Document Outline

• 1 Introducing Acronis Backup
  • 1.1 What's new in Update 5
  • 1.2 What's new in Update 4
  • 1.3 What's new in Update 3
  • 1.4 What's new in Update 2
  • 1.5 What's new in Update 1
  • 1.6 What's new in Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5
  • 1.7 Acronis Backup components
    • 1.7.1 Agent for Windows
    • 1.7.2 Management Console
    • 1.7.3 Bootable Media Builder
  • 1.8 About using the product in the trial mode
  • 1.9 Supported file systems
  • 1.10 Technical Support
• 2 Getting started
  • 2.1 Using the management console
    • 2.1.1 "Navigation" pane
    • 2.1.2 Main area, views and action pages
      • 2.1.2.1 Views
        • Sorting, filtering and configuring table items
      • 2.1.2.2 Action pages
    • 2.1.3 Console options
      • 2.1.3.1 Alert display options
      • 2.1.3.2 Credentials cache
      • 2.1.3.3 Fonts
      • 2.1.3.4 Pop-up messages
• 3 Understanding Acronis Backup
  • 3.1 Owners
  • 3.2 Credentials used in backup plans and tasks
  • 3.3 User privileges on a managed machine
  • 3.4 List of Acronis services
  • 3.5 Full, incremental and differential backups
  • 3.6 What does a disk or volume backup store?
  • 3.7 Backup and recovery of dynamic volumes (Windows)
  • 3.8 Support for Advanced Format (4K-sector) hard disks
  • 3.9 Compatibility with encryption software
  • 3.10 Support for SNMP
  • 3.11 Support for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012
  • 3.12 Support for UEFI-based machines
• 4 Backup
  • 4.1 Back up now
  • 4.2 Creating a backup plan
    • 4.2.1 Selecting data to back up
    • 4.2.2 Access credentials for source
    • 4.2.3 Source files exclusion
    • 4.2.4 Backup location selection
      • 4.2.4.1 Selecting backup destinations
    • 4.2.5 Access credentials for archive location
    • 4.2.6 Backup schemes
      • 4.2.6.1 Simple scheme
      • 4.2.6.2 Grandfather-Father-Son scheme
      • 4.2.6.3 Custom backup scheme
      • 4.2.6.4 Tower of Hanoi scheme
      • 4.2.6.5 Manual start
      • 4.2.6.6 Initial seeding
    • 4.2.7 Archive validation
    • 4.2.8 Backup plan's credentials
    • 4.2.9 Label (Preserving machine properties in a backup)
    • 4.2.10 Sequence of operations in a backup plan
    • 4.2.11 Why is the program asking for the password?
  • 4.3 Simplified naming of backup files
    • 4.3.1 The [DATE] variable
    • 4.3.2 Backup splitting and simplified file naming
    • 4.3.3 Usage examples
      • 4.3.3.1 Example 1. Daily backup replacing the old one
      • 4.3.3.2 Example 2. Daily full backups with a date stamp
      • 4.3.3.3 Example 3. Hourly backups within a day
      • 4.3.3.4 Example 4. Daily full backups with daily drive swaps
      • 4.3.3.5 Example 5. Daily backups with weekly drive swaps
      • 4.3.3.6 Example 6. Backups within working hours
  • 4.4 Scheduling
    • 4.4.1 Daily schedule
    • 4.4.2 Weekly schedule
    • 4.4.3 Monthly schedule
    • 4.4.4 On Windows Event Log event
    • 4.4.5 Conditions
      • 4.4.5.1 User is idle
      • 4.4.5.2 Location's host is available
      • 4.4.5.3 Fits the time interval
      • 4.4.5.4 Users logged off
      • 4.4.5.5 Time since last backup
  • 4.5 Replication and retention of backups
    • 4.5.1 Supported locations
    • 4.5.2 Setting up replication of backups
    • 4.5.3 Setting up retention of backups
    • 4.5.4 Retention rules for the Custom scheme
    • 4.5.5 Usage examples
      • 4.5.5.1 Example 1. Replicating backups to a network folder
      • 4.5.5.2 Example 2. Limiting the age and total size of stored backups
      • 4.5.5.3 Example 3. Replicating backups to the cloud storage
  • 4.6 How to disable backup cataloging
  • 4.7 Default backup options
    • 4.7.1 Additional settings
    • 4.7.2 Archive protection
    • 4.7.3 Backup cataloging
    • 4.7.4 Backup performance
      • 4.7.4.1 Backup priority
      • 4.7.4.2 HDD writing speed
      • 4.7.4.3 Network connection speed
    • 4.7.5 Backup splitting
    • 4.7.6 Compression level
    • 4.7.7 Disaster recovery plan (DRP)
    • 4.7.8 E-mail notifications
    • 4.7.9 Error handling
    • 4.7.10 Event tracing
      • 4.7.10.1 SNMP notifications
      • 4.7.10.2 Windows event log
    • 4.7.11 Fast incremental/differential backup
    • 4.7.12 File-level backup snapshot
    • 4.7.13 File-level security
    • 4.7.14 Media components
    • 4.7.15 Mount points
    • 4.7.16 Multi-volume snapshot
    • 4.7.17 Pre/Post commands
      • 4.7.17.1 Pre-backup command
      • 4.7.17.2 Post-backup command
    • 4.7.18 Pre/Post data capture commands
      • 4.7.18.1 Pre-data capture command
      • 4.7.18.2 Post-data capture command
    • 4.7.19 Replication/cleanup inactivity time
    • 4.7.20 Sector-by-sector backup
    • 4.7.21 Task failure handling
    • 4.7.22 Task start conditions
    • 4.7.23 Volume Shadow Copy Service
• 5 Recovery
  • 5.1 Creating a recovery task
    • 5.1.1 What to recover
      • 5.1.1.1 Selecting archive location
      • 5.1.1.2 Data catalog
    • 5.1.2 Access credentials for location
    • 5.1.3 Access credentials for destination
    • 5.1.4 Where to recover
      • 5.1.4.1 Selecting target disks
        • Disk destination
        • NT signature
        • How the automatic mapping works
      • 5.1.4.2 Selecting target volumes
        • MBR destination
        • Volume destination
        • Changing volume properties
          • Size and location
          • Type
          • File system
          • Volume (partition) alignment
          • Logical drive letter (for Windows only)
      • 5.1.4.3 Selecting target location for files and folders
        • Recovery exclusions
    • 5.1.5 When to recover
    • 5.1.6 Task credentials
  • 5.2 Recovering BIOS-based systems to UEFI-based and vice versa
    • 5.2.1 Recovering volumes
    • 5.2.2 Recovering disks
  • 5.3 Acronis Active Restore
  • 5.4 Bootability troubleshooting
    • 5.4.1 How to reactivate GRUB and change its configuration
    • 5.4.2 About Windows loaders
  • 5.5 Reverting a Windows system to its factory settings
  • 5.6 Default recovery options
    • 5.6.1 Additional settings
    • 5.6.2 E-mail notifications
    • 5.6.3 Error handling
    • 5.6.4 Event tracing
      • 5.6.4.1 SNMP notifications
      • 5.6.4.2 Windows event log
    • 5.6.5 File-level security
    • 5.6.6 Mount points
    • 5.6.7 Pre/Post commands
      • 5.6.7.1 Pre-recovery command
      • 5.6.7.2 Post-recovery command
    • 5.6.8 Recovery priority
• 6 Conversion to a virtual machine
  • 6.1 Conversion methods
  • 6.2 Conversion to an automatically created virtual machine
    • 6.2.1 Considerations before conversion
    • 6.2.2 Setting up regular conversion to a virtual machine
      • 6.2.2.1 Conversion settings
      • 6.2.2.2 Setting up a conversion schedule
      • 6.2.2.3 Selecting a machine that will perform conversion
      • 6.2.2.4 How regular conversion to VM works
    • 6.2.3 Recovery to the ''New virtual machine'' destination
      • 6.2.3.1 Steps to perform
      • 6.2.3.2 Virtual machine type / virtualization server selection
      • 6.2.3.3 Virtual machine settings
  • 6.3 Recovery to a manually created virtual machine
    • 6.3.1 Considerations before conversion
    • 6.3.2 Steps to perform
• 7 Storing the backed up data
  • 7.1 Vaults
    • 7.1.1 Working with vaults
    • 7.1.2 Personal vaults
      • 7.1.2.1 Actions on personal vaults
        • Creating a personal vault
        • Merging and moving personal vaults
  • 7.2 Acronis Secure Zone
    • 7.2.1 Creating Acronis Secure Zone
      • 7.2.1.1 Acronis Secure Zone Disk
      • 7.2.1.2 Acronis Secure Zone Size
      • 7.2.1.3 Password for Acronis Secure Zone
      • 7.2.1.4 Result confirmation
    • 7.2.2 Managing Acronis Secure Zone
      • 7.2.2.1 Increasing Acronis Secure Zone
      • 7.2.2.2 Decreasing Acronis Secure Zone
      • 7.2.2.3 Deleting Acronis Secure Zone
  • 7.3 Removable devices
• 8 Operations with archives and backups
  • 8.1 Validating archives and backups
    • 8.1.1 Archive selection
    • 8.1.2 Backup selection
    • 8.1.3 Vault selection
    • 8.1.4 Access credentials for source
    • 8.1.5 When to validate
    • 8.1.6 Task credentials
  • 8.2 Exporting archives and backups
    • 8.2.1 Archive selection
    • 8.2.2 Backup selection
    • 8.2.3 Access credentials for source
    • 8.2.4 Destination selection
    • 8.2.5 Access credentials for destination
  • 8.3 Mounting an image
    • 8.3.1 Archive selection
    • 8.3.2 Backup selection
    • 8.3.3 Access credentials
    • 8.3.4 Volume selection
    • 8.3.5 Managing mounted images
  • 8.4 Operations available in vaults
    • 8.4.1 Operations with archives
    • 8.4.2 Operations with backups
    • 8.4.3 Converting a backup to full
    • 8.4.4 Deleting archives and backups
• 9 Bootable media
  • 9.1 How to create bootable media
    • 9.1.1 Linux-based bootable media
      • 9.1.1.1 Kernel parameters
      • 9.1.1.2 Network settings
      • 9.1.1.3 Network port
    • 9.1.2 WinPE-based bootable media
      • 9.1.2.1 Preparation: WinPE 2.x and 3.x
      • 9.1.2.2 Preparation: WinPE 4.0 and WinPE 5.0
      • 9.1.2.3 Adding Acronis Plug-in to WinPE
  • 9.2 Preparing to work under bootable media
  • 9.3 Working under bootable media
    • 9.3.1 Setting up a display mode
    • 9.3.2 Configuring iSCSI and NDAS devices
  • 9.4 List of commands and utilities available in Linux-based bootable media
  • 9.5 Acronis Startup Recovery Manager
• 10 Disk management
  • 10.1 Supported file systems
  • 10.2 Basic precautions
  • 10.3 Running Acronis Disk Director Lite
  • 10.4 Choosing the operating system for disk management
  • 10.5 "Disk management" view
  • 10.6 Disk operations
    • 10.6.1 Disk initialization
    • 10.6.2 Basic disk cloning
      • 10.6.2.1 Selecting source and target disks
      • 10.6.2.2 Cloning method and advanced options
    • 10.6.3 Disk conversion: MBR to GPT
    • 10.6.4 Disk conversion: GPT to MBR
    • 10.6.5 Disk conversion: basic to dynamic
    • 10.6.6 Disk conversion: dynamic to basic
    • 10.6.7 Changing disk status
  • 10.7 Volume operations
    • 10.7.1 Creating a volume
      • 10.7.1.1 Types of dynamic volumes
      • 10.7.1.2 Create volume wizard
        • Select the type of volume being created
        • Select destination disks
        • Set the volume size
        • Set the volume options
    • 10.7.2 Delete volume
    • 10.7.3 Set active volume
    • 10.7.4 Change volume letter
    • 10.7.5 Change volume label
    • 10.7.6 Format volume
  • 10.8 Pending operations
• 11 Protecting applications with disk-level backup
  • 11.1 Backing up an application server
    • 11.1.1 Locating database files
      • 11.1.1.1 SQL Server database files
      • 11.1.1.2 Exchange Server database files
      • 11.1.1.3 Active Directory database files
      • 11.1.1.4 SharePoint database files
    • 11.1.2 Truncating transaction logs
      • 11.1.2.1 Transaction log truncation and log file shrinking for SQL Server
      • 11.1.2.2 Transaction log truncation for Exchange Server
    • 11.1.3 Best practices when backing up application servers
      • 11.1.3.1 Exchange Server backup
      • 11.1.3.2 Active Directory backup
      • 11.1.3.3 SharePoint data backup
  • 11.2 Recovering SQL Server data
    • 11.2.1 Recovering SQL Server databases from a disk backup
    • 11.2.2 Accessing SQL Server databases from a disk backup
    • 11.2.3 Attaching SQL Server databases
  • 11.3 Recovering Exchange Server data
    • 11.3.1 Recovering Exchange Server database files from a disk backup
    • 11.3.2 Mounting Exchange Server databases
    • 11.3.3 Granular recovery of mailboxes
  • 11.4 Recovering Active Directory data
    • 11.4.1 Recovering a domain controller (other DCs are available)
    • 11.4.2 Recovering a domain controller (no other DCs are available)
    • 11.4.3 Restoring the Active Directory database
    • 11.4.4 Restoring accidentally deleted information
    • 11.4.5 Avoiding a USN rollback
  • 11.5 Recovering SharePoint data
    • 11.5.1 Recovering a content database
    • 11.5.2 Recovering configuration and service databases
    • 11.5.3 Recovering individual items
• 12 Administering a managed machine
  • 12.1 Backup plans and tasks
    • 12.1.1 Actions on backup plans and tasks
    • 12.1.2 States and statuses of backup plans and tasks
      • 12.1.2.1 Backup plan execution states
      • 12.1.2.2 Backup plan statuses
      • 12.1.2.3 Task states
      • 12.1.2.4 Task statuses
    • 12.1.3 Export and import of backup plans
      • 12.1.3.1 Editing the export file
    • 12.1.4 Deploying backup plans as files
    • 12.1.5 Backup plan details
    • 12.1.6 Task/activity details
  • 12.2 Log
    • 12.2.1 Actions on log entries
    • 12.2.2 Log entry details
  • 12.3 Alerts
  • 12.4 Changing a license
  • 12.5 Collecting system information
  • 12.6 Adjusting machine options
    • 12.6.1 Additional settings
    • 12.6.2 Acronis Customer Experience Program
    • 12.6.3 Alerts
      • 12.6.3.1 Alert management
      • 12.6.3.2 Time-based alerts
    • 12.6.4 E-mail settings
      • 12.6.4.1 Alert notifications
    • 12.6.5 Event tracing
      • 12.6.5.1 SNMP notifications
      • 12.6.5.2 Setting up SNMP services on the receiving machine
      • 12.6.5.3 Windows event log
    • 12.6.6 Log cleanup rules
    • 12.6.7 Cloud backup proxy
• 13 Cloud backup
  • 13.1 Introduction to Acronis Cloud Backup
    • 13.1.1 What is Acronis Cloud Backup?
    • 13.1.2 What data can I back up and recover?
    • 13.1.3 How long will my backups be kept in the cloud storage?
    • 13.1.4 How do I secure my data?
    • 13.1.5 Supported operating systems and virtualization products
    • 13.1.6 Backup and recovery FAQ
      • 13.1.6.1 What backup methods are available?
      • 13.1.6.2 What recovery methods are available?
      • 13.1.6.3 Is the cloud storage available under Acronis bootable media?
      • 13.1.6.4 What if a network connection is lost during cloud backup or recovery?
      • 13.1.6.5 What happens if I run out of space?
      • 13.1.6.6 What is the cleanup task for?
      • 13.1.6.7 How do I make a recovered machine recognize its subscription?
    • 13.1.7 Initial Seeding FAQ
      • 13.1.7.1 What is Initial Seeding?
      • 13.1.7.2 Why would I want to use Initial Seeding?
      • 13.1.7.3 Is Initial Seeding a paid service?
      • 13.1.7.4 What types of hard drive can I use for Initial Seeding?
      • 13.1.7.5 Can I send more than one backup under a single Initial Seeding license?
      • 13.1.7.6 Can I send backups taken from a number of machines on a single hard drive?
      • 13.1.7.7 How to buy an Initial Seeding license?
      • 13.1.7.8 How do I perform initial seeding?
      • 13.1.7.9 How to package a hard drive for shipment?
      • 13.1.7.10 How do I track an Initial Seeding order status?
    • 13.1.8 Large Scale Recovery FAQ
      • 13.1.8.1 What is Large Scale Recovery?
      • 13.1.8.2 Why would I use Large Scale Recovery?
      • 13.1.8.3 Do I need to perform initial seeding to be able to use Large Scale Recovery?
      • 13.1.8.4 Is Large Scale Recovery a paid service?
      • 13.1.8.5 Can I perform large scale recovery on a different machine?
      • 13.1.8.6 Can I obtain backups taken from a number of machines on a single hard drive?
      • 13.1.8.7 How to buy a Large Scale Recovery license?
      • 13.1.8.8 How do I track a Large Scale Recovery order status?
      • 13.1.8.9 How to perform large scale recovery?
    • 13.1.9 Subscription lifecycle FAQ
      • 13.1.9.1 How do I access my account management webpage?
      • 13.1.9.2 Where do I find the subscriptions that I purchased?
      • 13.1.9.3 When does my subscription begin?
      • 13.1.9.4 What happens when my subscription expires?
      • 13.1.9.5 How do I renew a subscription?
        • Renewing a single subscription
        • Renewing a number of activated subscriptions at once
        • What does "Auto-renew" mean?
      • 13.1.9.6 What is the “Group” column for?
      • 13.1.9.7 Can I revoke a subscription from a machine?
      • 13.1.9.8 Can I cancel my subscription?
  • 13.2 Where do I start?
  • 13.3 Choosing a subscription
  • 13.4 Activating cloud backup subscriptions
    • 13.4.1 Activating subscriptions in Acronis Backup
    • 13.4.2 Reassigning an activated subscription
  • 13.5 Configuring proxy settings
  • 13.6 Retrieving files from the cloud storage by using a web browser
  • 13.7 Limitations of the cloud storage
  • 13.8 Terminology reference
• 14 Glossary
  • Acronis Active Restore
  • Acronis Plug-in for WinPE
  • Acronis Secure Zone
  • Acronis Startup Recovery Manager (ASRM)
  • Activity
  • Agent (Acronis Backup Agent)
  • Archive
  • Backup
  • Backup archive (Archive)
  • Backup operation
  • Backup options
  • Backup plan (Plan)
  • Backup scheme
  • Bootable agent
  • Bootable media
  • Built-in group
  • Cataloging
  • Centralized backup plan
  • Centralized management
  • Centralized task
  • Centralized vault
  • Cleanup
  • Console (Acronis Backup Management Console)
  • Consolidation
  • Data catalog
  • Deduplicating vault
  • Deduplication
  • Differential backup
  • Direct management
  • Disaster recovery plan (DRP)
  • Disk backup (Image)
  • Disk group
  • Dynamic disk
  • Dynamic group
  • Dynamic volume
  • Encrypted archive
  • Encrypted vault
  • Export
  • Full backup
  • GFS (Grandfather-Father-Son)
  • Image
  • Incremental backup
  • Indexing
  • Local backup plan
  • Local task
  • Logical volume
  • Machine
  • Managed machine
  • Managed vault
  • Management server (Acronis Backup Management Server)
  • Media builder
  • Personal vault
  • Plan
  • Recovery point
  • Registered machine
  • Registration
  • Replenishable pool
  • Replication
  • Retention rules
  • Single-pass backup
  • Static group
  • Storage node (Acronis Backup Storage Node)
  • Task
  • Tower of Hanoi
  • Unmanaged vault
  • Validation
  • Vault
  • Virtual machine
  • WinPE (Windows Preinstallation Environment)