User manual ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE 9.1 - SERVER FOR WINDOWS

User's Guide Acronis True Image 9.1 Server for Windows Compute with confidence www.acronis.com Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006. All rights reserved. "Acronis", "Acronis Compute with Confidence", "Acronis Snap Restore", "Acronis Recovery Manager, "Acronis Secure Zone" and the Acronis logo are trademarks of Acronis, Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. 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. 2 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 END-USER LICENSE AGREEMENT BY ACCEPTING, YOU (ORIGINAL PURCHASER) INDICATE YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO ACCEPT THE PRODUCT UNDER THESE TERMS, YOU CAN CHOOSE NOT TO ACCEPT BY SELECTING "I decline..." AND NOT INSTALLING THE SOFTWARE. Acronis True Image Server for Windows (the Software) is Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 20002006. All rights are reserved. The ORIGINAL PURCHASER is granted a LICENSE to use the software only, subject to the following restrictions and limitations. 1. The license is to the original purchaser only, and is not transferable without prior written permission from Acronis. 2. The original purchaser can use the software on a single computer. You cannot use the software on more than a single machine, even if you own or lease all of them, without the written consent of Acronis. 3. The original purchaser cannot engage in, nor permit third parties to engage in, any of the following: A. Providing or permitting use of by, or transferring the software to, third parties. B. Providing use of the software in a computer service business, network, timesharing or multiple user arrangement to users who are not individually licensed by Acronis. C. Making alterations or copies of any kind in the software (except as specifically permitted above). D. E. F. G. Attempting to unassemble, decompile or reverse-engineer the software in any way. Granting sublicenses, leases, or other rights in the software to others. Making copies, or verbal or media translations, of the users guide. Making telecommunication data transmission of the software. Acronis has the right to terminate this license if there is a violation of its terms or default by the original purchaser. Upon termination for any reason, all copies of the software must be immediately returned to Acronis, and the original purchaser shall be liable to Acronis for any and all damages suffered as a result of the violation or default. ENTIRE RISK THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU THE PURCHASER. Acronis DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SOFTWARE OR ITS FUNCTIONS WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS OR THAT THE OPERATION OF THE SOFTWARE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE OR THAT ANY DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED. NO LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES IN NO EVENT SHALL Acronis OR ITS VENDORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR THE LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF BUSINESS INFORMATION, OR ANY OTHER PECUNIARY LOSS) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE, EVEN IF Acronis HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOFTWARE USAGE TERMS AND CONDITIONS Under current legislation, the «License Agreement» is considered a contract between you and Acronis Inc. The contract is a legal document and its violation may result in legal action. Illegal use and/or distribution of this software will be prosecuted. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 3 Table of Contents CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................... 7 1.1 ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE SERVER FOR WINDOWS ­ A COMPLETE SOLUTION FOR CORPORATE USERS ............... 7 1.2 NEW IN ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE 9.1 SERVER FOR WINDOWS.......................................................................... 8 1.4 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS AND SUPPORTED MEDIA ......................................................................................... 9 1.4.1 Minimum system requirements ............................................................................................................. 9 1.4.2 Supported operating systems................................................................................................................ 9 1.4.3 Supported file systems ........................................................................................................................ 10 1.4.4 Supported storage media.................................................................................................................... 10 1.5 TECHNICAL SUPPORT .................................................................................................................................. 10 CHAPTER 2. ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE SERVER FOR WINDOWS INSTALLATION AND STARTING.......................................................................................................................................................... 11 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 INSTALLING ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE SERVER FOR WINDOWS ...................................................................... 11 EXTRACTING ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE SERVER FOR WINDOWS..................................................................... 12 RUNNING ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE SERVER FOR WINDOWS .......................................................................... 12 REMOVING ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE SERVER FOR WINDOWS........................................................................ 12 CHAPTER 3. GENERAL INFORMATION AND PROPRIETARY ACRONIS TECHNOLOGIES ...... 13 3.1 THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FILE ARCHIVES AND DISK/PARTITION IMAGES .................................................. 13 3.2 FULL, INCREMENTAL AND DIFFERENTIAL BACKUPS .................................................................................... 13 3.3 ACRONIS SECURE ZONE.............................................................................................................................. 14 3.4 ACRONIS STARTUP RECOVERY MANAGER.................................................................................................. 15 3.4.1 How it works....................................................................................................................................... 15 3.4.2 How to use.......................................................................................................................................... 15 3.5 ACRONIS SNAP RESTORE ............................................................................................................................ 15 3.5.1 How it works....................................................................................................................................... 15 3.5.2 How to use.......................................................................................................................................... 16 3.6 ACRONIS UNIVERSAL RESTORE .................................................................................................................. 16 3.7.1 How to use.......................................................................................................................................... 17 3.7.2 Using Acronis Universal Restore in virtual environment................................................................... 18 3.7.3 Hints on using Acronis Universal Restore ......................................................................................... 18 3.7.4 Benefits ............................................................................................................................................... 18 3.7 USING DYNAMIC DISKS AND VOLUMES ....................................................................................................... 19 3.8 BACKING UP TO TAPE DRIVE ....................................................................................................................... 19 3.9 VIEWING DISK AND PARTITION INFORMATION............................................................................................. 20 CHAPTER 4. USING ACRONIS TRUE IMAGE SERVER FOR WINDOWS .......................................... 21 4.1 MAIN PROGRAM WINDOW ........................................................................................................................... 21 4.2 MANAGING A LOCAL COMPUTER................................................................................................................. 23 CHAPTER 5. CREATING BACKUP ARCHIVES ........................................................................................ 25 5.1 BACKING UP FILES AND FOLDERS (FILE BACKUP) ........................................................................................ 25 5.2 BACKING UP DISKS AND PARTITIONS (IMAGE BACKUP) ............................................................................... 29 5.3 SETTING BACKUP OPTIONS .......................................................................................................................... 31 5.3.1 Archive protection .............................................................................................................................. 32 5.3.2 Source files exclusion ......................................................................................................................... 32 5.3.3 Pre/post commands ............................................................................................................................ 32 5.3.4 Database support ............................................................................................................................... 33 5.3.5 Compression level .............................................................................................................................. 34 5.3.6 Backup performance........................................................................................................................... 34 5.3.7 Fast incremental/differential backup.................................................................................................. 35 5.3.8 Archive splitting ................................................................................................................................. 35 5.3.9 File-level security settings.................................................................................................................. 36 5.3.10 Media components............................................................................................................................ 36 5.3.11 Additional settings............................................................................................................................ 37 CHAPTER 6. RESTORING THE BACKUP DATA...................................................................................... 38 4 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 6.1 RESTORE UNDER WINDOWS OR BOOT FROM CD? ....................................................................................... 38 6.1.1 Network settings in rescue mode ........................................................................................................ 38 6.2 RESTORING FILES AND FOLDERS FROM FILE ARCHIVES ............................................................................... 38 6.3 RESTORING DISKS/PARTITIONS OR FILES FROM IMAGES .............................................................................. 41 6.3.1 Starting the Restore Data Wizard....................................................................................................... 42 6.3.2 Archive selection ................................................................................................................................ 42 6.3.3 Restoration type selection .................................................................................................................. 43 6.3.4 Selecting a disk/partition to restore.................................................................................................... 44 6.3.5 Selecting a target disk/partition ......................................................................................................... 44 6.3.6 Changing the restored partition type.................................................................................................. 44 6.3.7 Changing the restored partition file system........................................................................................ 45 6.3.8 Changing the restored partition size and location ............................................................................. 45 6.3.9 Assigning a letter to the restored partition......................................................................................... 46 6.3.10 Restoring several partitions at once................................................................................................. 46 6.3.11 Setting restore options...................................................................................................................... 46 6.3.12 Using Acronis Universal Restore ..................................................................................................... 46 6.3.13 Restoration summary and executing restoration.............................................................................. 48 6.4 SETTING RESTORE OPTIONS......................................................................................................................... 48 6.4.1 Files to restore exclusion ................................................................................................................... 49 6.4.2 Files overwriting mode....................................................................................................................... 49 6.4.3 Pre/post commands ............................................................................................................................ 49 6.4.4 Restoration priority ............................................................................................................................ 49 6.4.5 File-level security settings.................................................................................................................. 49 6.4.6 Additional settings.............................................................................................................................. 50 CHAPTER 7. SCHEDULING TASKS ............................................................................................................ 51 7.1 CREATING SCHEDULED TASKS .................................................................................................................... 51 7.1.1 Setting up daily execution................................................................................................................... 52 7.1.2 Setting up weekly execution................................................................................................................ 53 7.1.3 Setting up monthly execution.............................................................................................................. 54 7.1.4 Setting up one-time execution............................................................................................................. 54 7.2 MANAGING SCHEDULED TASKS................................................................................................................... 55 CHAPTER 8. MANAGING ACRONIS SECURE ZONE ............................................................................. 56 8.1 CREATING ACRONIS SECURE ZONE ............................................................................................................ 56 8.2 RESIZING ACRONIS SECURE ZONE .............................................................................................................. 57 8.3 DELETING ACRONIS SECURE ZONE............................................................................................................. 57 CHAPTER 9. CREATING BOOTABLE MEDIA.......................................................................................... 59 CHAPTER 10. OTHER OPERATIONS ......................................................................................................... 61 10.1 VALIDATING BACKUP ARCHIVES ............................................................................................................... 61 10.2 OPERATION RESULTS NOTIFICATION ......................................................................................................... 61 10.2.1 Email notification ............................................................................................................................. 62 10.2.2 WinPopup notification...................................................................................................................... 62 10.3 VIEWING LOGS .......................................................................................................................................... 63 10.4 EVENT TRACING........................................................................................................................................ 64 10.4.1 Windows event log............................................................................................................................ 64 10.4.2 SNMP notifications........................................................................................................................... 64 10.5 MANAGING SYSTEM RESTORE .................................................................................................................. 64 CHAPTER 11. MOUNTING AN IMAGE AS A VIRTUAL DRIVE............................................................ 66 11.1 MOUNTING AN IMAGE ............................................................................................................................... 66 11.2 UNMOUNTING AN IMAGE .......................................................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER 12. TRANSFERRING THE SYSTEM TO A NEW DISK......................................................... 69 12.1 GENERAL INFORMATION ........................................................................................................................... 69 12.2 SECURITY.................................................................................................................................................. 69 12.3 EXECUTING TRANSFERS ............................................................................................................................ 70 12.3.1 Selecting Clone mode ....................................................................................................................... 70 12.3.2 Selecting source disk ........................................................................................................................ 70 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 5 12.3.3 Selecting destination disk ................................................................................................................. 71 12.3.4 Partitioned destination disk.............................................................................................................. 72 12.3.5 Old and new disk partition layout .................................................................................................... 72 12.3.6 Old disk data .................................................................................................................................... 72 12.3.7 Destroying the old disk data............................................................................................................. 73 12.3.8 Selecting partition transfer method .................................................................................................. 74 12.3.9 Partitioning the old disk ................................................................................................................... 75 12.3.10 Old and new disk partition layouts................................................................................................. 75 12.3.11 Cloning summary ........................................................................................................................... 76 12.4 CLONING WITH MANUAL PARTITIONING.................................................................................................... 76 12.4.1 Old and new disk partition layouts................................................................................................... 76 CHAPTER 13. ADDING A NEW HARD DISK ............................................................................................. 78 13.1 SELECTING A HARD DISK........................................................................................................................... 78 13.2 CREATING NEW PARTITIONS...................................................................................................................... 78 13.3 DISK ADD SUMMARY................................................................................................................................. 79 CHAPTER 14. COMMAND-LINE MODE AND SCRIPTING .................................................................... 80 14.1 WORKING IN THE COMMAND-LINE MODE .................................................................................................. 80 14.1.1 Supported commands ....................................................................................................................... 80 14.1.2 trueimagecmd.exe usage examples................................................................................................... 85 14.1.3 Command-line mode usage under DOS ........................................................................................... 86 14.2 SCRIPTING................................................................................................................................................. 86 14.2.1 Script execution parameters ............................................................................................................. 86 14.2.2 Script structure................................................................................................................................. 87 14.2.3 Script usage examples ...................................................................................................................... 87 6 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 Chapter 1. Introduction 1.1 Acronis True Image Server for Windows ­ a complete solution for corporate users You have come to rely on your servers to run your business and retain key enterprise data. Acronis True Image Server for Windows provides comprehensive, reliable, and cost-effective system protection and recovery for corporate servers. With Acronis True Image Server for Windows you have peace of mind knowing you are protected and can recover from any situation. Minimizes downtime Acronis True Image Server for Windows enables you to restore systems in minutes, not hours or days. An entire system can be restored from an image that includes everything the system needs to run: the operating system, applications, databases, and configurations. No reinstallation or reconfiguration is required. Moreover, complete system restoration can be performed to an existing system or to a new system with different hardware or to virtual machines. With the new Acronis Snap Restore feature, users can access a system during restore, further decreasing downtime. File-based backups provide you with the flexibility to only backup specific critical files. Eases Administration Wizards guide users through backup and recovery tasks, ensuring the product can be implemented with minimal user training. Automates Backup With the scheduling capability in Acronis True Image Server for Windows, you simply create backup tasks, tailored by group, at certain times or at certain events, automating backups. To ensure that backups have occurred, or user intervention is required, you can request notifications via email or pop-up. You can view Acronis events in Windows Application Events Log or Acronis own log. Log messages can be automatically sent out to SNMP clients. The product also supports the creation of custom commands before and after backups. For example, users can automatically run anti-virus products before an image is created and verify the validity of backups after they have been created. Ensures 24 X 7 Uptime With the Acronis Drive Snapshot systems can be imaged while they are in use, supporting 24 by 7 availability. This technology enables the product to backup and image critical operating system files, the master boot record and any partition-based boot records without requiring a reboot. A CPU allocation feature allows you to limit the amount of CPU usage for the application to maximize the CPUs available for mission critical applications. Moreover, users can control hard disk drive writing speeds and control network bandwidth used during backups, allowing you minimally disrupt business operations. A several-second database suspension is provided for correct backup of mission critical applications such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle with support VSS. If your database or operating system does not support VSS, Acronis True Image Server for Windows will execute your custom commands to realize database suspension. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 7 Supports Cutting Edge Technology Businesses today are moving to leverage the latest technologies, dual-core 64 bit processors and 64 bit operating systems. With Acronis True Image Server for Windows, you can protect these new machines, as well as legacy ones, running one solution. Leverages Existing Technology Investments The product can leverage your current storage infrastructure by supporting a wide variety of storage media, so you can avoid costly hardware purchases to implement the solution. The product supports key storage technologies such as: Direct Attached Storage (DAS), Network Attached Storage (NAS), Storage Area Networks (SAN), Redundant Arrays of Independent Disks (RAID) devices, tapes, USB and IEEE-1394 (FireWire) compliant storage devices, CDs, DVDs, removable drives (Floppy, Zip, etc.) and shared storage. Moreover, the product ensures that you maximize the space on these resources with four levels of compression. Disk cloning and new disk deployment Acronis True Image Server for Windows can be used to clone an image onto multiple servers. For example, a company purchased several servers and needs similar environments on each of them. Traditionally, an IT manager should install the operating system and programs on every server. With Acronis True Image Server for Windows, the IT manager can create a disk image of the first system deployed. That image can then be duplicated onto multiple servers. If you need to upgrade the server hard disk drive, Acronis True Image Server for Windows simplifies the task to few mouse clicks creating the exact copy of your old disk to a new one and adjusting partitions size to fit a new hard disk. 1.2 New in Acronis True Image 9.1 Server for Windows · · · · · · · · Support for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions Support for GPT hard disks (disks with GUID partition table) Backup to/restore from FTP servers Acronis Snap Restore ­ A user can start working in seconds while the system is still being restored Acronis Universal Restore (optional) ­ Hardware-independent live system restore File-level backup and recovery, including files opened in exclusive usage mode - In addition to an entire partition/system backup Differential backup ­ Backup only the changes made since the full backup Fast incremental/differential backup ­ Users can choose to compare files with their archived copies by date/size (fast process) or by file contents (precise, but timeconsuming process) Files and folders backup/restore filtering ­ Saves space when creating file backups by only backing up files of the types the users want to keep. Similarly, a user can tell the program not to restore certain files from the file archive Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) support (for Windows 2003 Server and higher) ­ Easily backup VSS compatible databases (Exchange, Oracle, SQL Server) without taking databases offline and ensuring data consistency · · 8 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 · Pre/post backup/restore commands ­ Users can specify their own commands which will be executed before and after the backup or restore process. For example, one might want to remove some temporary files from the disk before starting backup or configure a third party antivirus product to be started each time before the backup starts User-editable default backup options ­ Users can configure and save backup parameters, such as backup performance (hard disk writing speed, network bandwidth during backups), validate backup archive after backup completion, file-level security settings (preserving files' security settings in the archive, storing encrypted files in encrypted or decrypted state) User-editable default restore options ­ Users can configure and save restore parameters, such as files overwriting mode, the original or current date and time for restored files etc. Read-write mode of mounting images Bootable backup media ­ When backing up to removable media, users can make this media bootable in the same manner as rescue CD, so separate recover media is not required Bootable disks ISOs and RIS packages ­ In addition to burning a bootable rescue disk, users can save its ISO image for burning later, or create a RIS package for remote boot of Acronis True Image Server for Windows Windows Event Log and SNMP support ­ Store event log messages, issued by Acronis True Image Server for Windows, to Windows Event Log or send them to SNMP clients Manage System Restore tool (for Windows 2003 Server and higher) ­ Turn on/off the Windows native System Restore tool directly from Acronis True Image Server for Windows Context Help · · · · · · · · 1.4 System requirements and supported media 1.4.1 Minimum system requirements Acronis True Image Server for Windows requires the following hardware: · · · · Pentium processor or higher 256 Mb RAM FDD or CD-RW drive for bootable media creation Mouse (recommended). 1.4.2 Supported operating systems · · · Windows NT 4.0 Workstation SP6/2000 Professional SP4/XP Professional SP2 Windows NT 4.0 Server SP6/2000 Server/2000 Advanced Server/2003 Server Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows Server 2003 x64 Editions Acronis True Image Server for Windows also enables creating a bootable diskette or CD-R/W that can back-up and restore a disk/partition on a computer running any PC-based operating system including Linux®. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 9 1.4.3 Supported file systems · · · · · · · · FAT16/32 NTFS Ext2/Ext3 ReiserFS Reiser4 Linux SWAP XFS JFS If a file system is not supported or is corrupted, Acronis True Image Server for Windows can copy data using a sector-by-sector approach. For XFS and JFS file systems partition resizing feature is not supported. 1.4.4 Supported storage media · · · · · · · · Hard disk drives Networked storage devices such as Storage Area Networks (SANs) and Network Attached Storage (NAS) SCSI tape drives IDE and SCSI RAID controllers of any level FTP-servers* CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW** USB 1.0 / 2.0, FireWire (IEEE-1394) and PC card storage devices ZIP®, Jaz® and other removable media * - an FTP-server must allow passive mode for file transfers. Data recovery directly from FTP-server requires the archive to consist of files no more than 2 Gb in size. ** - requires third-party DVD recording software to be installed. 1.5 Technical support Users of legally purchased copies of Acronis True Image Server for Windows are entitled to free technical support from Acronis. If you experience problems installing or using Acronis products that you can't solve yourself by using this guide, then please contact Acronis Technical Support. More information about contacting Acronis Technical Support is available at the following link: http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/support/ 10 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 Chapter 2. Acronis True Image Server for Windows installation and starting 2.1 Installing Acronis True Image Server for Windows To install Acronis True Image Server for Windows: · · · run the Acronis True Image Server for Windows setup file in the Install Menu, select the program to install: Acronis True Image Server for Windows follow the Install Wizard instructions on the screen. Acronis True Image Server for Windows Install Window Typical, Custom and Complete installation is available. Having pressed Custom, you can choose to install, besides Acronis True Image Server for Windows, Rescue Media Builder and Bart PE plug-in. With Rescue Media Builder you can create bootable rescue disks or RIS packages (see details in Chapter 9. Creating bootable media). You might not need this tool if you purchased a boxed product that contains a bootable CD. Installing the Bootable Rescue Media Builder will allow you to create bootable media, its ISO image or a bootable RIS package at any time from the main program window or running Bootable Rescue Media Builder on its own. Well-known Bart PE utility is used to boot Windows-like environment from CD. Applications are installed into Bart PE in the form of plug-ins. Choosing Bart PE plug-in installation (disabled by default) provides the ability to include Acronis True Image Server for Windows into Bart PE plug-in tab. The plug-in files will be placed to the installation folder along with other program files. When installed, Acronis True Image Server for Windows (local version) creates a new device in the Device Manager list (Control Panel -> System -> Hardware -> Device Manager -> Acronis Devices -> Acronis TrueImage Backup Archive Explorer). Do not disable or uninstall this device, as it is necessary for connecting image archives as virtual disks (see Chapter 11. Mounting an image as a virtual drive). Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 11 2.2 Extracting Acronis True Image Server for Windows When installing Acronis True Image Server for Windows, you can save the setup (.msi) file on a local or network drive. It will help you modify or recover the existing component installation. To save a setup file: · · · run the Acronis True Image Server for Windows setup file; in the Install Menu, right-click on the program name and select Extract; select location for setup file and click Save. 2.3 Running Acronis True Image Server for Windows You can run Acronis True Image Server for Windows in Windows by selecting Start -> Programs -> Acronis -> Acronis True Image Server for Windows -> Acronis True Image Server for Windows or clicking on the appropriate shortcut on the desktop. If your operating system does not load for some reason, you can run Acronis Startup Recovery Manager. However, this must be activated prior to use; see 3.4 Acronis Startup Recovery Manager to learn more about this procedure. To run the program, press F11 during server bootup, when you see a corresponding message that tells you to press that key. Acronis True Image Server for Windows will be run in the standalone mode, allowing you to recover the damaged partitions. If your disk data is totally corrupted and you cannot boot (or if you have not activated Acronis Startup Recovery Manager), load the standalone Acronis True Image Server for Windows version from the bootable media (supplied with the retail box or created by you using Rescue Media Builder) or RIS-server. Then you will be able to restore the disk from its previously created image. 2.4 Removing Acronis True Image Server for Windows Select Control panel -> Add or remove programs -> -> Remove. Then follow instructions on the screen. You may have to reboot your computer afterwards to complete the task. 12 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 Chapter 3. General information and proprietary Acronis technologies 3.1 The difference between file archives and disk/partition images A backup archive is a file or a group of files (also called in this Guide "backups"), that contains a copy of selected files/folders data or a copy of all information stored on selected disks/partitions. When you back up files and folders, only the data, along with the folder tree, are compressed and stored. Backing up disks and partitions is performed in a different way: Acronis True Image Server for Windows stores a sector-by-sector snapshot of the disk, which includes the operating system, registry, drivers, software applications and data files, as well as system areas hidden from the user. This procedure is called "creating a disk image," and the resulting backup archive is often called a disk/partition image. Acronis True Image Server for Windows stores only those hard disk parts that contain data (for supported file systems). Further, it does not back up swap file information (pagefile.sys) and hiberfil.sys (a file that keeps RAM contents when the computer goes into hibernation). This reduces image size and speeds up image creation and restoration. A partition image includes all files and folders independent of their attributes (including hidden and system files), boot record, FAT (file allocation table) and root. A disk image includes images of all disk partitions as well as the zero track with master boot record (MBR). By default, files in all Acronis True Image Server for Windows archives have a ".tib" extension. It is important to note, that you can restore files and folders not only from file archives, but from disk/partition images, too. To do so, mount the image as a virtual disk (see Chapter 11. Mounting an image as a virtual drive) or start the image restoration and select Restore specified files or folders. 3.2 Full, incremental and differential backups Acronis True Image Server for Windows can create full, incremental and differential backups. A full backup contains all data at the moment of backup creation. It forms a base for further incremental or differential backup or is used as a standalone archive. A full backup has the shortest restore time as compared to incremental or differential ones. An incremental backup file only contains data changed since the last full or incremental backup creation. Therefore, it is smaller and takes less time to create. But as it doesn't contain all data, all the previous incremental backups and the initial full backup are required for restoration. Unlike incremental backup, when every backup procedure creates the next file in a "chain," a differential backup creates an independent file, containing all changes against the initial full archive. Generally, a differential backup will be restored faster than an incremental one, as it does not have to process through a long chain of previous backups. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 13 A standalone full backup may be an optimal solution if you often roll back the system to the initial state (like in a gaming club or Internet café, to undo changes, made by the guests). In this case, you need not to re-create the initial full image, so the backup time is not crucial, and the restore time will be minimal. Alternatively, if you are interested in saving only the last data state to be able to restore it in case of system failure, consider the differential backup. It is particularly effective if your data changes tend to be little as compared to the full data volume. The same is true for incremental backup. In addition, it is most useful when you need frequent backups and possibility to roll back to any of stored states. Having created a full backup once, if you then create an incremental backup each day of a month, you will get the same result as if you created full backups every day. However, the cost in time and disk space (or removable media usage) will be as little as one tenth as much. It is important to note that the above arguments are nothing but examples for your information. Feel free to make up your own backup policy in accordance with your specific tasks and conditions. Acronis True Image Server for Windows is flexible enough to meet any real-life demands. An incremental or differential backup created after a disk is defragmented might be considerably larger than usual. This is because the defragmentation program changes file locations on disk and the backups reflect these changes. Therefore, it is recommended that you re-create a full backup after disk defragmentation. 3.3 Acronis Secure Zone The Acronis Secure Zone is a special hidden partition for storing archives on the computer system itself. For archive security purposes, ordinary applications cannot access it. In the Acronis True Image Server for Windows Wizards' windows the zone is listed along with all partitions available for storing archives. Acronis Secure Zone is necessary for using Acronis Startup Recovery Manager and Acronis Snap Restore features (see below). Acronis Secure Zone is always available for archive creation as long as there is space for the backup file. If there is not enough space, older archives will be deleted to create space. Acronis True Image Server for Windows uses the following scheme to clean up Acronis Secure Zone: · · If there is not enough free space in the zone to create a backup, the program deletes the oldest full backup with all subsequent incremental/differential backups. If there is only one full backup (with subsequent incremental/differential backups) left and a full backup is in progress, then the old full backup and incremental/differential backups are deleted. Otherwise, (only one full backup left, and an incremental/differential backup is in progress) you will get a message about space error. In that case you will have to either re-create the full backup or increase Acronis Secure Zone. · Thus, you can back up data automatically on a schedule (see Chapter 7. Scheduling tasks), and not worry about zone overflow issues. However, if you keep long chains of incremental backups, it will be a good practice to periodically check the zone free space, indicated on the second page of the Manage Acronis Secure Zone wizard. How to create, resize or delete Acronis Secure Zone using this wizard, see in Chapter 8. Managing Acronis Secure Zone. 14 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 3.4 Acronis Startup Recovery Manager 3.4.1 How it works The Acronis Startup Recovery Manager enables starting Acronis True Image Server for Windows without loading the operating system. With this feature, if the operating system won't load for some reason, you can run Acronis True Image Server for Windows by itself to restore damaged partitions. As opposed to booting from Acronis removable media or RIS server, you will not need a separate media or network connection to start Acronis True Image Server for Windows. 3.4.2 How to use To be able to use Acronis Startup Recovery Manager at boot time, prepare as follows: 1. Install Acronis True Image Server for Windows. 2. Create Acronis Secure Zone on the server hard disk (see Chapter 8. Managing Acronis Secure Zone). 3. Activate Acronis Startup Recovery Manager. To do so, click Activate Acronis Startup Recovery Manager and follow the Wizard's instructions. If you try to activate Acronis Startup Recovery Manager while Acronis Secure Zone is missing from the system, you will be prompted to create the zone, then Acronis Startup Recovery Manager will be activated. Otherwise, Acronis Startup Recovery Manager will be activated immediately. When Acronis Startup Recovery Manager is activated, it overwrites the master boot record (MBR) with its own boot code. If you have any third-party boot managers installed, you will have to reactivate them after activating the Startup Recovery Manager. For Linux loaders (e.g. LiLo and GRUB), you might consider installing them to a Linux root (or boot) partition boot record instead of MBR before activating Acronis Startup Recovery Manager. If failure occurs, turn on the computer and press F11 when you see the "Press F11 for Acronis Startup Recovery Manager" message. This will run a standalone version of Acronis True Image Server for Windows that only slightly differs from the complete version. For information on restoring damaged partitions, see Chapter 6. Restoring the backup data. Be careful! Disk letters in standalone Acronis True Image Server for Windows might sometimes differ from the way Windows identifies drives. For example, the D: drive identified in the standalone Acronis True Image might correspond to the E: drive in Windows. 3.5 Acronis Snap Restore With this feature you can boot the OS on the crashed computer before the system is completely restored from an image, and start the work seconds after the restoration is launched. The restoration will be continued in the background. This feature is currently available for images, being restored from the Acronis Secure Zone (see above). Naturally, Acronis Snap Restore cannot be used if the image contains no operating system (a logical partition or disk image) or when restoring file archives. 3.5.1 How it works When the restoration procedure is started, Acronis True Image Server for Windows: 1. Finds the sectors in the image, containing system files, and restores these sectors first. Thus, the OS is restored and can be started in a very short timeframe. Having started the Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 15 OS, the user sees the folder tree with files, though file contents still is not recovered. Nevertheless, the user can start working. 2. Writes on the hard disk its own drivers, capable to intercept the system queries to the files. When the user opens files or launches applications, the drivers receive the system queries and restore the sectors that are necessary for the current operation. 3. At the same time, ATIES proceeds with the complete sector-by-sector image restoration in the background. However, the system requested sectors have the highest priority. Finally, the image will be fully restored even if the user performs no actions at all. But if you choose to start working as soon as possible after the system failure, you will gain at least several minutes, considering that restoration of a 10-20 Gb image (most common image size) takes about 10 minutes. The larger the image size, the more time you save. 3.5.2 How to use To be able to use Acronis Snap Restore in case of system crash, prepare as follows: 1. Install Acronis True Image Server for Windows. 2. Create Acronis Secure Zone on the server hard disk (see Chapter 8. Managing Acronis Secure Zone). 3. Activate Acronis Startup Recovery manager (see 3.4 Acronis Startup Recovery Manager) and create bootable media or RIS package with Acronis True Image Server for Windows (see Chapter 9. Creating bootable media). 4. Back up (image) the local computer's system disk to Acronis Secure Zone (see 5.2 Backing up disks and partitions (image backup)). You can back up other disks/partitions as well, but the system image is mandatory. When performing Snap Restore, the current Acronis True Image Server for Windows version always restores the entire system disk. Therefore, if your system disk consists of several partitions, all of them must be included into the image. Otherwise partitions, missing in the image, will be lost. If failure occurs, boot the server from the bootable media, or RIS server, or using F11. Start the recovery procedure (see 6.3 Restoring disks/partitions or files from images), select the system disk image from Acronis Secure Zone, choose Use Snap Restore and in the next window click Proceed. In a few seconds the computer will reboot to the restored system. Log in and work ­ no more reboots or other actions required. You can perform Snap Restore running Acronis True Image Server for Windows in supported Windows Server operating systems as well. However, it is mandatory to have a bootable media in case of Windows cannot boot. 3.6 Acronis Universal Restore One of the fastest ways of cloning a Windows system is to deploy its image to a different computer. However, the deployment will not be a success if the target hardware is incompatible with the most critical drivers included in the image. The restored system may be unbootable because startup drivers and components, used by the source system, cannot operate on a different motherboard, processor etc. Using Microsoft System Preparation Tool (sysprep) does not solve this problem, because Sysprep allows replacing drivers only for Plug-and-Play devices (sound cards, network adapters, video cards etc.). As for system HAL and boot device driver, they must be identical 16 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 in the source and target computers (see Microsoft Knowledge Base, articles 302577 and 216915). Acronis Universal Restore technology provides an efficient solution for hardware-independent system restoration by replacing the crucial HAL and hard disk controller drivers. Acronis Universal Restore does not conflict with Microsoft System Preparation Tool (sysprep). If you got accustomed to using Sysprep, you can use both tools on the same system. Acronis Universal Restore is an optional program feature. It should be purchased separately and installed from a separate .msi setup file. Acronis Universal Restore can only be installed on a computer where at least one of the following Acronis components is installed: Acronis True Image Server for Windows Acronis Bootable Media Builder. 3.7.1 How to use You can perform the following procedure either locally or remotely, using Acronis True Image Management Console. 1. Boot the target computer into Acronis recovery environment from the bootable media, or RIS server, or using F11. 2. Start the recovery procedure (see 6.3 Restoring disks/partitions or files from images) and select the image of the source computer for restoration. 3. You can specify Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) and hard disk controller drivers to be used by the restored system and/or provide a path to a driver repository on the network. Hence, Acronis Universal Restore uses three sources for drivers search: the list of userspecified (enforced) drivers, driver repository, and the Windows default driver storage folders (in the image being restored). The program will find the most suitable drivers of all available and install them into the restored system. However, the user-defined drivers will have the priority. They will be installed, with appropriate warning, even if the program finds the better driver. The Windows default driver storage folders are determined in the registry key SOFTWARE > Microsoft -> Windows -> Current version -> DevicePath. Generally, it is WINDOWS/inf folder. 4. When the restore process runs Acronis True Image Server for Windows will: - detect the machine type and install appropriate driver for HAL - detect IDE and SCSI controllers and install appropriate drivers. If no appropriate drivers are found in all three above sources, the user will be prompted to browse the following locations for the drivers: Network share drive Floppy disk CD drive 5. The machine reboots. 6. Windows takes control and initiates the usual first-start process. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 17 The recovery procedure can proceed under Windows as well (for example, if the operating system is loaded from the C: drive, the system partition of the other computer can be restored from an image to the D: drive). In this case, the user prompt for driver search on Network-Floppy-CD will not be issued. If a compatible driver cannot be found, Windows will suggest to ignore it or cancel restoration. 3.7.2 Using Acronis Universal Restore in virtual environment Virtual machine technologies provide a powerful tool to help accelerate the development, testing, deployment and support of PC applications. Using Acronis True Image Server for Windows with Acronis Universal Restore you can perform real-to-virtual and virtual-to-real computer migration in the same way as with real systems. If the virtual hard drive uses SCSI controller, you should provide appropriate drivers while performing system restore to the virtual machine. For example, the widespread VMware environment requires Buslogic or LSI logic drivers. Use drivers bundled with your virtual machine software or download the latest drivers versions from the software manufacturer website. 3.7.3 Hints on using Acronis Universal Restore 1. The system recovered by Acronis Universal Restore may not start if the partition structure in the image or the target disk partitioning does not coincide with that of the source disk. As a result, the loader, restored from the image, will point to the wrong partition and the system will not boot or will malfunction. Such might be the case if you: - image not the entire source disk, but only the selected partitions Keep in mind, that the source disk may have a hidden maintenance partition created by the computer vendor. Therefore, if you check each partition for backup instead of checking the disk, this hidden partition will not be included into the image. - restore not the entire source disk, but only the selected partitions. In some cases, especially if your system resides on other than the first partition, this can confuse the loader and prevent the restored system from startup - image the system residing on the RAID array and restore the system to a RAID array with different configuration. To avoid the problem, we recommend that you image and restore the entire system disk and use the identical RAID configuration on the source and the target computer. 2. As appears from the above, a bootable system migration from RAID to HDD and vise versa is impossible. 3. When migrating from RAID to RAID, be sure to provide an appropriate driver for the RAID controller, otherwise a basic HDD driver will be installed. 4. Acronis Universal Restore option is not available when restoring dynamic disks and volumes. 3.7.4 Benefits 1. Acronis Universal Restore can be used "after the fact": it is not necessary to create an image with the option, you can restore any image to different hardware. 2. Acronis Universal Restore allows the user to exactly specify drivers during restore, enabling their maximum compatibility with the hardware. 18 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 3. Acronis Universal Restore does not strip security identifier (SID) and user profile settings. This means that you will not need to re-join your domain or re-map network user profiles after a restore. 4. Acronis Universal Restore supports a driver repository to centrally store all drivers so users don't need to go looking for them. 3.7 Using dynamic disks and volumes Acronis True Image Server for Windows supports Windows LDM (also called Dynamic Disks). However, as dynamic disks are organized differently than basic, physical disk drives, their backup has some peculiar features. You can create an image of the entire dynamic disk or one or more dynamic volumes. This is because a dynamic volume is located on several dynamic disks, so a partial backup would not create a usable image. The current version of the software is not capable of changing the volume size and file system when an image is being restored to a dynamic volume. However, this is possible when you restore a dynamic volume to a basic disk partition. When you create a dynamic volume image, its type information (simple, mirror, and the like) is lost, so the restoration is performed independently. In each case, the program stores and restores volume contents only. If a basic disk image is restored to a dynamic disk, it will destroy the dynamic disk's contents. As a result, you will end up with a basic disk. If Acronis True Image Server for Windows runs in rescue mode (for example, booted from Bootable Rescue media), dynamic disks will be not accessible. Therefore, to be able to repair a system partition, you must keep its image on a basic, network, or removable disk. 3.8 Backing up to tape drive Acronis True Image Server for Windows supports SCSI tape drives. It can store backups on the tape and restore data from the tape, store large backups to multiple tapes, and append incremental/differential changes to a tape with the existing archives. If a SCSI tape drive is connected to the server, the list of devices available for backup storage will be extended with a name corresponding to the drive type. Backup and restore on the tape proceed in the same way as with other devices, with the following exceptions. 1. A full backup can be stored on an empty tape only. If you use tape that already contains data, its contents will be overwritten. 2. In case you want to keep more than one archive on the tape, for example, back up two disks separately, choose incremental backup mode when creating initial full backup for the second disk. In other situations, incremental backup is used for appending changes to the previously created archive. 3. You do not have to provide filenames for backups. You might experience short pauses that are required to rewind the tape. Low-quality or old tape, as well as dirt on the magnetic head, might lead to pauses that can last up to several minutes. Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006 19 3.9 Viewing disk and partition information You can change the way of data representation in all schemes you see in various wizards. To the right are three icons: Arrange Icons by, Choose Details and i (Display the properties of the selected item), the last duplicated in the context menu invoked by right-clicking objects. To sort messages by a particular column, click the header (another click will switch the messages to the opposite order) or Arrange Icons by button and select the column. To select columns to view, right-click the headers line or left-click the Choose Details button. Then flag the columns you want to display. If you click the i (Display the properties of the selected item) button, you will see the selected partition or disk properties window. This window contains two panels. The left panel contains the properties tree and the right describes the selected property in detail. The disk information includes its physical parameters (connection type, device type, size, etc.); partition information includes both physical (sectors, location, etc.), and logical (file system, free space, assigned letter, etc.) parameters. You can change the width of columns by dragging their borders with the mouse. 20 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2006