Acronis® Backup & Recovery ™ Online Advanced User's Guide
Table of contents 1 Introduction to Acronis Backup & Recovery Online .................................................................4 1.1 What is Acronis Backup & Recovery Online?.............................................................................4 1.2 What data can I back up and recover? ......................................................................................4 1.3 How long will my backups be kept in the online storage? ........................................................
2 Where do I start? ................................................................................................................. 16 3 Choosing a subscription ....................................................................................................... 16 4 Software installation ............................................................................................................ 17 4.1 What software do I need to install? ............................................................
This document explains how to do online backups using the Acronis Backup & Recovery Online service and advanced editions of Acronis Backup & Recovery 10. The advanced editions enable you to manage backups of multiple machines using a single server called Management Server. This server provides a single entry point to the backup infrastructure, as well as the monitoring and reporting functionality. Setting up a backup of each individual server or workstation is also possible.
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.
the machine is not hosted on a virtualization server you want to use pre/post backup or pre/post data capture commands on the machine the virtualization product installed on the host server is not VMware ESX(i) or Windows Server 2008 with Hyper-V or Microsoft Hyper-V Server you want to perform file-level backup and recovery you want to back up an independent disk or an RDM disk attached in the physical compatibility mode on a running ESX(i) machine.
You can change the number of attempts and the interval between the attempts in the Error handling > Re-attempt, if an error occurs option. Every backup plan or recovery task includes this option. 1.6.5 What happens if I run out of space? When a machine's backups are about to exceed the storage space allowed by its subscription, you receive an e-mail notification with an alert. In addition, you can see this alert on the account management web page near the machine.
1.7.2 Why would I want to use Initial Seeding? This service helps you save time and network traffic during the initial full backup. It is useful when backing up very large volumes of data or entire machines to the online storage. 1.7.3 Is Initial Seeding a paid service? Yes, you need to buy one Initial Seeding license per machine. 1.7.4 What types of hard drive can I use for Initial Seeding? Acronis accepts hard disk drives of the following interface types: IDE, ATA, SATA, USB connected drives.
2. Attach the media to the machine you are going to back up. Alternatively, you can back up to a local or network folder and then copy/move the backup to the media. 3. Start Acronis Backup & Recovery 10, click Back up and create a backup plan on this machine: 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. In Where to back up, specify Online Backup Storage. In Backup scheme, select Back up now, Back up later for manual backups or Simple for scheduled backups.
Step 1 Delicately remove your hard disk drive from the machine. Step 2 Place the hard drive into an anti-static bag to protect the drive from electrostatic discharge. If you do not have an anti-static bag, simply wrap the hard drive into aluminum foil. Step 3 Use a sturdy box that is at least twice the size of the drive. Pack the drive with a bubble wrap around all 6 sides so it can fit tight into the box and cannot be moved within.
Step 4 Choose the transport company that you will use for shipping. On this company's web site, prepare and print two prepaid shipping labels: 1. Shipping label for sending your hard drive. This label is placed on the top of the box. You should send your package to one of the Acronis data centers. The data center address can be obtained on the Initial seeding/Recovery tab of your account management page by clicking Show data center address.
An order was created – The first backup is about to start and the license cannot be used for any other machine. From this point on, you can cancel the order if something goes wrong. This will return the license to the pool of available licenses. A full backup has started – This status is set when the first backup starts. The order start time occurs at this moment. A full backup has been successfully completed – The backup has been completed and the order is ready to ship.
Once you order Large Scale Recovery for a particular machine, Acronis sends you a USB hard disk drive with all of the backups made from this machine. You can recover data directly from the disk or copy the backups to a local or network folder. 1.8.2 Why would I use Large Scale Recovery? In the event of a disaster or the need to recover large volumes of data or the entire machines quickly, this service helps you save time and network traffic.
An order was created – This status is set upon completion of the Large Scale Recovery order form. This means that the license cannot be used for any other machine. From this point on, you can cancel the order if something goes wrong. This will return the license to the pool of available licenses. The order is being processed - Order processing in the datacenter started. Writing data has been completed – Your backups have been successfully written to the media.
account management Web page. Click Enter new registration code and enter the registration codes. The subscriptions will appear in the list of available subscriptions under the Manage Subscriptions tab. If you purchased your subscriptions online using the Acronis Web site, they are available immediately on your account management Web page. The newly obtained subscriptions are listed at the Manage Subscriptions tab. 1.9.
1.9.5.3 What does "Auto-renew" mean? Auto-renewal means that when the current subscription expires, the next subscription will be automatically selected from the available subscriptions. The next subscription must be identical to the current subscription. If an identical subscription is not found, auto-renewal will not take place and your backups may fail. No subscriptions will be bought automatically. Only those subscriptions available at the time of auto-renewal can be used.
Windows Server 2008 - the Standard, Enterprise, Small Business Server, Foundation editions (x86, x64) Windows Server 2008 R2 - the Standard, Enterprise, Small Business Server, Datacenter, Foundation editions Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 Workstation operating systems supported by Acronis Backup & Recovery Online: Windows 2000 Professional SP4 Windows XP Professional SP2+ (x86, x64) Windows Vista - all editions except for Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium (x86, x64) Windows 7 - a
4.1 What software do I need to install? Download and install Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 Update 3 or later. A license key is not required if you are going to back up to the online storage only. You have a choice between Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 stand-alone and advanced editions. With the stand-alone product edition, you can set up and monitor a backup locally on each machine you want to back up. The advanced product edition enables remote and centralized management.
Windows Vista - all editions except for Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium (x86, x64) Windows Server 2008 R2 - the Standard, Enterprise, Small Business Server, Datacenter, Foundation editions Windows MultiPoint Server 2010 Windows 7 - all editions except for the Starter and Home editions (x86, x64) Windows Server 2008 - the Standard, Enterprise, Small Business Server, Foundation editions (x86, x64) 4.3.
1. Go to the Add Products section. 2. Download the setup program of Acronis Backup & Recovery 10, by clicking Download edition with centralized/remote management capability. Installing the management server and management console Perform these steps on any Windows machine that has a network connection to the machines that you will back up. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. Start the setup program. Click Install Acronis Backup & Recovery 10. Click Next. Accept the terms of the license agreement.
6. If you have installed the console or the management server on the current machine, click Modify and select Agent for Windows in addition to the already selected Management Server and Management Console. If none of the components are installed, select Agent for Windows. 7. Use the default value for Install to. 8. When prompted about credentials for the agent's service, leave the default choice Create a new account. Details. This account is needed to run the agent's service. 9.
3. If prompted for credentials, specify the user name and password. The user has to be a member of the Acronis Remote Users and the Acronis Centralized Admins groups on the server. The step-by-step instructions provided later in this document focus on managing the machine through the management server. The management console is referred to as the console later in this document.
7.1 Activating subscriptions To begin with, make sure that the machines whose subscriptions you want to activate are registered on the management server and available (turned on). To activate subscriptions 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Connect the console to the management server. In the Actions pane, click Activate online backup subscriptions. Specify the credentials to log in to the online storage. Select the machine and then click Select subscription.
Depending on your settings, this backup will be either full or incremental. But its size is not likely to be less than a full backup size. Therefore, it is not practical to reassign a subscription to a machine whose first backup was done as an initial seeding. You will need to either redo the initial seeding (which requires a new license) or to transfer the sizeable backup over the Internet. All earlier created backups remain intact. You can delete them manually if necessary.
5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. In Type, select Unmanaged. In Path, click Change. In the list of backup locations, click Online backup storage. Click Log in and then specify the credentials to log in to the online storage. Click OK to close the window. Click OK to create the vault. 9 Accessing backups stored in the online vault To access the backups stored in the online vault 1. Connect the console to the management server or a managed machine. 2.
4. Under What to back up, in Source type, select Files. In Items to back up, click Change and then select one or more files and folders. 5. Under Where to back up, in Archive, click Change. 6. In the folders tree, expand Centralized and select the centralized online vault. If prompted, specify the credentials for the online storage. 7. Click OK to close the dialog box. 8. Under How to back up, in Backup scheme, select Simple. Details.
Subsequent backups, which are incremental and thus are usually much smaller, will be transferred over the Internet. You can run incremental backups manually or on a schedule, after the full backup has been uploaded to the online storage. You need a separate license, called an Initial Seeding license, for each machine that you want to back up under this scheme. Each Initial Seeding license allows you to upload backups from a single machine to the online storage. 10.3.
10.3.4 Creating subsequent backups After the full backup has been uploaded to the online storage, modify the backup plan to set up subsequent incremental backups of the same items. You may want to run the backups manually or on a schedule. To schedule regular incremental backups 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Connect the console to the management server. In the Navigation tree, expand Physical machines and then click All physical machines.
12.1 Recovering data online These steps show how to recover files from a backup stored in the online storage to a folder you specify. Using a similar procedure, you can recover an entire volume from a disk or a volume backup. To recover files from the online storage 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Connect the console to the management server. In the welcome screen, click Recover. In the list of machines, double-click the machine where you want to recover files.
Note: The following steps assume that the system is bootable and that the agent is operational on the machine. In case the system is corrupted, you must use a bootable media. To recover the system, boot the machine using this media and perform similar steps. 1. Attach the hard drive you received to the machine that you want to recover. Or, you can copy this hard drive's contents to a network share accessible from this machine. 2. Connect the console to the machine that you want to recover. 3.
Operation with archives (an archive is a set of backups): Exporting an archive These limitations also apply to backing up data using Initial Seeding and to recovering data using Large Scale Recovery. Backup and recovery options Some backup and recovery options are not supported by online backups. For example: Backup splitting Dual destination By using the Backup performance > Network connection speed option, you can vary the transferring speed as kilobytes per second, but not as a percentage.
16 Glossary A Activate a subscription Allow the machine to use the online storage according to the subscription. Subscription period (p. 33) starts counting down when the subscription is activated. Activated subscription A subscription that is currently being used by a machine. Assign a subscription to a machine Reserve a subscription for a particular machine. Subscription period (p. 33) does not start counting down until the subscription is activated.
You can buy Initial Seeding licenses and/or Large Scale Recovery licenses. R Reassign a subscription Assign a subscription that is already activated, to a different machine. Registration code A character string for registering a subscription (p. 33) or license (p. 32) that was bought from an Acronis partner. When you purchase such subscriptions or licenses, you receive a confirmation e-mail containing the registration codes for each of them.
