User guide

For information about backing up virtual machines see "How to back up virtual machines to the

online storage?" (p. 5)

1.3 How long will my backups be kept in the online

storage?

Your backups remain in the online storage until you delete them or until the subscription expires.

Recovering data from the online storage is possible for 30 days following the subscription expiration

date.

For effective use of the storage space, you have the option to set up the "Delete backups older than"

retention rule.

Example

You might want to use the following backup strategy for a file server.

Back up the critical files twice a day on a schedule. Set the retention rule "Delete backups older

than" 7 days. This means that after every backup the software will check for backups older than 7

days and delete them automatically.

Run backup of the server's system volume manually as required. For example, after the operating

system updates. Manually delete the backups that you do not need.

1.4 How to secure my data?

Backups can be encrypted using the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) cryptographic algorithm

and the password you set. This guarantees that your data is not accessed by anyone else.

1.5 How to back up virtual machines to the online

storage?

Use either of the following methods or both.

Install Acronis software onto the virtualization host

This approach comes in handy when the virtualization product installed on the host server is VMware

ESX(i) or Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V or Microsoft Hyper-V Server.

Host-based backup is available only for paid licenses of VMware ESXi. If your ESXi uses a free license, choose the

alternative approach described later in this section.

In this approach, you install one or more Acronis agents onto the virtualization hosts or dedicated

Windows machines. Each agent can back up multiple virtual machines using a single subscription.

Therefore, you need as many subscriptions as the number of the agents.

You will be able to back up and recover entire virtual machines or individual disks and volumes. In

addition, you can recover individual files and folders to the agent's local file system (in Windows

only), a network share, FTP or SFTP server. You cannot recover files directly to a virtual machine’s file

system.