Network Boot Disk?

I am using an evaluation edition of the Entereprise Version of True Image and have been quite impressed. However, I am unsure as to how I recover a failed client pc.

I thought that because it is possible to back up a client image to a remote location that I could use a boot disk to start the client pc, connect to the remote backup location and pull-down the image but according to the email help I've received from Acronis this isn't possible.

I have looked at the manual but can't work out how to get hold of a backed up image other than on a local pc. Surely this must be possible on a product such as this?

dc

 

Hello dercoss,

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Remote Server Backup Software.

We regret to inform you that Acronis True Image Enterprise Server cannot restore the image of the partition which has open files remotely. It means that you cannot restore system partition remotely because this partition always has some files used by operating system. However, we can offer you Acronis Snap Deploy that is able to restore system partitions as well as other types of partitions.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

I have downloaded a trial version of the snap-deploy utility and created a boot disk. Unfortunately it doesn't get much beyong a blue screen with Acronis written on it.

I must say I'm losing faith in this product for my needs. I am not particularly happy with the help I've been getting from Acronis by email. If it's like this when I'm trialling the product how bad will it become if I actually buy it?

dc

 

Hello dercoss,

Could you please describe where exactly the computer stops booting when you try to boot it from Acronis Bootable CD? Also please let me know your Acronis request # which was sent to you in autoreply to your letter to Acronis Support Team?

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

Ilya,

The cd boots to the first screen where I have the option to start Windows or use the Snap Deploy option, which I then select. The Snap Deploy Agent appears and says "connecting to Acronis OS Deploy System" with 2 progress bars for Current and total progress which show nothing and then the whole agent disappears and I am left with the blue Acronis background and nothing else happens...

I am using this disk to try and boot to the Acronis Enterprise setup on a remote server, is this right?

Regarding the support #, I don't have one as such. I was contacted by the person shown below after I downloaded the trial version of the Enterprise product...


[section of email from acronis]

I wanted to thank you for your interest in Acronis and our True Image software. I understand that you recently downloaded a copy of our trial software. I wanted to check in, answer any questions you have and would love to hear your feedback.

If there is anything I can do to assist with product or pricing questions, please feel free to contact me at anytime.

Best regards,

Brian Hedges

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brian Hedges
Territory Manager - Mid Atlantic
PH - 703.885.6874
Fax - 703.940.1149
bh@acronis.com

 

Hello dercoss,

Acronis Snap Deploy is a separate program that allows you to work with images created by Acronis True Image. You need to connect to Acronis Deploy Server to restore the image. Please note that you don't need to connect to Acronis True Image Agent to restore the image using Acronis Snap Deploy.

If you need more precise details of installation and usage of Acronis Snap Deploy please feel free to contact our Support Team via e-mail support@acronis.com.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

Well, it wasn't me who introduced Snap Deploy into the discussion...

It seems that I am back to the original problem of how to get hold of the True Image program and download a backup to a remote pc.

Why is this causing so much trouble? It seems the most obvious thing in the world for an Enterprise level image creation program to be able to allow that image to be deployed remotely some how..

All I seem to get is confusing messages regarding system partitions, etc. I just want the ability to deploy a previously created image (a daily or weekly backup of the whole hard disk(s)) to a clean hard drive on that remote pc, over the network...

Can it be done.. Yes or No??


dc

 

Hello dercoss,

The thing you want to perform can be done but not with Acronis True Image Enterprise Server. It can be done with Acronis Snap Deploy. To do that you may either create the image using Acronis Snap Deploy or use the image created with Acronis True Image. The details of deployment using Acronis Snap Deploy are described in Chapter 5 of the User's Guide.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

Are we going around in circles here? I've already said that the boot process didn't work a couple of posts back. It stops without any connection being established over the network as I explained..

dc

 

Hello dercoss,

It seems that there is still some misunderstanding between us.

Please let me explain the situation once more.

For the remote image deployment we recommend you to use Acronis Snap Deploy rather than Acronis True Image Enterprise Server 8.0.

Please note that Acronis Snap Deploy is a separate program.

Acronis Snap Deploy does not require any components of Acronis True Image Enterprise Server 8.0 to be installed.

As a brief description of the program, I can say that Acronis Snap Deploy allows you to create one master image of a preconfigured operating system saving it to the wide variety of the supported media and then deploy this image to the several PCs over the network.

Please be aware that all of your PCs which are involved into the deployment process should have the same hardware configuration. Otherwise we can not guarantee that your newly deployed operating system will be bootable.

Please read more about Acronis Snap Deploy features at:
http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/products/snapdeploy/features.html

Please also note that Acronis Snap Deploy is a very powerful deployment tool, so we recommend you to read Acronis Snap Deploy User's Guide very carefully before trying the trial version.

Acronis Snap Deploy User's Guide is available at:
http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/download/docs/

If you will face any problems with Acronis Snap Deploy then I advice you to contact our Support Team at support@acronis.com. Please write a letter and describe your issue or just provide a link to this thread. We will investigate the issue and try to provide you with the solution.

Thank you.
--
Alexey Popov

 

I give up. Thanks for your time..

dc

 

I am very new to Acronis Software. I have been lurking this thread and now have a question. How does Snap Deploy solve his inability to boot? That failing should stop him from connecting to another computer regardless of software used. Is that not so?

 

Hello hansa,

Thank you for your interest in Acronis Complete System Deployment Software.

Could you please describe what problem you encountered? What is your network configuration and how did you install Acronis Snap Deploy? What kind of error do you get?

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

What is this? This must be an automated answer. No way does it answer my question. I now understand why the previous person could not get anwhere.

 

Hello hansa,

I cannot answer your question until I know what your problem is. Please clarify how your network is organised and how you installed Acronis Snap Deploy (on what computer which components are installed). This would make the diagnostic possible.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman

 

First off, I never stated that I have Snap Deploy. Therefore, I don't have a software problem. I am simply trying to understand the problem that Dercoss had. My question is, "How does Snap Deploy solve his (Decross) inability to boot using the boot disk?" The reason I am in the forum is because I am considering The Acronis software and I am interested in the problems it may have, not because I have any problem yet.

 

Hello hansa,

Each time when our customer experiences some problem we investigate it independently from other customers. This is the common practive because each time the configuration of the systems, the way our software is installed and used is different. Once we get the detailed info about the conditions under which the problem occured we will be able to solve it in the most effective way.

If your Boot CD hangs during booting we need to know when exactly it happens, how your network is configured and how Acronis Snap Deploy is installed.

Thank you.
--
Ilya Toytman