Acronis Files Connect runs on virtually all variations of Windows 2003, 2008 and 2012, up to 2012 R2. The only known exception is Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials (the Standard edition is supported).

The minimum system requirements are documented in the ReadMe file 

Detailed Acronis Files Connect System Recommendations:

• Server type: Physical or virtual
• Operating System: Windows Server 2012 R2 or 2008 R2 recommended. (Also supported: 2008 R1 and 2003 SP2 or later.)
• CPU: At least two processor cores. Four or more cores may be beneficial for heavy load with hundreds or thousands of users.
• RAM: At least 2GB for production recommended.
• Disk Space - Installation: 1GB required for the installer to run.
• Disk Space - Usage: Sufficient disk space for files stored on the server.
• Disk Speed - Faster drives can improve performance, especially with high numbers of concurrent users. 10K, 15K or SSD drives can be beneficial for improving response times.
• NICs: At least one Gigabit Ethernet card. For best performance when using the network reshare feature, it's beneficial to have a second NIC so that Macs can connect to the server using AFP through one card, while the server uses the other card to retrieve/store data on the target file shares.
• To support Active Directory authentication, the server must be bound to the domain. Alternatively, local Windows accounts can be used.

Acronis Files Connect supports Mac OS X 10.2.3 or later, including OS X Mavericks 10.9.x and OS X Yosemite 10.10.x. There is no special Mac software installation required for Acronis Files Connect – Macs just connect to the Windows server running Acronis Files Connect over their built-in AFP network protocol, the same as they would to another Mac or Xserve. Acronis Files Connect also includes an optional dashboard widget called the Zidget.

It depends. To authenticate Active Directory users, the server must be bound to the domain. If the intent is just to authenticate users with accounts that are local to the Windows server, then there is no need for binding or Active Directory.

No, not necessarily.

No. Acronis Files Connect shares folders out to Mac users over AFP. The same folders can also be SMB shares in Windows, or not otherwise shared.

Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) is a network protocol for providing file access and file services to Mac computers. It's included with all versions of the Mac OS. Fundamentally, Acronis Files Connect is a Windows-based AFP server designed to let Macs connect over AFP.

AppleTalk is an old network protocol that was included until Mac OS X 10.5. Apple removed AppleTalk as of OS X 10.6 in 2009. The functions previously handled by AppleTalk are now handled by AFP or Apple's Bonjour protocol for service discovery.

Yes for legacy systems, but AppleTalk is irrelevant to most modern environments -- Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) is what matters. Apple dropped AppleTalk as of OS X 10.6. While it's supported in 10.5 and earlier, most companies stopped using it years ago since its functions have been superseded by AFP and Bonjour. Acronis Files Connect includes an optional server implementation of AppleTalk for the very small number of companies that still use it. That option is not supported on Windows Server 2012 and higher.

Symptoms:

• The Acronis Files Connect service is configured to run under a domain account but stops right after it's started
• The Windows Event Viewer contains an error " Acronis Files Connect could not enable security privileges.  These privileges must be enabled for Acronis Files Connect to run."

Cause:

This usually indicates that the domain account being used for the Acronis Files Connect service is not authorized under the Windows local security policy "Acts as part of the operating system".

Resolution:

• Open the Windows Local Security Policy application.
• Navigate to Security Settings -> Local Policies -> User Rights Assignment.
• Double click “Act as part of the operating system” and add the chosen domain user
• Try to start the service again and confirm that it stays running

Creating the AFP volumes is just a matter of specifying the folders you want to share in the Acronis Files Connect Administrator through the Volumes window. If the folders are local to the Acronis Files Connect, it's just a matter of pointing to their location. It won't matter whether they're also shared with SMB. If you're trying to share out the same folders that are already set up as SMB shares in Windows, you can click the Migrate SMB Shares button.

No. A more verbose name for the button could be “Set up Acronis Files Connect Volumes Corresponding to Existing SMB Shares”. It’s just an alternative to creating them manually, in case there are a lot you want to share out over AFP. Either way, your regular SMB shares will work the same whether you continue using Acronis Files Connect or not.

Yes, if your license includes the Network Reshare option and the feature is fully enabled.

That’s done through Network Reshare, not the window for specifying local folders. If Network Reshare is properly enabled, when you click Create in the Volumes window, you should see a prompt asking whether to create volumes “On This Server” or “On Another Server”. If not, then it means Network Reshare isn’t enabled.

First, Network Reshare is only available with Enterprise Subscription Licenses, and in the trial version. For configuration steps, see Configuring Network Reshare Support.

No. An Enterprise Subscription License is required for Network Reshare. 

Steps to Reproduce:

• In the Acronis Files Connect Administrator, try to add a volume with a UNC path to an SMB share residing on another server
• Click OK and the error " The specified path is not available" appears

Cause:

This usually indicates that the share is not available at the specified path or that Acronis Files Connect does not have the proper permissions for it.

Resolution:

• Confirm that you've done the steps in Configuring Network Reshare Support.
• Confirm that the domain account that Acronis Files Connect is running as has the "Acts as part of the operating" system local security policy.
• Reboot the server to ensure that the "Acts as part of the operating system" change has taken effect.
• Confirm that the service account has full control over the share.

Symptoms:

When trying to add a volume, an error is displayed: "Your Acronis Files Connect license does not support 'Network Reshare' volumes that share network locations"

Cause:

This will occur if attempting to add a network volume in the following scenario:

• The setting Enable Network Reshare Support is unchecked in Acronis Files Connect Administrator --> Settings --> File Server.
• You click Volumes --> Create, and then in the Browse for Folder window, you select a remote share under the Network object.

Resolution:

If you’re just trying to add a local volume, select a folder on a fixed drive volume. These can be local drives or on SAN storage accessible as a drive letter. Mapped drives are not supported.

If you do want to add a network reshare volume for a share on another server or NAS device, follow these steps:

1. First, make sure your license supports Network Reshare. It's an optional advanced capability that is only available with Enterprise Subscription Licenses, and in the trial version. It is not included with perpetual licenses. Please contact your sales rep or accesssales@acronis.com for information about upgrading.

2. Then follow the Network Reshare configuration steps, if you haven't already. Be sure to restart the Acronis Files Connect service for the changes to take effect.

3. With Network Reshare properly enabled, you will see a new option through Acronis Files Connect Administration --> Volumes --> Create. Instead of just presenting the window to select a local folder, there will be a prompt to select a volume "On this server" or "On another server”. Click “On another server” and specify a UNC path to the share (e.g., \\10.11.3.14 or \\fileserver01.mycompany.com). You should then be able to save that volume, assuming that the domain account you set Acronis Files Connect to run as in Step 2 has full control over the target.

1. From the Finder, click on the Go menu and select Connect to Server

2. Type afp:// and then the name of the server. For example, afp://server.mycompany.com

3. Then select the volume you want to mount.

Tips:

• Make sure you connect with afp://. If you connect with smb:// you'll be connecting with the Windows SMB protocol and won't get the benefits of Acronis Files Connect
• You may also be able to see the server by clicking the Browse button.
• If you cannot connect using the name of the server, try with the IP address. For example, afp://10.1.5.27

First try these troubleshooting steps:

• Check the Acronis Files Connect Administrator and make sure it shows “File Server services running normally”. If you’re getting an error connecting to server it could be that the service is running but sharing has been suspended, possibly due to an error.
• Make sure you're connecting with the afp:// prefix from the Finder
• Make sure the server is bound to the domain if you're intending to use domain logins. If it's not bound it will only be able to authenticate local Windows accounts. Also Kerberos logins will not be supported if it's unbound.
• First, try connecting to just the server address without specifying a share. For example, try afp://fileserver1.mycompany.com rather than afp://fileserver1.mycompany.com/Marketing. If you try to specify a specific share name that isn't available you'll get a message "There was a problem connecting to the server. Check the server name or IP address, and then try again. If you continue to have problems, contact your system administrator."
• If specifying a specific share, keep in mind that the name is case-sensitive. For example, a share named Marketing in the Acronis Files Connect Administrator would be accessible at afp://fileserver1.mycompany.com/Marketing but not at afp://fileserver1.mycompany.com/marketing.
• Try connecting by IP address to rule out issues with DNS. If that works, see the question "Why can't Macs connect to the Acronis Files Connect server via DNS entry even though it works by IP address?"
• Try restarting the Acronis Files Connect service. Note that if the IP address of the server was changed, Acronis Files Connect will not start using the new address until the service has restarted.
• Check the Windows firewall. Is it allowing connecting to Acronis Files Connect on port 548?
• Does the server have teamed NICs? Configuration issues with teamed NICs can prevent connections.

If you get the error “There was a problem connecting to the server. Check the server name or IP address, and then try again. If you continue to have problems, contact your administrator." then distinguish between these situations:

• Do you get the error right after entering a username and password? If so, try specifying the domain before the username, e.g., mydomain\john.smith
• Does the error appear after about 20 seconds of “Connecting to [your server address]” with no login prompt at all? This can be a sign that a firewall is interfering with port 548 traffic. This can be the case even if a telnet session to port 548 on the server connects. A quick test in this situation is to change Acronis Files Connect to use another port, possibly a standard one like 443. Then try to connect by appending that non-standard port, e.g., afp://10.2.3.5:443. If it connects that is strong evidence that there’s a firewall in the middle. While you could continue to use a non-standard port, it would be very inconvent for users to have to append the port number for each connection, so it would be best to work with your network team to allow connections on port 548.

If you get the error "The version of the server you are trying to connect to is not supported":

• Try to disable Kerberos through the Acronis Files Connect Administrator --> Settings --> File Server --> "Allow Kerberos Logins". If that works but you do want Kerberos logins enabled, see the question "How do I solve Kerberos login issues?"

First, check the general Kerberos configuration:

• Make sure the server is bound to the domain. Kerberos logins will not work with non-domain local Windows accounts.
• Confirm the Mac is getting a Kerberos ticket
• Confirm that the SPN entries for the server are set properly

It may be that the problem server's SPN (Service Principal Name) is missing one or both names (long and short).

For the Mac to get a Kerberos ticket via AFP you need both a long and short SPN. You can use the setspn command with the "-l" switch to list:

You should see two lines for "afpserver/" (long and short):
- afpserver/servername.company.com
- afpserver/servername

If not then run the following to add:
- setspn -a afpserver/servername.company.com targetservername
- setspn -a afpserver/servername targetservername

Then to confirm it worked enter:
setspn -l targetservername

You should see two lines:
- afpserver/servername.company.com
- afpserver/servername

Related information:
- Mac OS 10.4 can use either long or short name
- Mac OS 10.5 can only use the long name
- Mac OS 10.6 and above requires both

Try these steps first:

• Ping the server using the DNS entry to determine the IP address it resolves to.
• Confirm you can connect to Acronis Files Connect from the Finder's Connect to Server window using the IP address (e.g., afp://172.16.1.43)
• Try to connect to Acronis Files Connect from the Finder's Connect to Server window using the DNS entry. First try using just the base entry without the volume names (e.g., afp://fs1.mycompany.com, rather than afp://f1.mycompany.com/Volume1).
• Try connecting with the FQDN (e.g., afp://fs1.company.com rather than afp://fs1)
• Try unchecking this option in the Acronis Files Connect Administrator: Settings --> File Server --> Allow Kerberos Logins. If that resolves it then you may need to enable Kerberos delegation for reshare volumes, as discussed in Configuring Kerberos for Acronis Files Connect Network Reshare. The Acronis Files Connect volume setting for the target should match the delegation (e.g., both using the same DNS entry, not IP address).

If there are still problems, check the following:

1. From a command prompt type ipconfig to determine if there are multiple addresses assigned. Try connecting to each address to see if only one works.
2. Is NIC teaming being used? This can cause problems if not properly configured. Try temporarily disabling, if feasible.

If you're not seeing the connections in the Acronis Files Connect Administrator, it may just be that the Macs are still connecting via SMB and bypassing Acronis Files Connect. A Mac needs to connect using the AFP protocol to use Acronis Files Connect.

If you go through the Finder —> Go menu you can specify the server with the afp:// prefix, like afp://myAFPserver.mycompany.com or the IP address.

Also a good way to confirm the type of connection is to give the volumes a different name in the Acronis Files Connect Administrator, at least for initial testing -- e.g., if the regular SMB share is Marketing, name the Acronis Files Connect volume Marketing AFP so when you mount it you can be sure which one you've connected to.

First, keep in mind that there are differences in the security models used by Windows and Mac. Our recommendations are detailed in Best Practices for Permissions on NTFS. It's best to start with those settings. Note that it's important for the CREATOR OWNER group to have full control, as described in the document and below.

Navigate to the top level folder, select Properties --> Security --> Advanced. Then set the NTFS permissions on the root of the folder as follows:

Administrators: Full Control, Applies to this folder, subfolders, and files

SYSTEM: Full Control, Applies to this folder, subfolders, and files

CREATOR OWNER: Full Control, Applies to subfolders and files only

Note that since the CREATOR OWNER permission applies to subfolders and files only, Full Control will display as "Special" on Windows Server 2008 and later. In the regular permissions view all other checkboxes will be empty, except for the "Special" one at the bottom of the list. To view the exact permissions, go to the Advanced View.

Network reshare is an optional feature available of Acronis Files Connect available with Enterprise Subscription Licenses. It allows an Acronis Files Connect server to share out folders that reside on other servers or NAS devices.

To use network reshare, the Acronis Files Connect service must be changed from the default local System account to a domain account. There are several requirements for the domain account:

• It must have full control of the target volume, inheriting from the drive letter. Confirm this on the Effective Permissions / Effective Access tab for the account and verify that it's really full control. Customers often assume that a domain account will have full control but then the Effective Permissions tab shows that it's missing some permissions that are important for Mac access, including "Delete subfolders and files".
• It must be a member of the local administrators group.
• It must have the "Acts as part of the operating" system right, set through the Local Security Policy settings.
• For specifics details on all aspects of network reshare configuration, see Configuring Network Reshare Support

There is a difference between Macs and Windows with regard to the owner of a file. On Windows, being an owner doesn't automatically grant any particular rights to the file. The CREATOR OWNER group is a special Windows feature that ensures that when an account is used to create a file, that account has full access to the file moving forward. If the access control entry for CREATOR OWNER does not exist then a Mac user create a file and then not be able to actually edit it. This is particularly true for Safe Saves. If the user can't get delete permission they will not be able to swap the temporary file for the real file.

No. It affects files and folders the user created, so normally it's best for the user to be able to modify them.

Select the file or folder in the Finder and then select Get Info.

What's displayed in the Get Info window is a complex topic due to difference between the Access Control List (ACL) model that Windows uses and the three different models that can be used on the Mac -- ACLs, UNIX permissions, or Macs-style folder permissions. For more details, see How does Acronis Files Connect map the Windows security model to Macintosh-style folder permissions?

While Windows uses Access Control Lists (ACLs) exclusively to enforce security, the OS X uses any one of three different schemes: Mac-style folder permissions, UNIX permissions, or ACLs. Regardless of what scheme the Mac is using, Acronis Files Connect must map the Windows ACL to each of these Macintosh schemes in order to provide the necessary file and folder security expected by the user and/or application.

Acronis Files Connect can be configured to properly report and allow manipulating of UNIX permissions to the Mac client. This is important for Mac applications that expect the proper representation of UNIX permissions, especially lower level utilities and general UNIX software.

If “Support UNIX permissions and ACLs” is enabled, Acronis Files Connect will map the Windows permissions to the Mac OS X permissions model for Access Control Lists (ACLs). This allows Macs to see the permissions on specific files or folders through the Finder’s Get Info window, and to manipulate them if they have rights to do so.

Note that the setting only applies to Macs that are bound to the Active Directory domain. Unbound Macs will see the regular permissions model, regardless of the setting.

Acronis Files Connect supports UNIX permissions relating to the owner, group and everyone group. Acronis Files Connect represents UNIX permissions on the Windows file system by a combination of effective Windows ACLs as well as additional, more explicit Access Control Entries (ACEs) that are added to the ACLs for the UNIX permissions. In every case, the Windows ACLs take precedence over all UNIX permissions so the underlying Windows permissions model is always honored while providing a more compatible environment for Mac applications.

• In the Acronis Files Connect Administrator, "Support UNIX permissions and ACLs"  must be enabled.
• The Mac must be bound to the domain.
• The Mac user must be logged in exclusively as a domain account. That is, a user must be logged in to the Mac and Acronis Files Connect server using a domain account for which there is no local account on the Mac. The Mac is not able to translate from local account information to domain account information on the client. If ‘unknown’ appears as an object owner or group, or a valid name appears then is replaced with ‘unknown’, it is most likely caused by being logged in to Acronis Files Connect as guest or logged in with a domain account but using a local account on the Macintosh. This is normal behavior for Macintosh whether it is connected to Acronis Files Connect or another file server. In spite of this display issue, access to an object will still be evaluated based on the account used to log in to Acronis Files Connect.

First, as noted in the previous question this will only be possible if the following conditions are met:

1. The Mac is bound to the domain.
2. The user is logging onto the Mac using a domain account for which there is no local account on the Mac.
3. The user is logging onto the Acronis Files Connect server using the same domain account.

Many organizations do not have Macs set up with that scenario.

If those conditions are met, then it should be a matter of enabling settings in the Acronis Files Connect Administrator, as follows:

1. Launch the Acronis Files Connect Administrator
2. Navigate to Settings --> Security and check “Support UNIX permissions and ACLs”
3. Check “Support ACLs on all volumes” or remember to check it on a per-volume basis.
4. Fill in the Directory Services settings on the same tab.

The Macintosh is not able to translate from local account information to domain account information on the client. If ‘unknown’ appears as an object owner or group, or a valid name appears then is replaced with ‘unknown’, it is most likely caused by being logged in to Acronis Files Connect as guest or logged in with a domain account but using a local account on the Mac. This is normal Mac behavior whether connected to Acronis Files Connect or another file server. Despite this display issue, access to an object will still be evaluated based on the account used to log in to Acronis Files Connect.

1. Launch the Terminal application
2. Type CD, a space, and then drag in the folder from the Finder
3. Type ls -la. You can also type ls -lae or ls -la@
5. To test creating a new file type: touch test.txt

A good first step is to check the Effective Permissions for a user who's having problems. This will show the effects of group membership and inheritance in addition to direct permission assignments.

1. On the server, in Windows Explorer, select a folder where regular users are having problems.
2. Right click the folder and navigate to Properties -> Security -> Advanced -> Effective Permissions.
3. Click the Select button and then type in the name of a user who's having problems.
4. Confirm the user has the correct permission.

Note about Creator Owner: If you try to view Effective Permissions for Creator Owner, Windows will show that it's denied for each attribute. This is because the Effective Permissions view is trying to show permissions for a specific user. To verify the Creator Owner permissions, just look at Advanced --> Permissions.

When editing documents directly from a network share, many applications, especially from Microsoft and Adobe, expect a hidden folder named ".TemporaryItems" (starting with a period) at the root of the volume. The application uses the .TemporaryItems folder to perform a "safe save" operation -- when saving an updated version of the file, the application first saves it across the network to the .TemporaryItems folder, before replacing the previous file. That way, if the save process is interrupted, the previous version will remain intact. For more details on safe saves, see Apple's knowledgebase: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3752 and http://support.apple.com/kb/ta23804.

The .TemporaryItems folder should be created on demand, so if no one with proper rights at the root of the share has made that request, it will not be created. 

If you encounter errors trying to edit documents on a share, follow these steps:

1. From the server, go to the root of the volume in Windows Explorer. NOTE: With Acronis Files Connect, the volume is as you've defined it in the Acronis Files Connect Administrator. So if you share out a volume with the path D:\Headquarters\Marketing, from the Mac's perspective, the root of the volume would be the Marketing folder, not D:\ or D:\Headquarters.

2. Set Windows Explorer to show hidden files and folders (View --> Options --> View tab --> Show hidden files, folders and drives)

3. Look for a .TemporaryItems folder. If it doesn't exist, you can create it manually from a command prompt on the server, as follows: mkdir .TemporaryItems. Note you won't be able to create it directly in Windows Explorer, though you'll see it there if hidden items are shown.

4. Select the folder, click Properties --> Security and make sure the user in question has full control. In general, anyone saving to the folder will need full control of the .TemporaryItems folder and sub folders in it.

5. Confirm the permissions for a specific user through the Effective Permissions tab (see separate FAQ question)

See the Apple KB and the .TemporaryItems folder steps under the FAQ question "What should I do about a problem saving documents?"

There are extensive details in the PDF available on Acronis Files Connect Security Overview: ACLs and Unix Permissions.

This is usually because there is a file in the folder that the Mac, or another connected Mac, considers to be open. Because the file is being accessed by its path, the folder name in the path cannot be changed while there is an open file in it or any of its children. 

There are several possible reasons that a file may be considered open:

• A file may just be open by the affected user or another user. You may be able to spot an open file through the Files window in the Acronis Files Connect Administrator. Note that the Acronis Files Connect Administrator only reflects users connected through AFP.
• The file causing the issue may actually be closed at the time of the problem, from a user’s perspective. However, it can take 20-30 seconds or so for some Mac applications to release a lock on a file. This can be the cause of problems that seem to go away when you try to reproduce them.
• The Mac Finder tries to build previews of files, which can cause problems where someone else just browsing through the folder can prevent another user from renaming it. Turning off previews in the Finder can help to avoid that issue.

1. On the server launch regedit and set this key:
Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\Acronis Files Connect\Parameters4\Refreshable
Key: Set EnumerationPerformance to 0

2. On the Acronis Files Connect Administrator, navigate to Settings and click the button Refresh Registry to read the registry change.

3. From the Mac, disconnect the share and then reconnect.

Please see the Acronis Files Connect Search and Indexing FAQ.

Please see the Acronis Files Connect Search and Indexing FAQ for information about Spotlight searching using the Acronis Content Indexing or Windows Search indexing optons.

Yes, as of Acronis Files Connect 9.0, the new Acronis Content Indexing feature will index filenames or filenames and content on supported NAS devices. Please see the Acronis Files Connect Search and Indexing FAQ for information.

Generally AFP and SMB are within 10-20% of each other when using recent version of OS X. In older versions of OS X, Apple’s SMB implementation would typically max out around 40MB/sec.

Unfortunately, regardless of the network protocol, the Mac Finder requests a lot of information when browsing folders and doesn't do it very efficiently, which is often a problem over VPN and other WAN connections. Browsing network shares with hundreds or thousands of items at one level is always going to be much faster from Windows Explorer than from the Finder. Apple exacerbated the problem with some changes in 10.9, especially related to the new tag functionality.

We have included some optimizations related to folder browsing, especially as of Acronis Files Connect 8.1.2. We are attempting to mitigate the impact of the 10.9 tag changes in an upcoming release of Acronis Files Connect. We have also filed a bug with Apple pointing out the excessive traffic that the 10.9 Finder generates and hope they will address it in a future Mac OS update.

General

• Upgrade to Acronis Files Connect 9.0.4 or later
• Minimize latency, if possible
• Reduce the number of items at one folder level
• Ensure that NTFS permissions are optimized based on https://kb.acronis.com/content/47135. Permissions problems related to inheritance can have a negative impact on performance. Independent of performance, it's important to have the permissions correct for Windows/Mac compatibility. See the Permissions section for more details.

Mac

• Disable the Finder options that slow down browsing:
    "Show icon preview"
    "Show preview column"
    "Calculate all sizes"

Server

• Reshare copy performance can be optimized by having two fast NICs, one dedicated to AFP connections and another handling backend SMB to targets.
• Making storage available to the Windows server as local drive letters via Fibre Channel will provide better performance than reshare. iSCSI may also to a lesser extent.
• Use fast NICs on server, ideally 10Gb NICs through a 10Gb switch.
• Update Ethernet drivers on server.

There are many factors involved in network performance and some special ones related to Mac / Windows performance. To troubleshoot an issue, an Acronis engineer might request answers to some of the questions below and they may be useful to consider on your own.

General scope questions:

• Which aspects of performance seem slow?
• What's the version of Mac OS on the clients? Is it a problem for all clients or only for some of them?
• Are you sharing files stored locally on the Acronis Files Connect server or are they being reshared from another server or NAS device?
• What type of network connection is being used -- LAN, WAN, VPN?
• What are the pings times from a Mac to the server? (If VPN performance is an issue, do the same test from LAN and VPN)

For problems with folder browsing:

• For a folder where you are seeing slow browsing performance, what's the ballpark number of items are at the level in question. For example, if browsing to \\MyServer\Share1 is slow, approximately how many folders and files are at the top level of Share1?
• Approximately how many seconds does it take to show all the items in a "slow" folder using each of these methods:
    AFP to Acronis Files Connect
    Mac SMB client
    Windows Explorer from a PC

For problems with transfer performance:

• Is there a problem with copying files from the server, to the server, or both?
• For a given operation (e.g., copying Folder X to server), what are the transfer times for each of the methods below. Please describe the test (e.g., copied Folder X with three 200MB files to server).
     AFP to Acronis Files Connect
     Mac SMB client
     Windows Explorer from a PC

There are two options -- the traditional DFS feature added in Acronis Files Connect 6.0, and through the Network Reshare feature added in Acronis Files Connect 8.0. There are some benefits to each as described below and in Accessing DFS files using Acronis Files Connect Network Reshare.

The DFS feature in Acronis Files Connect lets it act as a DFS virtual root so that Macintosh clients can browse one or more DFS namespaces and automatically be directed to DFS target servers, either over AFP or SMB. The Network Reshare feature lets Macs connect to the Acronis Files Connect server through a regular AFP connection. The server will then communicate with the appropriate folders, whether they're local, on other servers, or DFS targets.

Advantages of Network Reshare:

• No need to install anything on the client. The Mac just makes a standard AFP connection. With the other approach, some configuration is required on each Mac, as described in the KB article above.
• It will support domain and host based namespaces on a cluster. (On a cluster, DFS can only support host-based namespaces. Most companies use domain based namespaces.)
• Support network home directories on OS X 10.2.3 through 10.10.x (with the DFS approach, home directories are only supported on 10.5 and 10.6).

Advantages of the traditional DFS feature:

• Traffic will be between the Mac and target server, instead of being proxied through the Acronis Files Connect server as with reshare.
• DFS target selection and site costing will be negotiated client. (With the reshare approach, it's done for the server, rather than the Mac client.) 
• Support search (if connection is established through the Zidget).

In general, Network Reshare is the best option for 1 or 2 target servers. With larger numbers of target servers, the performance advantage of DFS grows since the connections do not need to be proxied.

Network Reshare is included with Enterprise License Program subscriptions.

Acronis Files Connect DFS support is included in the Acronis Files Connect Unlimited, Cluster, and Enterprise License Program (ELP) versions. DFS support can also be added to the 10, 25, 50, and 100-client versions of Acronis Files Connect by purchasing the DFSConnect add-on.

For network reshare, Acronis Files Connect only needs to be installed on the server the Macs connect to. It will then connect to the other shares over SMB on the back end, and make those available to the Macs over AFP.

For DFS, it depends whether you want the Macs to connect to the DFS targets over AFP or SMB. In the Acronis Files Connect DFS configuration window there's a setting for each target connection to be AFP or SMB. Any target server that you want to be over an AFP connection will need to have Acronis Files Connect installed on it. If it's just an SMB connection, the primary (possibly only) Acronis Files Connect server will let the Mac user browse and establish the connection to the target server's SMB service.

Yes if the connection is established through the Zidget.

Yes through network reshare. Through the traditional DFS feature, they are only supported for OS X 10.5 and 10.6.

No.

When a Mac connects to a DFS share via Acronis Files Connect, it will only see the free space on the DFS virtual root volume. It cannot determine or display the actual amount of free space on the DFS target.

The DFS virtual volume contains links to target servers in the DFS namespace. When DFS support is configured, it's automatically added as a shared volume in Acronis Files Connect with a volume name matching your DFS domain or host server name. The default location is in the Acronis Files Connect program directory -- e.g.,  C:\Program Files (x86)\Group Logic\Acronis Files Connect\Acronis Files Connect DFS Volumes. The location for the virtual root volume can be modified by selecting Advanced on the DFS settings tab.

When working with an engineer at Acronis to troubleshoot a problem, some or all of these following may be requested:

• Zip up the Acronis Files Connect Logs folder:
     - Right-click the folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Group Logic\Acronis Files Connect\Logs
     - Select "Send to --> Compressed (zipped) folder"
• If it's a physical (non-virtual) server, run a verbose disk fragmentation report for each disk:
     - From a command prompt, type: defrag /a /v C: > C:\C_Drive.txt
     - Repeat the command, changing C to each drive letter to be analyzed
• Generate a System Information report:
     - At Start --> Run, type msinfo32 to launch the tool.
     - Select File --> Save to save the .nfo file (don't save as a text file).
• Export Application and System event logs exported as an exvt file (not a text file).
• Collect all dump files (*.dmp) in C:\Program Files (x86)\Group Logic\Acronis Files Connect
• Get the Acronis Files Connect Startup Log file from C:\Program Files (x86)\Group Logic\Acronis Files Connect\Acronis Files Connect LOG_Startup.TXT

When doing a remote session to look at a Mac/Windows issue it's important to be able to see the client and server at the same time but tools like Webex only allow one computer at a time to be the presenter.

There are three approaches to show the Mac and server side from the same computer:

A. Join from a Mac that's set up with Microsoft Remote Desktop or a similar tool to connect to the server. 

B. Join from the server and use VNC or a similar tool to connect to the Mac. The Mac will need to have VNC access enabled through System Preferences --> Sharing --> Remote Management ---> Computer Settings --> "VNC viewers may control screen with password"

C. Join from a PC workstation that's set up to use Remote Desktop to the server and a VNC-type tool to the Mac (note Mac VNC setting above).