Acronis Backup Recovery Workstation - 11.5 User Guide

Applies to the following editions:



Advanced Server



Virtual Edition



Advanced Server SBS Edition



Advanced Workstation



Server for Linux



Server for Windows



Workstation

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5

Update 1

User Guide

“Acronis” and “Acronis Secure Zone” are registered trademarks of Acronis International GmbH.

"Acronis Compute with Confidence", “Acronis Startup Recovery Manager”, “Acronis Active Restore”, “Acronis Instant Restore” and the Acronis logo are trademarks of Acronis International GmbH.

Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

VMware and VMware Ready are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of VMware, Inc. in the United States and/or other jurisdictions.

Windows and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

All other trademarks and copyrights referred to are the property of their respective owners.

Distribution of substantively modified versions of this document is prohibited without the explicit permission of the copyright holder.

Distribution of this work or derivative work in any standard (paper) book form for commercial purposes is prohibited unless prior permission is obtained from the copyright holder.

DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED CONDITIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, INCLUDING ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT, ARE DISCLAIMED, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH DISCLAIMERS ARE HELD TO BE LEGALLY INVALID.

Third party code may be provided with the Software and/or Service. The license terms for such third-parties are detailed in the license.txt file located in the root installation directory. You can always find the latest up-to-date list of the third party code and the associated license terms used with the Software and/or Service at http://kb.acronis.com/content/7696

Acronis patented technologies

Technologies used in this product are covered by the following patents: U.S. Patent # 7,047,380; U.S. Patent # 7,246,211; U.S. Patent # 7,318,135; U.S. Patent # 7,366,859; U.S. Patent # 7,636,824; U.S. Patent # 7,831,789; U.S. Patent # 7,886,120; U.S. Patent # 7,934,064; U.S. Patent # 7,949,635; U.S. Patent # 7,979,690; U.S. Patent # 8,069,320; U.S. Patent # 8,073,815; U.S. Patent # 8,074,035.

Table of contents

1 Introducing Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 ..........................................................................8

1.1 What's new in Update 1 ............................................................................................................ 8

1.2 What's new in Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 ....................................................................... 8

1.3 Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 components .......................................................................... 8

1.3.1 Agent for Windows ......................................................................................................................................... 9

1.3.2 Management Console ................................................................................................................................... 10

1.3.3 Bootable Media Builder ................................................................................................................................ 10

1.4 About the trial product version ...............................................................................................10

1.5 Supported file systems ............................................................................................................10

1.6 Technical Support ....................................................................................................................11

2 Getting started .................................................................................................................... 12

2.1 Using the management console ..............................................................................................13

2.1.1 "Navigation" pane ......................................................................................................................................... 14

2.1.2 Main area, views and action pages .............................................................................................................. 15

2.1.3 Console options ............................................................................................................................................. 18

3 Understanding Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 ................................................................... 21

3.1 Owners .....................................................................................................................................21

3.2 Credentials used in backup plans and tasks ............................................................................21

3.3 User privileges on a managed machine ...................................................................................23

3.4 List of Acronis services .............................................................................................................23

3.5 Full, incremental and differential backups ..............................................................................25

3.6 What does a disk or volume backup store?.............................................................................26

3.7 Backup and recovery of dynamic volumes (Windows) ............................................................27

3.8 Support for Advanced Format (4K-sector) hard disks .............................................................29

3.9 Support for UEFI-based machines ...........................................................................................30

3.10 Support for Windows 8 ............................................................................................................30

3.11 Compatibility with encryption software ..................................................................................31

3.12 Support for SNMP ....................................................................................................................32

4 Backup ................................................................................................................................ 34

4.1 Back up now .............................................................................................................................34

4.2 Creating a backup plan ............................................................................................................34

4.2.1 Selecting data to back up .............................................................................................................................. 36

4.2.2 Access credentials for source ....................................................................................................................... 37

4.2.3 Source files exclusion .................................................................................................................................... 38

4.2.4 Backup location selection ............................................................................................................................. 39

4.2.5 Access credentials for archive location ........................................................................................................ 41

4.2.6 Backup schemes ............................................................................................................................................ 42

4.2.7 Archive validation .......................................................................................................................................... 52

4.2.8 Backup plan's credentials ............................................................................................................................. 52

4.2.9 Label (Preserving machine properties in a backup) .................................................................................... 53

4.2.10 Sequence of operations in a backup plan ................................................................................................... 54

4.2.11 Why is the program asking for the password? ........................................................................................... 55

4.3 Simplified naming of backup files ............................................................................................55

4.3.1 The [DATE] variable ....................................................................................................................................... 56

4.3.2 Backup splitting and simplified file naming ................................................................................................. 57

4.3.3 Usage examples ............................................................................................................................................. 57

4.4 Scheduling ................................................................................................................................60

4.4.1 Daily schedule ................................................................................................................................................ 61

4.4.2 Weekly schedule ........................................................................................................................................... 63

4.4.3 Monthly schedule .......................................................................................................................................... 65

4.4.4 At Windows Event Log event ....................................................................................................................... 67

4.4.5 Conditions ...................................................................................................................................................... 69

4.5 Replication and retention of backups ......................................................................................72

4.5.1 Supported locations ...................................................................................................................................... 73

4.5.2 Setting up replication of backups ................................................................................................................. 74

4.5.3 Setting up retention of backups ................................................................................................................... 74

4.5.4 Retention rules for the Custom scheme ...................................................................................................... 75

4.5.5 Replication/cleanup inactivity time ............................................................................................................. 77

4.5.6 Usage examples ............................................................................................................................................. 77

4.6 Default backup options ............................................................................................................79

4.6.1 Additional settings......................................................................................................................................... 81

4.6.2 Archive protection ......................................................................................................................................... 82

4.6.3 Backup cataloging ......................................................................................................................................... 83

4.6.4 Backup performance ..................................................................................................................................... 84

4.6.5 Backup splitting ............................................................................................................................................. 85

4.6.6 Compression level ......................................................................................................................................... 86

4.6.7 Disaster recovery plan (DRP) ........................................................................................................................ 87

4.6.8 Error handling ................................................................................................................................................ 88

4.6.9 Event tracing .................................................................................................................................................. 88

4.6.10 Fast incremental/differential backup .......................................................................................................... 90

4.6.11 File-level backup snapshot ........................................................................................................................... 90

4.6.12 File-level security ........................................................................................................................................... 90

4.6.13 Media components ....................................................................................................................................... 91

4.6.14 Mount points ................................................................................................................................................. 92

4.6.15 Multi-volume snapshot ................................................................................................................................. 92

4.6.16 Notifications ................................................................................................................................................... 93

4.6.17 Pre/Post commands ...................................................................................................................................... 95

4.6.18 Pre/Post data capture commands ............................................................................................................... 96

4.6.19 Replication/cleanup inactivity time ............................................................................................................. 98

4.6.20 Sector-by-sector backup ............................................................................................................................... 99

4.6.21 Task failure handling ..................................................................................................................................... 99

4.6.22 Task start conditions ..................................................................................................................................... 99

4.6.23 Volume Shadow Copy Service .................................................................................................................... 100

5 Recovery ........................................................................................................................... 103

5.1 Creating a recovery task ........................................................................................................103

5.1.1 What to recover .......................................................................................................................................... 105

5.1.2 Access credentials for location ................................................................................................................... 108

5.1.3 Access credentials for destination ............................................................................................................. 108

5.1.4 Where to recover ........................................................................................................................................ 109

5.1.5 When to recover ......................................................................................................................................... 116

5.1.6 Task credentials ........................................................................................................................................... 116

5.2 Acronis Universal Restore ......................................................................................................117

5.2.1 Getting Universal Restore ........................................................................................................................... 117

5.2.2 Using Universal Restore .............................................................................................................................. 118

5.3 Recovering BIOS-based systems to UEFI-based and vice versa .............................................120

5.3.1 Recovering volumes .................................................................................................................................... 121

5.3.2 Recovering disks .......................................................................................................................................... 122

5.4 Acronis Active Restore ...........................................................................................................124

5.5 Bootability troubleshooting ...................................................................................................125

5.5.1 How to reactivate GRUB and change its configuration ............................................................................ 127

5.5.2 About Windows loaders ............................................................................................................................. 128

5.6 Reverting a Windows system to its factory settings..............................................................129

5.7 Default recovery options .......................................................................................................129

5.7.1 Additional settings....................................................................................................................................... 131

5.7.2 Error handling .............................................................................................................................................. 131

5.7.3 Event tracing ................................................................................................................................................ 132

5.7.4 File-level security ......................................................................................................................................... 133

5.7.5 Mount points ............................................................................................................................................... 133

5.7.6 Notifications ................................................................................................................................................. 134

5.7.7 Pre/Post commands .................................................................................................................................... 136

5.7.8 Recovery priority ......................................................................................................................................... 137

6 Conversion to a virtual machine ......................................................................................... 138

6.1 Conversion methods ..............................................................................................................138

6.2 Conversion to an automatically created virtual machine ......................................................138

6.2.1 Considerations before conversion ............................................................................................................. 139

6.2.2 Setting up regular conversion to a virtual machine .................................................................................. 140

6.2.3 Recovery to the ''New virtual machine'' destination ................................................................................ 143

6.3 Recovery to a manually created virtual machine ..................................................................146

6.3.1 Considerations before conversion ............................................................................................................. 146

6.3.2 Steps to perform ......................................................................................................................................... 147

7 Storing the backed up data ................................................................................................ 148

7.1 Vaults .....................................................................................................................................148

7.1.1 Working with vaults .................................................................................................................................... 149

7.1.2 Personal vaults ............................................................................................................................................ 149

7.2 Acronis Secure Zone ..............................................................................................................152

7.2.1 Creating Acronis Secure Zone .................................................................................................................... 152

7.2.2 Managing Acronis Secure Zone .................................................................................................................. 154

7.3 Removable devices ................................................................................................................155

8 Operations with archives and backups ............................................................................... 157

8.1 Validating archives and backups ............................................................................................157

8.1.1 Archive selection ......................................................................................................................................... 158

8.1.2 Backup selection .......................................................................................................................................... 158

8.1.3 Vault selection ............................................................................................................................................. 158

8.1.4 Access credentials for source ..................................................................................................................... 159

8.1.5 When to validate ......................................................................................................................................... 159

8.1.6 Task credentials ........................................................................................................................................... 160

8.2 Exporting archives and backups ............................................................................................160

8.2.1 Archive selection ......................................................................................................................................... 163

8.2.2 Backup selection .......................................................................................................................................... 163

8.2.3 Access credentials for source ..................................................................................................................... 163

8.2.4 Destination selection .................................................................................................................................. 164

8.2.5 Access credentials for destination ............................................................................................................. 165

8.3 Mounting an image ................................................................................................................166

8.3.1 Archive selection ......................................................................................................................................... 166

8.3.2 Backup selection .......................................................................................................................................... 167

8.3.3 Access credentials ....................................................................................................................................... 167

8.3.4 Volume selection ......................................................................................................................................... 167

8.3.5 Managing mounted images........................................................................................................................ 168

8.4 Operations available in vaults................................................................................................168

8.4.1 Operations with archives ............................................................................................................................ 169

8.4.2 Operations with backups ............................................................................................................................ 169

8.4.3 Converting a backup to full ......................................................................................................................... 170

8.4.4 Deleting archives and backups ................................................................................................................... 171

9 Bootable media ................................................................................................................. 172

9.1 How to create bootable media ..............................................................................................173

9.1.1 Linux-based bootable media ...................................................................................................................... 173

9.1.2 WinPE-based bootable media .................................................................................................................... 178

9.2 Connecting to a machine booted from media .......................................................................180

9.3 Working under bootable media ............................................................................................181

9.3.1 Setting up a display mode .......................................................................................................................... 181

9.3.2 Configuring iSCSI and NDAS devices .......................................................................................................... 181

9.4 List of commands and utilities available in Linux-based bootable media .............................182

9.5 Acronis Startup Recovery Manager .......................................................................................183

10 Disk management .............................................................................................................. 185

10.1 Supported file systems ..........................................................................................................185

10.2 Basic precautions ...................................................................................................................185

10.3 Running Acronis Disk Director Lite ........................................................................................186

10.4 Choosing the operating system for disk management ..........................................................186

10.5 "Disk management" view ......................................................................................................187

10.6 Disk operations ......................................................................................................................187

10.6.1 Disk initialization .......................................................................................................................................... 188

10.6.2 Basic disk cloning ......................................................................................................................................... 188

10.6.3 Disk conversion: MBR to GPT ..................................................................................................................... 190

10.6.4 Disk conversion: GPT to MBR ..................................................................................................................... 191

10.6.5 Disk conversion: basic to dynamic ............................................................................................................. 191

10.6.6 Disk conversion: dynamic to basic ............................................................................................................. 192

10.6.7 Changing disk status .................................................................................................................................... 193

10.7 Volume operations ................................................................................................................193

10.7.1 Creating a volume ....................................................................................................................................... 194

10.7.2 Delete volume ............................................................................................................................................. 197

10.7.3 Set active volume ........................................................................................................................................ 198

10.7.4 Change volume letter ................................................................................................................................. 198

10.7.5 Change volume label ................................................................................................................................... 199

10.7.6 Format volume ............................................................................................................................................ 199

10.8 Pending operations ................................................................................................................200

11 Administering a managed machine ..................................................................................... 201

11.1 Backup plans and tasks ..........................................................................................................201

11.1.1 Actions on backup plans and tasks ............................................................................................................ 201

11.1.2 States and statuses of backup plans and tasks ......................................................................................... 203

11.1.3 Export and import of backup plans ............................................................................................................ 206

11.1.4 Deploying backup plans as files .................................................................................................................. 209

11.1.5 Backup plan details ..................................................................................................................................... 210

11.1.6 Task/activity details ..................................................................................................................................... 211

11.2 Log ..........................................................................................................................................212

11.2.1 Actions on log entries.................................................................................................................................. 212

11.2.2 Log entry details .......................................................................................................................................... 213

11.3 Alerts ......................................................................................................................................213

11.4 Changing a license .................................................................................................................214

11.5 Collecting system information ...............................................................................................215

11.6 Adjusting machine options ....................................................................................................215

11.6.1 Additional settings....................................................................................................................................... 215

11.6.2 Acronis Customer Experience Program ..................................................................................................... 216

11.6.3 Alerts ............................................................................................................................................................ 216

11.6.4 E-mail settings ............................................................................................................................................. 217

11.6.5 Event tracing ................................................................................................................................................ 218

11.6.6 Log cleanup rules ......................................................................................................................................... 220

11.6.7 Online backup proxy ................................................................................................................................... 220

12 Online backup.................................................................................................................... 222

12.1 Introduction to Acronis Backup & Recovery Online ..............................................................222

12.1.1 What is Acronis Backup & Recovery Online? ............................................................................................ 222

12.1.2 What data can I back up and recover? ...................................................................................................... 222

12.1.3 How long will my backups be kept in the online storage? ....................................................................... 223

12.1.4 How to secure my data? ............................................................................................................................. 223

12.1.5 Backup and recovery FAQ .......................................................................................................................... 223

12.1.6 Initial Seeding FAQ ...................................................................................................................................... 225

12.1.7 Large Scale Recovery FAQ .......................................................................................................................... 230

12.1.8 Subscription lifecycle FAQ .......................................................................................................................... 232

12.2 Where do I start? ...................................................................................................................234

12.3 Choosing a subscription .........................................................................................................234

12.4 Activating online backup subscriptions .................................................................................235

12.4.1 Activating subscriptions .............................................................................................................................. 236

12.4.2 Reassigning an activated subscription ....................................................................................................... 236

12.5 Configuring proxy settings .....................................................................................................237

12.6 Retrieving files from the online storage by using a Web browser ........................................238

12.7 Limitations of the online storage ...........................................................................................239

12.8 Terminology reference ..........................................................................................................239

13 Glossary ............................................................................................................................ 242

1 Introducing Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5

1.1 What's new in Update 1

Basic support for Windows 8 (p. 30)

 Install Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 in Windows 8.  Boot a machine from bootable media that is based on WinPE 4.  Use bootable media on a machine where UEFI Secure Boot is enabled.  Back up and recover storage spaces.  Back up and recover (at a disk level) volumes where the Data Deduplication feature is enabled.

Other

 Completely disable backup cataloging.  Save a Disaster Recovery Plan (p. 87) to a local or network folder, in addition to sending it via

e-mail.

 Enable VSS Full backup (p. 100) to truncate logs of VSS-aware applications after a disk-level

backup.

 Boot a UEFI machine from bootable media that is based on 64-bit WinPE (p. 178).  Add the %description% variable (the description shown in system properties of a Windows

machine) to the e-mail notification subject (p. 93).

1.2 What's new in Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5

The following is a summary of the product's new features and enhancements.

Support for various types of storage

Acronis Online Backup Storage

 Replicating or moving backups to Acronis Online Backup Storage (p. 78).  The Grandfather-Father-Son and Tower of Hanoi backup schemes are now available when

backing up to Acronis Online Backup Storage.

Bootable media

 New Linux kernel version (3.4.5) in Linux-based bootable media. The new kernel makes for better

hardware support.

Usability

 Support for 800x600 screen resolution.

1.3 Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 components

This section contains a list of Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 components with a brief description of their functionality.

Components for a managed machine (agents)

These are applications that perform data backup, recovery and other operations on the machines managed with Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5. Agents require a license to perform operations on each managed machine. Agents have multiple features, or add-ons, that enable additional functionality and so might require additional licenses.

Console

The console provides Graphical User Interface to the agents. Usage of the console is not licensed. In stand-alone editions of Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5, the console is installed together with the agent and cannot be disconnected from it.

Bootable Media Builder

With Bootable Media Builder, you can create bootable media in order to use the agents and other rescue utilities in a rescue environment. In stand-alone editions of Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5, Bootable Media Builder is installed together with the agent. All add-ons to the agent, if installed, will be available in a rescue environment.

1.3.1 Agent for Windows

This agent enables disk-level and file-level data protection under Windows.

Disk backup

Disk-level data protection is based on backing up either a disk or a volume file system as a whole, along with all the information necessary for the operating system to boot; or all the disk sectors using the sector-by-sector approach (raw mode). A backup that contains a copy of a disk or a volume in a packaged form is called a disk (volume) backup or a disk (volume) image. It is possible to recover disks or volumes as a whole from such backup, as well as individual folders or files.

File backup

File-level data protection is based on backing up files and folders residing on the machine where the agent is installed or on a network share. Files can be recovered to their original location or to another place. It is possible to recover all files and folders that were backed up or select which of them to recover.

Other operations

Conversion to a virtual machine

Agent for Windows performs the conversion by recovering a disk backup to a new virtual machine of any of the following types: VMware Workstation, Microsoft Virtual PC, Citrix XenServer Open Virtual Appliance (OVA) or Red Hat Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM). Files of the fully configured and operational machine will be placed in the folder you select. You can start the machine using the respective virtualization software or prepare the machine files for further usage.

Disk management

Agent for Windows includes Acronis Disk Director Lite - a handy disk management utility. Disk management operations, such as cloning disks; converting disks; creating, formatting and deleting volumes; changing a disk partitioning style between MBR and GPT or changing a disk label, can be performed either in the operating system or using bootable media.

1.3.1.1 Universal Restore

The Universal Restore add-on enables you to use the restore to dissimilar hardware functionality on the machine where the agent is installed and create bootable media with this functionality. Universal Restore handles differences in devices that are critical for the operating system start-up, such as storage controllers, motherboard or chipset.

1.3.2 Management Console

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 Management Console is an administrative tool for local access to Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 agent. Remote connection to the agent is not possible.

1.3.3 Bootable Media Builder

Acronis Bootable Media Builder is a dedicated tool for creating bootable media (p. 245). The media builder that installs on Windows can create bootable media based on either Windows Preinstallation Environment, or Linux kernel.

The Universal Restore (p. 10) add-on enables you to create bootable media with the restore to dissimilar hardware functionality. Universal Restore handles differences in devices that are critical for Windows start-up, such as storage controllers, motherboard or chipset.

1.4 About the trial product version

Before buying an Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 license, you may want to try the software. The trial key required at installation can be obtained on the Acronis Web site.

Limitations of the trial version

The Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 trial version has the following limitation:

 The Universal Restore functionality is disabled.

Additional limitations for bootable media:

 The disk management functionality is not available. You can try the user interface, but there is no

option to commit the changes.

 The recovery functionality is available, but the backup functionality is not. To try the backup

functionality, install the software in the operating system.

Upgrading from trial to full product version

To upgrade from the trial version to the standard product you do not need to re-download the software. When the trial period is over, the product GUI displays a notification requesting you to specify a standard license key.

To specify the standard license key, use the Change License (p. 214) window in the management console. Specifying the standard key by running the setup program is not possible.

1.5 Supported file systems

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 can back up and recover the following file systems with the following limitations:

 FAT16/32  NTFS  ReFS - volume recovery without the volume resize capability. Supported in Windows Server 2012

(p. 30) only.

 Ext2/Ext3/Ext4  ReiserFS3 - particular files cannot be recovered from disk backups located on Acronis Backup &

Recovery 11.5 Storage Node

 ReiserFS4 - volume recovery without the volume resize capability; particular files cannot be

recovered from disk backups located on Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 Storage Node

 XFS - volume recovery without the volume resize capability; particular files cannot be recovered

from disk backups located on Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 Storage Node

 JFS - particular files cannot be recovered from disk backups located on Acronis Backup &

Recovery 11.5 Storage Node

 Linux SWAP

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 can back up and recover corrupted or non-supported file systems using the sector-by-sector approach.

1.6 Technical Support

Maintenance and Support Program

If you need assistance with your Acronis product, please go to http://www.acronis.com/support/

Product Updates

You can download the latest updates for all your registered Acronis software products from our website at any time after logging into your Account (https://www.acronis.com/my) and registering the product. See Registering Acronis Products at the Website (http://kb.acronis.com/content/4834) and Acronis Website User Guide (http://kb.acronis.com/content/8128).

2 Getting started

1. Select Tools > Create bootable media in the menu.

2. Click Next in the welcome screen. Keep clicking Next until the list of components appears.

3. Proceed as described in "Linux-based bootable media" (p. 173).

Step 1. Installation

These brief installation instructions enable you to start using the product quickly. For the complete description of installation methods and procedures, please refer to the Installation documentation.

Before installation, make sure that:

 Your hardware meets the system requirements.  You have license keys for the edition of your choice.  You have the setup program. You can download it from the Acronis Web site.

To install Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5

Run the Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 setup program and follow the on-screen instructions.

Step 2. Running

Run Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 by selecting Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 from the Start menu.

For understanding of the GUI elements see "Using the management console" (p. 13).

Step 3. Bootable media

To be able to recover an operating system that fails to start, or deploy it on bare metal, create bootable media.

Step 4. Backup

Back up now (p. 34)

Click Back up now to do a one-time backup in a few simple steps. The backup process will start immediately after you perform the required steps.

To save your machine to a file:

Under Where to back up, click Location, and select the location where the backup will be saved. Click OK to confirm your selection. Click OK at the bottom of the window to start the backup.

Tip. Using the bootable media, you can do off-line ("cold") backups in the same way as in the operating system.

Create backup plan (p. 34)

Create a backup plan if you need a long-term backup strategy including backup schemes, schedules and conditions, timely deleting of backups, or moving them to different locations.

Step 5. Recovery

Recover (p. 103)

To recover data, you need to select the backed up data and the destination the data will be recovered to. As a result, a recovery task will be created.

Recovery of a disk or volume over a volume locked by the operating system requires a reboot. After the recovery is completed, the recovered operating system goes online automatically.

If the machine fails to boot or if you need to recover a system to bare metal, boot the machine using the bootable media and configure the recovery operation in the same way as the recovery task.

Step 6. Management

The Navigation pane (at the left part of the console) enables you to navigate across the product views that are used for different administering purposes.

 Use the Backup plans and tasks view to manage backup plans and tasks: run, edit, stop and

delete plans and tasks, view their states and progress.

 Use the Alerts view to rapidly identify and solve the problems.  Use the Log view to browse the operations log.  The location where you store backup archives is called a vault (p. 255). Navigate to the

Vaults (p. 148) view to obtain information about your vaults. Navigate further to the specific vault to view backups and their contents. You can also select the data to recover and perform manual operations with backups (mounting, validating, deleting).

2.1 Using the management console

As soon as the console starts, the respective items appear across the console's workspace (in the menu, in the main area with the Welcome screen, or in the Navigation pane) enabling you to perform machine-specific operations.

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 Management Console - Welcome screen

Name

Description

Navigation pane

Contains the Navigation tree. Lets you navigate to the different views. For details, see Navigation pane (p. 14).

Main area

Here you configure and monitor backup, recovery and other operations. The main area displays views and action pages (p. 15) depending on the items selected in the menu or Navigation tree.

Menu bar

Appears across the top of the program window. Lets you perform most of operations available in Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5. The menu items change dynamically depending on the item selected in the Navigation tree and the main area.

Key elements of the console workspace

2.1.1 "Navigation" pane

The navigation pane includes the Navigation tree.

Navigation tree

The Navigation tree enables you to navigate across the program views. You can choose between the Full list or the Short list of views. The Short list contains the most frequently used views from the Full list.

The Short list displays

 [Machine name]. This is the root of the tree also called a Welcome screen. It displays the

name of the machine the console is currently connected to. Use this view for quick access to the main operations, available on the managed machine.

 Backup plans and tasks. Use this view to manage backup plans and tasks on the

managed machine: run, edit, stop and delete plans and tasks, view their progress.

 Vaults. Use this view to manage personal vaults and archives stored in there, add new

vaults, rename and delete the existing ones, validate vaults, explore backup content, perform operations on archives and backups, etc.

 Alerts. Use this view to examine warning messages for the managed machine.

The Full list additionally displays

 Disk management. Use this view to perform operations on the machine's hard disk

drives.

 Log. Use this view to examine information on operations performed by the program on

the managed machine.

 Mounted images. This node is displayed if at least one volume is mounted. Use this view

to manage mounted images.

Operations with pane

How to expand/minimize panes

By default, the Navigation pane appears expanded. You might need to minimize the pane in order to free some additional workspace. To do this, click the chevron ( ). The pane will be minimized and the chevron changes its direction ( ). Click the chevron once again to expand the pane.

How to change the panes' borders

1. Point to the pane's border.

2. When the pointer becomes a double-headed arrow, drag the pointer to move the border.

2.1.2 Main area, views and action pages

The main area is a basic place where you work with the console. Here you create, edit and manage backup plans, recovery tasks and perform other operations. The main area displays different views and action pages according the items you select in the menu, or Navigation tree.

2.1.2.1 Views

Do the following

Sort items by any column

Click a column's header to sort items in ascending order.

Click it once again to sort items in descending order.

A view appears on the main area when clicking any item in the Navigation tree in the Navigation pane (p. 14).

"Log" view

Common way of working with views

Generally, every view contains a table of items, a table toolbar with buttons, and the Information panel.

 Use filtering and sorting (p. 16) capabilities to search the table for the item in question.  In the table, select the desired item.  In the information panel (collapsed by default), view the item's details. To expand the panel, click

the arrow mark ( ).

 Perform actions on the selected item. There are several ways of performing the same action on

selected items:

 By clicking the buttons on the table toolbar.  By selecting the items in the Actions menu.  By right-clicking the item and selecting the operation in the context menu.

Sorting, filtering and configuring table items

The following is a guideline to sort, filter and configure table items in any view.

Filter items by predefined column value

In a field below the corresponding column's header, select the required value from the drop-down list.

Filter items by entered value

In a field below the corresponding column's header, type a value.

As a result you will see the list of values, fully or just partly coincide with the entered value.

Filter items by predefined parameters

Depending on the view, you can filter a table items by some predefined parameters. To do this, click the respective buttons or links at the top of the table.

For example:

 In the Log view, you can filter the event entries by clicking buttons

associated with the result: Succeeded, Succeeded with warnings, or Failed.

 The Log view has the activity start time as the default parameter, and

three predefined settings for filtering activities by this parameter (All available, For last 3 months, or For custom period) are placed at the top

of the Log view.

Show or hide table columns

By default, any table has a fixed number of columns that are shown, others are hidden. If required, you can hide the shown columns and show the hidden ones.

To show or hide columns

1. Right-click any column header to open the context menu.

2. Click the items you want to be displayed/hidden.

2.1.2.2 Action pages

An action page appears in the main area when clicking any action item in the Actions menu. It contains steps you need to perform in order to create and launch any task or a backup plan.

Action page - Create backup plan

Using controls and specifying settings

Use active controls to specify a backup plan or recovery task settings and parameters. By default, such fields as credentials, options, comments, and some others are hidden. Most settings are configured by clicking the respective Show… links. Others are selected from the drop-down list, or typed manually in the page's fields.

Action page - Controls

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 remembers the changes you made on the action pages. For example, if you started to create a backup plan, and then for any reason switched to another view without accomplishing the plan creation, you can click the Back navigation button on the menu. Or, if you have passed several steps forward, click the Down arrow and select the page where you started the plan creation from the list. Thus, you can perform the remaining steps and accomplish the backup plan creation.

Navigation buttons

2.1.3 Console options

The console options define the way information is represented in the Graphical User Interface of Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5.

To access the console options, select Options > Console options from the top menu.

2.1.3.1 Alert display options

The option specifies which alerts to show and which to hide in the Alerts view.

The preset is: All alerts.

To show (hide) alerts, select (clear) the check boxes next to the respective alert types.

2.1.3.2 Credentials cache

The option specifies whether to store the credentials entered while using the management console.

The preset is: Enabled.

If the option is enabled, the credentials for various locations that you enter during a console session are saved for use during later sessions. In Windows, the credentials are stored in the Windows Credential Manager. In Linux, the credentials are stored in a special encrypted file.

If the option is disabled, the credentials are stored only until the console is closed.

To clear the credentials cache for the current user account, click the Clear credentials cache button.

2.1.3.3 Fonts

The option defines the fonts to be used in the Graphical User Interface of Acronis Backup & Recovery

11.5. The Menu font setting affects the drop-down and context menus. The Application font setting affects all other GUI elements.

The preset is: System Default font for both the menus and the application interface items.

To make a selection, choose the font from the respective combo-box and set the font's properties. You can preview the font's appearance by clicking Browse to the right.

2.1.3.4 Pop-up messages

The “Activities Need Interaction” dialog

This option defines whether to display a pop-up window when one or more activities require user interaction. This window enables you to specify your decision, such as to confirm reboot or to retry after freeing-up the disk space, on all the activities in the same place. Until at least one activity requires interaction, you can open this window at any time from the managed machine's welcome screen. Alternatively, you can review the task execution states in the Backup plans and tasks view and specify your decision on each task in the information panel.

The preset is: Enabled.

To make a selection, select or clear the The “Activities Need Interaction” dialog check box.

The “Feedback Confirmation” dialog

This option defines whether to display a pop-up window with the information about your system after an error occurs. You can send this information to Acronis technical support.

The preset is: Enabled.

To make a selection, select or clear the The “Feedback Confirmation” dialog check box.

Notify if bootable media is not created

This option defines whether to display a pop-up window when the management console is launched on a machine and no bootable media has been created on that machine.

The preset is: Enabled.

To make a selection, select or clear the Notify if bootable media is not created check box.

Notify when the management console is connected to a component of a different version

This option defines whether to display a pop-up window when a console is connected to an agent and their versions differ.

The preset is: Enabled.

To make a selection, select or clear the Notify when the management console is connected to a

component of a different version check box.

Request description when ejecting a tape

This option defines whether to display a prompt for you to describe a tape when you eject it from a tape device by using Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5. For example, you may describe the physical location where the tape will be kept (recommended). If a tape is ejected automatically according to the Eject tapes after successful backups option, no such prompt is displayed.

The preset is: Enabled.

To make a selection, select or clear the Request description when ejecting a tape check box.

About the task execution results

The option defines whether to display the pop-up messages about task run results: successful completion, failure or success with warnings. When the displaying of pop-up messages is disabled, you can review the task execution states and results in the Backup plans and tasks view.

The preset is: Enabled for all results.

To make a setting for each result (successful completion, failure or success with warnings) individually, select or clear the respective check box.

3 Understanding Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5

This section attempts to give its readers a clear understanding of the product so that they can use the product in various circumstances without step-by-step instructions.

3.1 Owners

This section explains the concept of a backup plan (task) owner and an archive owner.

Plan (task) owner

A local backup plan owner is the user who created or last modified the plan.

Tasks, belonging to a backup plan, are owned by the backup plan owner.

Tasks that do not belong to a backup plan, such as the recovery task, are owned by the user who has created or last modified the task.

Managing a plan (task) owned by another user

Having Administrator privileges on the machine, a user can modify tasks and local backup plans owned by any user registered in the operating system.

When a user opens a plan or task for editing, which is owned by another user, all passwords set in the task are cleared. This prevents the "modify settings, leave passwords" trick. The program displays a warning each time you are trying to edit a plan (task) last modified by another user. On seeing the warning, you have two options:

 Click Cancel and create your own plan or task. The original task will remain intact.  Continue editing. You will have to enter all credentials required for the plan or task execution.

Archive owner

An archive owner is the user who saved the archive to the destination. To be more precise, this is the user whose account was specified when creating the backup plan in the Where to back up step. By default, the plan's credentials are used.

3.2 Credentials used in backup plans and tasks

This section explains the concept of access credentials, backup plan's credentials and task credentials.

Access credentials

When browsing backup locations, setting up backups, or creating recovery tasks, you may need to provide credentials for accessing various resources, such as the data you are going to back up or the location where the backups are (or will be) stored.

If the Credentials cache (p. 19) option is enabled (it is enabled by default), the credentials which you provide during a console session are saved for use during the later sessions. Thus, there is no need to enter the credentials next time. The credentials are cached independently for each user who uses the console on the machine.

Backup plan's credentials

Any backup plan running on a machine runs on behalf of a user.

In Windows

By default, the plan runs under the agent service account, if created by a user having administrative privileges on the machine. If created by a regular user, such as a member of the Users group, the plan runs under this user's account.

When creating a backup plan, you will only be asked for credentials in specific cases. For example:

 You are scheduling backups as a regular user and did not enter credentials when connecting the

console to the machine. This may be the case when you are using a stand-alone product edition or connected the console by clicking Manage this machine.

 You are backing up a Microsoft Exchange cluster to a storage node.

Specifying the credentials explicitly

You have the option to explicitly specify a user account under which the backup plan will run. To do this, on the backup plan creation page:

1. In the Plan parameters section, click Show plan's credentials, comments, label.

2. Click Plan's credentials.

3. Enter the credentials under which the plan will run. When entering the name of an Active

Directory user account, be sure to also specify the domain name (DOMAIN\Username or Username@domain).

In Linux

You do not need to specify backup plan's credentials. In Linux, backup plans always run under the root user account.

Task credentials

Like a backup plan, any task runs on behalf of a user.

In Windows

When creating a task, you have the option to explicitly specify an account under which the task will run. Your choice depends on whether the task is intended for manual start or for executing on schedule.

 Manual start

Every time you manually start the task, the task will run under the credentials with which you are currently logged on. Any person that has administrative privileges on the machine can also start the task. The task will run under this person's credentials.

The task will always run under the same credentials, regardless of the user who actually starts the task, if you specify the task credentials explicitly.

 Scheduled or postponed start

The task credentials are mandatory. You cannot complete the task creation until you specify the task credentials. Task credentials are specified on the task creation page in a similar manner as the plan’s credentials are specified.

In Linux

Service name

Purpose

Account used by the service

Privileges added to the account

User rights

Group

membership

Permissions on registry

keys

You do not need to specify task credentials. In Linux, tasks always run under the root user account.

3.3 User privileges on a managed machine

When managing a machine running Windows, the scope of a user's management rights depends on the user's privileges on the machine.

Regular users

A regular user, such as a member of the Users group, has the following management rights:

 Perform file-level backup and recovery of the files that the user has permissions to access—but

without using a file-level backup snapshot (p. 90).

 Create backup plans and tasks and manage them.  View—but not manage—backup plans and tasks created by other users.  View the local event log.

Backup operators

A user who is a member of the Backup Operators group, also has the following management right:

 Back up and recover the entire machine or any data on the machine, with or without using a disk

snapshot. Using a hardware snapshot provider may still require administrative privileges.

Administrators

A user who is a member of the Administrators group, also has the following management right:

 View and manage backup plans and tasks owned by any user on the machine.

3.4 List of Acronis services

During installation, Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 creates several services. Some of these services can be used by other Acronis products installed on the machine.

Services of Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5

The services include the main service and a number of auxiliary services.

The main service can run under a dedicated account or under an account you specify during installation. Either of the accounts is given privileges that are needed for the service to work. The privileges include a set of user rights, membership in security groups, and the Full Control permissions on registry keys in the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Acronis. There are no permissions granted on other registry keys.

The following table lists the services of Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 and the privileges for their accounts.

Service name

Purpose

Account used by the service

Privileges added to the account

User rights

Group

membership

Permissions on registry

keys

Acronis Managed Machine Service

(Main service)

Backing up and recovering data on the machine

Acronis Agent User (new

account) or user-specified account

Log on as a service

Adjust memory quotas for a process

Replace a process level token

Modify firmware environment values

Backup Operators

(for any account)

Administrators

(for new account only)

BackupAndRecovery

Encryption

Global

MMS

Acronis VSS Provider

(Auxiliary service; created only in a Windows Server operating system)

Using a Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) provider (p. 100) that comes with Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5

Local System

No additional privileges

Acronis Removable Storage Management Service

(Auxiliary service)

Managing locally attached tape devices

Local System

No additional privileges

Common services for Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 and other Acronis products

Service name

Purpose

Account used by the service

Acronis Remote Agent Service

Providing connectivity among Acronis components

Local System (Windows Vista and later)

NetworkService (earlier than Windows Vista)

Acronis Scheduler2 Service

Providing scheduling for tasks performed by Acronis components

Local System

The following services are shared with other Acronis products installed on the machine. These services run under a system account. No additional privileges are given to the account.

Dependencies on other services

Acronis Managed Machine Service depends on the following standard Windows services: Remote Procedure Call (RPC), Protected Storage, and Windows Management Instrumentation. This service

also depends on Acronis Scheduler2 Service.

To view the list of dependencies for a service, do the following:

1. In the Services snap-in, double-click the name of the service.

2. On the Dependencies tab, examine the This service depends… field.

3.5 Full, incremental and differential backups

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 provides the capability to use popular backup schemes, such as Grandfather-Father-Son and Tower of Hanoi, as well as to create custom backup schemes. All backup schemes are based on full, incremental and differential backup methods. The term "scheme" in fact denotes the algorithm of applying these methods plus the algorithm of the archive cleanup.

Comparing backup methods with each other does not make much sense because the methods work as a team in a backup scheme. Each method should play its specific role according to its advantages. A competent backup scheme will benefit from the advantages of all backup methods and lessen the

influence of all the methods’ shortcomings. For example, weekly differential backup facilitates

archive cleanup because it can be easily deleted along with the weekly set of daily incremental backups depending on it.

Backing up with the full, incremental or differential backup method results in a backup (p. 243) of the corresponding type.

Full backup

A full backup stores all data selected for backup. A full backup underlies any archive and forms the base for incremental and differential backups. An archive can contain multiple full backups or consist of only full backups. A full backup is self-sufficient - you do not need access to any other backup to recover data from a full backup.

It is widely accepted that a full backup is the slowest to do but the fastest to restore. With Acronis technologies, recovery from an incremental backup may be not slower than recovery from a full one.

A full backup is most useful when:

 you need to roll back the system to its initial state  this initial state does not change often, so there is no need for regular backup.

Example: An Internet cafe, school or university lab where the administrator often undoes changes made by the students or guests but rarely updates the reference backup (in fact, after installing software updates only). The backup time is not crucial in this case and the recovery time will be minimal when recovering the systems from the full backup. The administrator can have several copies of the full backup for additional reliability.

Incremental backup

An incremental backup stores changes to the data against the latest backup. You need access to other backups from the same archive to recover data from an incremental backup.

An incremental backup is most useful when:

 you need the possibility to roll back to any one of multiple saved states

Parameter

Full backup

Differential backup

Incremental backup

Storage space

Maximal

Medium

Minimal

Creation time

Maximal

Medium

Minimal

Recovery time

Minimal

Medium

Maximal

 the data changes tend to be small as compared to the total data size.

It is widely accepted that incremental backups are less reliable than full ones because if one backup in the "chain" is corrupted, the next ones can no longer be used. However, storing multiple full backups is not an option when you need multiple prior versions of your data, because reliability of an oversized archive is even more questionable.

Example: Backing up a database transaction log.

Differential backup

A differential backup stores changes to the data against the latest full backup. You need access to the corresponding full backup to recover the data from a differential backup. A differential backup is most useful when:

 you are interested in saving only the most recent data state  the data changes tend to be small as compared to the total data size.

The typical conclusion is: "differential backups take longer to do and are faster to restore, while incremental ones are quicker to do and take longer to restore." In fact, there is no physical difference between an incremental backup appended to a full backup and a differential backup appended to the same full backup at the same point of time. The above mentioned difference implies creating a differential backup after (or instead of) creating multiple incremental backups.

An incremental or differential backup created after disk defragmentation might be considerably larger than usual because defragmentation changes file locations on the disk and the backup reflects these changes. It is recommended that you re-create a full backup after disk defragmentation.

The following table summarizes the advantages and shortcomings of each backup type as they appear based on common knowledge. In real life, these parameters depend on numerous factors such as the amount, speed and pattern of data changes; the nature of the data, the physical specifications of the devices, the backup/recovery options you set, to name a few. Practice is the best guide to selecting the optimal backup scheme.

3.6 What does a disk or volume backup store?

A disk or volume backup stores a disk or a volume file system as a whole and includes all of the information necessary for the operating system to boot. It is possible to recover disks or volumes as a whole from such backups as well as individual folders or files.

Windows

A volume backup stores all files and folders of the selected volume independent of their attributes (including hidden and system files), the boot record, the file allocation table (FAT) if it exists, the root and the zero track of the hard disk with the master boot record (MBR).

A disk backup stores all volumes of the selected disk (including hidden volumes such as the vendor's maintenance partitions) and the zero track with the master boot record.

The following items are not included in a disk or volume backup (as well as in a file-level backup):

 The swap file (pagefile.sys) and the file that keeps the RAM content when the machine goes

into hibernation (hiberfil.sys). After recovery, the files will be re-created in the appropriate place with the zero size.

 Windows shadow storage. The path to it is determined in the registry value VSS Default

Provider which can be found in the registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\BackupRestore\FilesNotToBa ckup. This means that in operating systems starting from Windows Vista, Windows Restore

Points are not backed up.

Linux

A volume backup stores all files and directories of the selected volume independent of their attributes, a boot record, and the file system super block.

A disk backup stores all disk volumes as well as the zero track with the master boot record.

With the sector-by-sector (raw mode) option enabled, a disk backup stores all the disk sectors. The sector-by-sector backup can be used for backing up disks with unrecognized or unsupported file systems and other proprietary data formats.

3.7 Backup and recovery of dynamic volumes

(Windows)

This section explains in brief how to back up and recover dynamic volumes (p. 250) using Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5.

A dynamic volume is a volume located on dynamic disks (p. 249), or more exactly, on a disk group (p.

248). Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 supports the following dynamic volume types/RAID levels:

 simple/spanned  striped (RAID 0)  mirrored (RAID 1)  a mirror of stripes (RAID 0+1)  RAID-5.

Backing up dynamic volumes

Dynamic volumes are backed up in the same way as basic volumes. When creating a backup plan through the GUI, all types of volumes are available for selection as Items to back up. When using the command line, specify the dynamic volumes with the DYN prefix.

Command line examples

acrocmd backup disk --volume=DYN1,DYN2 --loc=\\srv1\backups

--credentials=netuser1,pass1 --arc=dyn1_2_arc

This will back up volumes DYN1 and DYN2 to a network shared folder.

acrocmd backup disk --volume=DYN --loc=\\srv1\backups --credentials=netuser1,pass1

--arc=alldyn_arc

This will back up all dynamic volumes of the local machine to a network shared folder.

Recovering dynamic volumes

A dynamic volume can be recovered:

 Over any type of existing volume.

Backup (source):

Recovered to:

Dynamic volume

Basic volume

Dynamic volume

Type as of the target

Dynamic volume

Type as of the target

Unallocated space (disk group)

Dynamic volume

Type as of the source

Dynamic volume

Simple

Basic volume or unallocated space on a basic disk

Basic volume

 To unallocated space of a disk group.  To unallocated space of a basic disk.  To a disk which has not been initialized.

Recovery over an existing volume

When a dynamic volume is recovered over an existing volume, either basic or dynamic, the target volume’s data is overwritten with the backup content. The type of target volume (basic, simple/spanned, striped, mirrored, RAID 0+1, RAID-5) will not change. The target volume size has to be enough to accommodate the backup content.

Recovery to disk group unallocated space

When recovering a dynamic volume to disk group unallocated space, the software preserves the volume's original type and size. If the disk group configuration does not allow for the original volume type, the volume will be recovered as a simple or spanned volume. If this volume does not fit the unallocated space, the volume will be resized by decreasing its free space.

Examples of when the disk group configuration does not allow the original type of the volume

Example 1. The group contains fewer disks than is required for the dynamic volume. Assume you

are going to recover an 80 GB RAID-5 volume that had resided on three disks, to a disk group consisting of two disks. The total size of unallocated space is 100 GB: 40 GB on the first disk and 60 GB on the second. The RAID-5 volume will be recovered as a spanned volume across two disks.

Example 2. Unallocated space distribution does not allow recovery of certain types of dynamic volumes. Assume you are going to recover a 30 GB striped volume to a disk group consisting of two disks. The total size of unallocated space is 50 GB: 10 GB on the first disk and 40 GB on the second. The striped volume will be recovered to the second disk as simple.

Recovery to a disk that has not been initialized

In this case, the target disk will be automatically initialized to the MBR partitioning style. The dynamic volumes will be recovered as basic ones. If the volumes cannot fit into unallocated space, they will be proportionally resized (by decreasing their free space).

The table below demonstrates the resulting volume types depending on the backed up source and the recovery target.

Moving and resizing volumes during recovery

You can manually resize the resulting basic volume during recovery, or change the volume's location on the disk. A resulting dynamic volume cannot be moved or resized manually.

Preparing disk groups and volumes

Before recovering dynamic volumes to bare metal you should create a disk group on the target hardware.

You also might need to create or increase unallocated space on an existing disk group. This can be done by deleting volumes or converting basic disks to dynamic.

You might want to change the target volume type (basic, simple/spanned, striped, mirrored, RAID 0+1, RAID 5). This can be done by deleting the target volume and creating a new volume on the resulting unallocated space.

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 includes a handy disk management utility which enables you to perform the above operations both under the operating system and on bare metal. To find out more about Acronis Disk Director Lite, see the Disk management (p. 185) section.

3.8 Support for Advanced Format (4K-sector) hard disks

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 can back up hard disks with a sector size of 4 KB (known as Advanced Format disks), as well as traditional hard disks that have 512-byte sectors.

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 can recover data from one disk to another as long as both disks have the same logical sector size. (This is the sector size presented to the operating system.) Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 automatically aligns the disk’s volumes (p. 114) if necessary. This way, the start of a cluster in the file system always matches the start of a physical sector on the disk.

The disk management (p. 185) functionality of Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 is not available for disks with a 4-KB logical sector size.

Determining the logical sector size

By disk specification

Development of the Advanced Format technology is coordinated by the International Disk Drive Equipment and Materials Association (IDEMA). For more details, see http://www.idema.org/?page_id=2.

In terms of the logical sector size, IDEMA specifies two types of Advanced Format disks:

 512 Byte emulation (512e) disks have a 512-byte logical sector size. These disks are supported in

Windows starting from Windows Vista, and in modern Linux distributions. Microsoft and Western Digital use the term “Advanced Format” exclusively for this type of disk.

 4K native (4Kn) disks have a 4-KB logical sector size. Modern operating systems can store data on

these disks, but generally cannot boot from these disks. These disks are commonly external drives with USB connection.

By running the appropriate command

To find out the logical sector size of a disk, do the following.

1. Make sure that the disk contains an NTFS volume.

2. Run the following command as an administrator, specifying the drive letter of the NTFS volume:

fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo D:

3. Examine the value in the Bytes Per Sector line. For example, the output may be the following:

Bytes Per Sector : 512

3.9 Support for UEFI-based machines

Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 can back up and recover machines that use Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) in the same way as it does for machines that use BIOS for booting.

This applies to both physical and virtual machines, no matter if the virtual machines are backed up at a hypervisor level or from inside a guest OS.

For details about transferring Windows machines between UEFI and BIOS, see "Recovering BIOS-based systems to UEFI-based or vice versa" (p. 120).

Limitations

 WinPE-based bootable media of a version earlier than 4.0 does not support UEFI booting. Use

WinPE 4.0–based or Linux-based bootable media on machines with UEFI boot firmware.

 Acronis Active Restore (p. 242) is not available on UEFI machines.  Acronis Startup Recovery Manager (ASRM) (p. 242) on UEFI machines can be activated only in

Windows.

3.10 Support for Windows 8

This section describes how Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 supports features that are introduced in the Windows 8 operating system.

Limitations

 Acronis Disk Director Lite (p. 185) is not available under Windows 8 and bootable media based on

WinPE 4.0.

 The Windows To Go feature of Windows 8 is not supported.

WinPE 4.0

Acronis Media Builder can create bootable media based on version 4 of Windows Preinstallation Environment (WinPE).

WinPE 4.0 supports new features of Windows 8 (see later in this section). It is also the only WinPE version that can boot on machines that use Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI).

To create bootable media based on WinPE 4.0, you need Windows Assessment and Deployment Kit (ADK) for Windows 8. For more details, see “How to create bootable media” (p. 173).

UEFI Secure Boot

On a machine that runs Windows 8 and uses UEFI, the Secure Boot feature of UEFI may be turned on. Secure Boot ensures that only trusted boot loaders can boot the machine.

By using Acronis Media Builder, you can create a bootable media that has a trusted boot loader. To do this, choose to create a 64-bit Linux-based media or a 64-bit media based on WinPE 4.0.

Storage spaces

In Windows 8, you can combine several physical disks into a storage pool. In this storage pool, you can create one or more logical disks, called storage spaces. As with ordinary disks, storage spaces can have volumes.

+ 225 hidden pages

Acronis Backup Recovery Workstation - 11.5 User Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

1 Introducing Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5

1.1 What's new in Update 1

1.2 What's new in Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5

1.3 Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 components

1.3.1 Agent for Windows

1.3.1.1 Universal Restore

1.3.2 Management Console

1.3.3 Bootable Media Builder

1.4 About the trial product version

1.5 Supported file systems

1.6 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 & Recovery 11.5

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?

3.8 Support for Advanced Format (4K-sector) hard disks

3.9 Support for UEFI-based machines

3.10 Support for Windows 8