sysconnect in Portugal was instrumental in ensuring a smooth acquisition and deployment process, making them a valuable local partner for implementation.

About the Municipality of Cantanhede

Located in central Portugal, the Municipality of Cantanhede serves its population through six local sites and a wide array of digital public services. With a mission rooted in sustainable development, community engagement, and service excellence, the municipality continues to invest in IT modernization to support the growing demands of its citizens. For more information, visit https://www.cm-cantanhede.pt