User guide

Backup operation

An operation that creates a copy of the data that exists on a machine's (p. 247) hard disk for the

purpose of recovering or reverting the data to a specified date and time.

Backup options

Configuration parameters of a backup operation (p. 238), such as pre/post backup commands,

maximum network bandwidth allotted for the backup stream or data compression level. Backup

options are a part of a backup plan (p. 239).

Backup plan (Plan)

A set of rules that specify how the given data will be protected on a given machine. A backup plan

specifies:

 what data to back up

 the backup archive (p. 238) name and location

 the backup scheme (p. 239). This includes the backup schedule and [optionally] the retention

rules (p. 248)

 [optionally] additional operations to perform with the backups (replication (p. 248), validation (p.

249), conversion to a virtual machine)

 the backup options (p. 239).

For example, a backup plan can contain the following information:

 back up volume C: (this is the data the plan will protect)

 name the archive MySystemVolume and place it in \\server\backups\ (this is the backup archive

name and location)

 perform a full backup monthly on the last day of the month at 10:00AM and an incremental

backup on Sundays at 10:00PM. Delete backups that are older than 3 months (this is a backup

scheme)

 validate the last backup immediately after its creation (this is a validation rule)

 protect the archive with a password (this is an option).

Physically, a backup plan is a bundle of tasks (p. 249) executed on a managed machine (p. 247).

A backup plan can be created directly on the machine, imported from another machine (local plan)

or propagated to the machine from the management server (centralized plan (p. 240)).

Backup scheme

A part of the backup plan (p. 239) that includes the backup schedule and [optionally] the retention

rules and the cleanup (p. 241) schedule. For example, perform a full backup (p. 245) monthly on the

last day of the month at 10:00AM and an incremental backup (p. 246) on Sundays at 10:00PM.

Delete backups that are older than 3 months. Check for such backups every time the backup

operation is completed.

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 provides the ability to use well-known optimized backup schemes

such as GFS and Tower of Hanoi, to create a custom backup scheme or to back up data once.