User`s guide
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recover an operating system that cannot start
access and back up the data that has survived in a corrupted system
deploy an operating system on bare metal
create basic or dynamic volumes on bare metal
back up sector-by-sector a disk with an unsupported file system
back up offline any data that cannot be backed up online because of restricted access, being
permanently locked by the running applications or for any other reason.
A machine can be booted into the above environments either with physical media, or using the
network boot from Acronis PXE Server, Windows Deployment Services (WDS) or Remote Installation
Services (RIS). These servers with uploaded bootable components can be thought of as a kind of
bootable media too. You can create bootable media or configure the PXE server or WDS/RIS using
the same wizard.
Linux-based bootable media
Linux-based media contains Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 Bootable Agent based on Linux kernel.
The agent can boot and perform operations on any PC-compatible hardware, including bare metal
and machines with corrupted or non-supported file systems. The operations can be configured and
controlled either locally or remotely using the management console.
PE-based bootable media
PE-based bootable media contains a minimal Windows system called Windows Preinstallation
Environment (WinPE) and Acronis Plug-in for WinPE, that is, a modification of Acronis Backup &
Recovery 10 Agent that can run in the preinstallation environment.
WinPE proved to be the most convenient bootable solution in large environments with
heterogeneous hardware.
Advantages:
Using Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 in Windows Preinstallation Environment provides more
functionality than using Linux-based bootable media. Having booted PC-compatible hardware
into WinPE, you can use not only Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 Agent, but also PE commands
and scripts and other plug-ins you've added to the PE.
PE-based bootable media helps overcome some Linux-related bootable media issues such as
support for certain RAID controllers or certain levels of RAID arrays only. Media based on PE 2.x,
that is, Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 kernel, allows for dynamic loading of the
necessary device drivers.
6.10.1 How to create bootable media
To enable creating physical media, the machine must have a CD/DVD recording drive or allow a flash
drive to be attached. To enable PXE or WDS/RIS configuration, the machine must have a network
connection. Bootable Media Builder can also create an ISO image of a bootable disk to burn it later
on a blank disk.
Linux-based bootable media
Start the Bootable Media Builder either from the management console, by selecting Tools > Create
Bootable Media or, as a separate component.
Select the way volumes and network resources will be handled—called the media style: