Acronis Backup Advanced frequently asked questions
See also Acronis Backup 11.7 Licensing FAQ
Theory
Acronis Backup Advanced creates full, incremental and differential backups. For more information see Difference between Full, Incremental and Differential Backup.
Acronis Backup Advanced suggests you to select one of these backup schemes:
- Simple: full or incremental backups, schedule, retention of old backups available
- Grandfather-Father-Son: monthly full plus weekly differential plus daily incremental backups, retention rules available
- Custom: custom combination of full, differential and incremental backups, scheduling retention of old backups available
- Tower of Hanoi: level-based (next-level backups are twice as rare as previous-level backups, up to 16 levels), retention of old backups
- Manual start: full/incremental/differential backups
Practice
- Start Acronis Management console.
- Connect to the Agent machine or to the Management Server.
- Navigate to Backup plans and tasks:
- Click New -> Backup plan:
Details:
Select data type to back up:
Backing up machines, drives or volumes:
Backing up files or folders:
Available in:
- Acronis Backup Advanced 11.7 for SQL, Acronis Backup Advanced 11.5 for SQL
- Acronis Backup Advanced 11.7 for SharePoint, Acronis Backup Advanced 11.5 for SharePoint
- Acronis Backup Advanced 11.7 for Active Directory, Acronis Backup Advanced 11.5 for Active Directory
- Acronis Backup Advanced 11.7 for VMware/Hyper-V/RHEV/Citrix XenServer/Oracle VM, Acronis Backup Advanced 11.5 for VMware/Hyper-V/RHEV/Citrix XenServer/Oracle VM
You can backup SQL Server databases, SharePoint databases or Active Directory with single-pass backup (application-aware backup of drives/volumes with possibility of granular restore) both locally and to Acronis Cloud.
1. Install Agent for SQL to backup SQL Server or SharePoint Server. Install Agent for Active Directory to backup Active Directory. Single-pass backup is not available in agent-less backup of virtual machines; you need to install Agent for SQL along with the Agent for Windows in the Guest OS of the virtual machine. More information here.
2. Select machines, drives or volumes under items to backup:
3. Make sure single-pass is activated:
Available in:
- Acronis Backup Advanced 11.7 for Exchange, Acronis Backup Advanced 11.5 for Exchange
- Acronis Backup Advanced 11.7 for VMware/Hyper-V/RHEV/Citrix XenServer/Oracle VM, Acronis Backup Advanced 11.5 for VMware/Hyper-V/RHEV/Citrix XenServer/Oracle VM
You can back up the whole Information store or separate mailboxes or e-mails. More information here.
You need separate backup plan(s) for Exchange items.
Install Agent for Exchange to backup Exchange Server. Granular backup of Exchange items is not available in agent-less backup of virtual machines; you need to install Agent for Exchange in the Guest OS of the virtual machine.
Select Information Store to back up:
Define metadata collection level under Default backup options:
Select level according to a possible restore scenario. More information in Acronis Backup Advanced 11.7/11.5 for Exchange: Usage Scenarios.
Alternatively select separate mailboxes to back up:
There are two options to backup virtual machines: in agentless backup and with from within the guest OS.
Choose agent-based backup, when:
- virtualization platform is RHEV, Citrix XenServer or Oracle;
- you want to perform application-aware backup;
- you need to overcome limitations of agent-less backup.
Virtual machines are listed under Machines with agents.
Agent-less backup means you can install the Acronis Management Agent (Agent for Hyper-V, Agent for VMware) on the host without installing any agent inside the guest operation system of the VMs.
You can choose agent-less backup, when:
- virtualization platform is VMware or Hyper-V.
Virtual machines are listed under Virtual machines. Creating a backup plan, click on Virtual machines -> All virtual machines -> select machines you want to backup.
Depending on the selected backup schema, you can set up automated retention of old backups. For more information see Acronis Backup: Retention of Backups.
Follow this article: Acronis Backup: Setting Up E-Mail Notifications.
- Activate your Acronis Backup to Cloud subscription.
- Select Cloud storage as backup destination and log in into your account:
Theory
Acronis Backup Advanced allows you to restore your system to the same machine or to dissimilar hardware (by using Acronis Universal Restore technology), bring your system and databases online immediately after recovery is started (Acronis Active Restore technology) or convert a physical machine to a virtual one.
Practice
Restoring to dissimilar hardware
Follow this step-by-step guide.
Conversion to virtual machine
Acronis Backup: Scheduled Backup Conversion to VM
Acronis Backup 11.7/11.5: Converting Backup Archive of a Windows System to a Virtual Machine
Acronis Backup 11.7/11.5: Importing the Converted Virtual Machine Files to VMware ESX Server
Acronis Backup 11.7/11.5: Importing Converted Virtual Machine to Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization Platform
Acronis Backup: Converting Backup Archive to a KVM/RHEV Virtual Machine
Acronis Backup: Importing Converted Virtual Machine to Citrix XenServer
Theory
Configuring software, especially in large environments, may lead to errors. We have created troubleshooting guidelines for you with prerequisites, clear step-by-step instructions and information we will need to help you with the issue.
Practice
Installation
Connection between components
License-related errors
Snapshot/VSS
Virtual machines
Exchange and other applications
- SQL Server backup
- SQL and SharePoint data recovery
- Applications malfunction or files corruption after recovery
Monitoring
Recovery
Performance
Crash/lockup
Please contact Acronis Support if you need assistance.