Anyone with experience with Acronis backup products...

Y

YeOldeStonecat

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I've talked about them before..but haven't made the jump with a client. I'm considering Acronis True Image Server on a network that currently has 4x servers.

Right now they have Backup Exec running on their database server. The prior consultant stuck it on that server...guess his logic was the meat of their backup was the database..so keep it local with a DLT in the PowerEdge1600. However...their database engine (Progress32) is VERY bloated, touchy, performance issues with this server..esp when backup is hanging. Plus I've been getting tired of Backup Exec since around version 9...seems to be finicky since then.

Anyways...curious at Acronis True Image Server. Also looking at their product to manage workstation clients....keep and maintain

I'm also wondering about..instead of having an internal/external tape drive, or even a single removable disk drive on a server..having a centralized backup device on the network. A sort of NAS like device. However...guessing this doesn't satisfy removable media needs...to take a copy offsite or at least firesafe it. I've seen Windows Storage Server NAS devices..but can't practically take them offsite on a regular basis.

Just looking for opinions....my experience is pretty much with just smaller networks..single or couple of servers....usually Small Biz Server. This one is dealing with 4x servers...and it will grow next year..terminal, exchange, ...so wanting to think of a backup upgrade path that can accomodate growth.
 
Truely, i can't recommend BackupAssist enough. It's cheap and it's more powerful than many other programs for much more $$.

You'd be surprised once you try it. We use it with 2 NAS storage devices and make a weekly, monthly and yearly tape backup. All automated within BackupAssist.

On top of that, it takes care of our SQL Server backups without a hint of a problem. Interface is the easiest i've seen from a backup program, too.

www.backupassist.com
 
I use Acronis but after looking at this Backup Assist, I now realized there are cheaper solutions. The only part of Acronis that I could not find on Backup Assist is a full server restore. I have had servers that needed the whole C drive replaced, we then put in any kind of drive and, as long the new drive was bigger than the file backup, the server was restored. Well, we have Acronis and I will keep to that since we paid the nearly 1 grand for it.
 
Cheaper doesn't mean better.

When faced with a complete server restore, Acronis has the advantage that you do not need to install a base OS to perform a restore and image based restoration is much faster than file based backups.

All in all, I'd rather be restoring a server image over a file based backup any day.

YeOldeStonecat , I'm currently working with Acronis products as part of our MSP software where we are backing up servers at the moment. So far we like the product and haven't had any issues, but we haven't completed our comprehensive testing just yet.
 
Hmm, I hate to hijack the thread, but I'm interested in just what Acronis appears to not be able to do - Restoring multiple images to multiple computers, or even just 1 image to multiple computers. It just doesn't appear to be able to do it.

Sure, you can BACKUP multiple computers using Acronis Group Server, but you can't RESTORE multiple computers. The closest thing I've found was Acronis SnapDeploy, but that really is just a RIS clone, and doesn't offer simply restoring image files, AFAIK.

In my dabblings with Symantec Ghost, it was able to do all of this and more, with multiple different computers and servers, and different images, with backup and restore tasks happening at the same time and then I move to Acronis and like half of the functionality is gone...:mad:

Anyone experienced this or have any ideas?
 
SJConsultant said:
YeOldeStonecat , I'm currently working with Acronis products as part of our MSP software where we are backing up servers at the moment. So far we like the product and haven't had any issues, but we haven't completed our comprehensive testing just yet.
Click to expand...

SJ...what are you using for backup hardware?
 
Just looking over the Acronis site I'm curious as to how True Image works with SQL and Exchange. Is there some way to back up individual mail boxes with True Image?
 
cyr0n_k0r said:
Stonecat, Id like to point you to this thread concerning offsite data backup

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1177634

It has some great point and counter-point issues regarding offsite backup and why cheaper does not always mean better.
Click to expand...


Offsite backup is great for secondary backup...important for certain types of businesses such as healthcare. I've had a few clients use IronMountain..and I'm actually in the middle of signing up as a reseller. However....for me, it's not a replacement of local backups for my clients. Just a good "secondary/redundant" thing.
 
Icidic said:
Hmm, I hate to hijack the thread, but I'm interested in just what Acronis appears to not be able to do - Restoring multiple images to multiple computers, or even just 1 image to multiple computers. It just doesn't appear to be able to do it.

Sure, you can BACKUP multiple computers using Acronis Group Server, but you can't RESTORE multiple computers. The closest thing I've found was Acronis SnapDeploy, but that really is just a RIS clone, and doesn't offer simply restoring image files, AFAIK.

In my dabblings with Symantec Ghost, it was able to do all of this and more, with multiple different computers and servers, and different images, with backup and restore tasks happening at the same time and then I move to Acronis and like half of the functionality is gone...:mad:

Anyone experienced this or have any ideas?
Click to expand...

Like the old Symantsuck Ghostcast server?
I haven't looked into what Acronis as for a similar product..but it does seem SnapDeploy is similar in function...

From their website..."Acronis Snap Deploy 2.0 is a comprehensive deployment solution that enables organizations to deploy new machines quickly and easily.

Using Acronis' own award-winning disk imaging technology, the product creates an exact disk image of the standard configuration, including the operating system and all applications. It then deploys that image to multiple systems simultaneously, making it ideal for rapid bare-metal installations of PCs and servers. Businesses have the option to deploy new machines using both the multicast and unicast protocols, providing maximum flexibility."

I used lots of Symantec products years ago....no more for me, I'd rather delpart my servers than put their products on now.
 
YeOldeStonecat said:
SJ...what are you using for backup hardware?
Click to expand...

We recently deployed Acronis with Exabyte's RDX removable hard drive system which is just like Dells RD1000. We setup the client with one cartridge per day and take full images nightly.

For our managed service customers we are using Kaseya with the optional backup component. We are experimenting with using either an onsite computer with large HDDs as the image repository or external HDD attached to the server. Once the images have been created, the Kaseya software can be scheduled to replicate those images offsite to our central storage server.
 
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