Comparison chart for Acronis Backup & Recovery and Acronis Snap Deploy

This article applies to:

• Acronis Snap Deploy 4
• Acronis Backup & Recovery 10/11/11.5

Description

Acronis Backup & Recovery is a disaster recovery solution.

Acronis Snap Deploy is a multiple deployment solution.

Although these products have some similar features and functions, they are optimized for different purposes.

If your objective is to protect system and data by creating regular backups and by restoring them in case of disaster (including the possibility to restore on new hardware if the old machine is lost), then Acronis Backup & Recovery is the right product for you.

If you are looking for an application allowing you to deploy a system image to multiple machines simultaneously (including the possibility to deploy on new hardware) then Acronis Snap Deploy 4 suits you better.

The table below shows the main differences between the two products.

(!) There are several products in the Acronis Backup & Recovery line. For more information on differences between Acronis Backup & Recovery products please see Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 Editions.

	Acronis Backup & Recovery	Acronis Snap Deploy
Installation	Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 Agent needs to be installed on every physical machine that is to be managed.	Only centralized management components are mandatory. Installing Acronis Snap Deploy Management Agent is optional. Most operations can be performed via bootable media.
What can be backed up?	Disks/Partitions, Files/Folders, Virtual Machines	Whole disk only
Ways to save storage space	Incremental and differential backups Deduplication for Advanced versions*	Only full image can be created
Backup/Image creation and management	Scheduling: backups can be automatically created on schedule without user interaction Cleanup: retention rules can be set to delete old backups automatically	Image is created manually by user via Management Agent or by using bootable media. No scheduling or cleanup options available.
Restoration/image deployment	Restore is performed by user via Agent or from Acronis Bootable Media. Scheduled restore is not available.	Manual deployment; Deployment can be scheduled and started on certain conditions; Dedicated mode for deployment initiated on client side; Standalone deployment for computers out of network.
Restoring image to dissimilar hardware	Yes, with Acronis Universal Restore*	Yes, with Acronis Universal Deploy*
Mount/explore image	Images can be mounted and explored to view their contents and restore selected files	No mount or explore function
Changing restored system parameters	NT signature change; Resizing partitions.	Changing user accounts; Changing computer name and domain/workgroup membership; Changing SID (Security Identifier); Changing IP address.

* Separately purchased add-on.

More information

See also:

• Acronis Backup & Recovery 11
• Acronis Snap Deploy 4