Acronis Backup Service Administrator's Guide

Acronis Backup Service

ADMINISTRATOR'S GUIDE

Table of contents

1 About the backup service .................................................................................................3

1.1 User accounts ............................................................................................................................ 3

1.2 Components ............................................................................................................................... 4

1.3 Supported web browsers ........................................................................................................... 5

1.4 Supported operating systems and environments ..................................................................... 5

2 Step-by-step instructions .................................................................................................7

2.1 Activating the backup service subscription ............................................................................... 7

2.2 Creating a group ........................................................................................................................ 7

2.3 Creating a backup account ........................................................................................................ 8

2.4 Activating the backup account .................................................................................................. 8

2.5 Installing software on the end-user machines .......................................................................... 9

2.5.1 Preparation ...................................................................................................................................................... 9

2.5.2 Installing backup clients ................................................................................................................................ 10

2.6 Accessing the backup management console ...........................................................................11

2.7 Backup .....................................................................................................................................11

2.7.1 Selecting machines ........................................................................................................................................ 11

2.7.2 Selecting data to back up .............................................................................................................................. 11

2.7.3 Selecting destination ..................................................................................................................................... 12

2.7.4 Schedule and retention rules ....................................................................................................................... 12

2.7.5 Specifying parameters and saving the backup plan ................................................................................... 13

2.7.6 Starting the backup manually....................................................................................................................... 13

2.8 Recovery ..................................................................................................................................13

2.8.1 Recovering disks ............................................................................................................................................ 13

2.8.2 Recovering files.............................................................................................................................................. 14

2.9 Creating a report about the service usage ..............................................................................16

This document is intended for organization administrators and end users who want to use Acronis

Backup

account

Backup

account

Backup

account

Unit

Org.

admin

Organization

Unit

admin

Backup

account

Backup Service. This document describes how to quickly set up the backup service and perform backup and recovery.

1 About the backup service

The backup service management is available through a web interface.

1.1 User accounts

There are two account types: administrator accounts and backup accounts.

An administrator can create and manage groups, administrator accounts, and backup accounts on or below their level in the hierarchy.

A backup account enables backing up physical and virtual machines. It is created by an administrator within a group and typically corresponds to an end user. Both the end user and the administrators can manage backups of the end users' data.

The organization group is automatically created for your organization. Optionally, you can create unit groups, which typically correspond to units or departments of the organization.

The following diagram illustrates two hierarchy levels—the organization and unit groups. Optional groups and accounts are shown by a dotted line.

The following table summarizes operations that can be performed by the administrators and the end users.

Operation

Administrators

End users (using the backup

account credentials)

Create groups

Yes

Create administrator accounts

Yes

Create backup accounts

Yes

Download and install the backup software

Yes, using the backup

account credentials

Yes

Manage backup

Yes

Manage recovery

Yes, using the backup

account credentials

Yes

Create reports about the service usage

Yes

1.2 Components

This section describes the software components utilized by the backup service.

On the end-user side

At least one of the following components must be installed on the end-user side:

 Backup Client for Windows backs up data on a machine running Windows.

Installation package of Backup Client for Windows also includes:

 Backup Client for VMware backs up ESX(i) virtual machines without installing backup clients

into the guest systems. The client is installed on a Windows machine that has network access to vCenter Server and to the storage where the backed-up virtual machines are stored.

 Backup Client for Hyper-V backs up Hyper-V virtual machines without installing backup

clients into the guest systems. The client is installed on a Hyper-V host.

 Backup Client for Linux backs up data on a machine running Linux.

The backup clients can be installed by the end users or by the administrators and registered on the backup management server by using the backup account credentials.

On the data-center side

The servers are located in Acronis data centers.

 Account server stores the user account hierarchy and enables administering the backup service

from the account management console. Only administrators can access this console.

 Backup management server manages the backup clients. It enables users and administrators to

set up and monitor backups from the backup management console. End users log in directly to this console by using their backup account credentials. Administrators access it from the account management console.

The backup storages are located in Acronis data centers. End users have the option to store backups either in a data center or within their local networks.

The following diagram illustrates the default backup service architecture. Blue arrows ( ) show the

Organization

Data center

Backup management

server

Backup storage

Account server,

web server

Organization

administrator

Account management

console

Backup management

console

End user End userEnd user

Backup Client for Windows

Backup

Client for

Linux

Backup

Client for

Hyper-V

Backup

Client for

VMware

Backup Client for Windows

software component interactions. Black arrows ( ) show how administrators and end users access the backup service.

1.3 Supported web browsers

The account management and backup management consoles support the following web browsers:

 Google Chrome 29 or later  Mozilla Firefox 23 or later  Opera 16 or later  Windows Internet Explorer 10 or later  Safari 5.1.7 or later running in the Mac OS X and iOS operating systems

In other web browsers (including Safari browsers running in other operating systems), the user interface might be displayed incorrectly, or some functions may be unavailable.

1.4 Supported operating systems and environments

Backup Client for Windows

Windows XP Professional SP2+ (x86, x64)

Windows 2000 SP4 – all editions except for the Datacenter edition

Windows Server 2003/2003 R2 – Standard and Enterprise editions (x86, x64)

Windows Small Business Server 2003/2003 R2

Windows Vista – all editions except for Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium (x86, x64)

Windows Server 2008 – Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, and Web editions (x86, x64)

Windows Small Business Server 2008

Windows 7 – all editions except for the Starter and Home editions (x86, x64)

Windows Server 2008 R2 – Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, Foundation, and Web editions

Windows MultiPoint Server 2010/2011/2012

Windows Small Business Server 2011 – all editions

Windows 8/8.1 – all editions except for the Windows RT editions (x86, x64)

Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 – all editions

Windows Storage Server 2003/2008/2008 R2/2012/2012 R2

Backup Client for VMware

VMware ESX(i) 4.0, 4.1, 5.0, 5.1, 5.5, and 6.0

Backup Client for Linux

Linux with kernel from 2.4.20 to 3.16 and glibc 2.3.2 or later

Various x86 and x86_64 Linux distributions, including:

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4.x, 5.x, 6.x, and 7.x

Ubuntu 9.10, 10.04, 10.10, 11.04, 11.10, 12.04, 12.10, 13.04, 13.10, 14.04, and 14.10

Fedora 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 21

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 10 and 11

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 – supported on file systems, except for Btrfs

Debian 4, 5, 6, 7.0, 7.2, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, and 7.7

CentOS 5.x, 6.x, and 7.0

Oracle Linux 5.x, 6.x, and 7.0 – both Unbreakable Enterprise Kernel and Red Hat Compatible Kernel

CloudLinux 6.x

Before installing the product on a system that does not use RPM Package Manager, such as an Ubuntu system, you need to install this manager manually; for example, by running the following command (as the root user): apt-get install rpm

Backup Client for Hyper-V

Windows Server 2008 (x64) with Hyper-V

Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008/2008 R2

Windows Server 2012/2012 R2 with Hyper-V

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2012/2012 R2

Windows 8, 8.1 (x64) with Hyper-V

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Acronis Backup Service Administrator's Guide

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

1 About the backup service

1.1 User accounts

1.2 Components

1.3 Supported web browsers

1.4 Supported operating systems and environments