Networked computer hard drive backups

Hello,

I'm new and also new to True Image #10.

Could anyone tell me if I can use this product to backup (full cloned copies) of other hard drives on my network? I am backing up to an external (new to me) hard drive. OR do I need to move the external hard drive to each computer on my network to be able to do this?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you,

jnulr

 

I'm not 100% sure what you're asking, but this should cover your question:

TI 10 will only backup the local machine's drives, by they fixed or removable.

TI 10 can save the backup to removable drives and network shares, including network shares that are removeable drives (tongue twister!).

I have it backup to the local backup drive then use the "Pre/Post Commands" to then copy it to the network/external drive.

From what I can tell you have an external drive on one machine and TI 10 on all machines, and want to backup to the external via the network - TI 10 can do this.

 

For what it's worth...
I have 3 PCs and a laptop in an XP, peer to peer network. I have a Western Digital 250MB HDD in USB 2,0 enclosure attached to one of the PCs. All PCs and laptop backup to the USB drive using TI 10. More importantly all PCs and laptop can be completely (bare metal) restored from the USB drive. It is not necessary to move the USB HDD from PC to PC although you can do so if you wish. Compared to other backup solutions I have used over the years, TI is simple. Why not download the trial version and experiment?

Hope this helps.

johnan.

 

Hello jnulr,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please be aware that there are two approaches available:

Clone Disk - migrates/copies the entire contents of one disk drive to another;

Backup - creates a special archive file for backup and disaster recovery purposes;

Please take a look at this FAQ article explaining the difference between Clone Disk and Backup approaches in more detail.

Actually, Clone Disk approach is usually used to upgrade the hard drive (e.g. install a larger disk), while Backup approach is basically dedicated for the complete data backup and disaster recovery purposes. Since you are interested in backing up your hard drive for the disaster recovery purposes, I would recommend you to follow Backup approach.

Moreover, there are several advantages of creating an image over the disk cloning procedure such as: you can create an image without rebooting your PC, image creation can be scheduled for the particular point in time, Acronis True Image allows you to create incremental and differential images, image archive contains only the actual data and so it has a smaller size, images are ordinary files and so they can be stored on any type of the supported media, etc. However, the final choice is always up to your needs.

Please notice that as Acronis True Image 10.0 Home cannot receive exclusive access to network drives, it can only back those up as files/folders. Please see the respective User's Guide for detailed information and instructions.

Please be aware that according to Acronis License Policy you need to purchase one copy of the product for every computer it will be used to manage.

Thank you.
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Marat Setdikov

 

Could you please clarify how I can back up network drives (shares) as files/folders? I couldn't find the information in the user guide or help file, nor could I succeed in backing up files on network drives, either mapped to a local drive or not.

Or is it true as Proactive Services said:

 

Hey!

Could you plz dwell on a lil on how do u perform backups of your 3 machines.. wat type of backup do you use? Do u jus use acronis bootable cd? aksing out of curiosity

 

Hello mwang,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

We are sorry for the delayed response.

Please choose "My Data" type of backup in the backup wizard, then browse to the desired network drive and choose files and folders to be backed up. Please be aware that as Acronis True Image cannot receive exclusive access to the data on a network resourse, it's possible that some data will be busy by other processes at the time of backup creation, and won't be backed up.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov

 

That's what I did, but NOTHING is backed up. Not a single file.

None of the files are locked.

Does it have something to do with the file server's configuration? It's a Linux server, which provides Windows file service through Samba.

 

Hello mwang,

Thank you for choosing Acronis Disk Backup Software.

Please make sure you use the latest build of Acronis True Image. To get access to updates you should first register your software.

If updating doesn't solve the problem, please download the latest version of Acronis drivers, unpack the archive and install unpacked MSI package.

If the issue persists, please collect some information to let us investigate it thoroughly:

Please create Windows System Information as it is described in Acronis Help Post.

Please also collect the application log of the operation:
- run the program;
- select Show log on the toolbar or from the Tools menu;
- select the log with error messages;
- click "Save the log entry to file" (the diskette icon).

Please clarify, are there any error messages? When exactly do they appear? What exactly do they say?

Please also try performing the operation using Acronis Bootable Rescue Media and see if it succeeds.

Then submit a request for technical support. Attach all the collected files and information to your request along with the step-by-step description of the actions taken before the problem appears and the link to this thread. We will investigate the problem and try to provide you with a solution.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov

 

Marat:

Thanks for replying.

I'm pretty sure about it, unless you have something newer than build 4942.

Could you please tell me what driver this is first? I'm trying to back up a network share, a drive mapped from my server, not a physical HD. Do I need any special driver to back up things on such location?

Yes, there are. They say things like:

or

or

There are also entries in Windows Event log, saying similar things.

I'm not sure I understand you here. Could I see the network share when booting from the Rescue Media? Please tell me how if it's possible.

I have a big day tomorrow and can't afford to stay up late. I'll do it tomorrow night (local time), with all the information you requested and screen shots. Thanks again for your help.

Ming-Li

 

Marat:

Support request has been filed. Any comment on the two questions in my previous post (about the driver update and not-in-Windows backup)? Thanks!

 

Hello mwang,

Please notice that it's strongly recommended to use full UNC path (e.g. \\server\share\) instead of the mapped drive. Please see this FAQ article for explanations.

Regarding drivers: those are the drivers Acronis True Image uses to work with hard drives in Windows. Updating them sometimes helps resolve problems; additionally, that driver archive contains a version of Acronis drivers capable of creating log file if needed to investigate the problem in more details.

The standalone version of any Acronis True Image (full variant) is based on the Linux operating system and uses Linux drivers for getting access to all devices. Of course, mapped drives won't be seen for reasons described in the above article, but network shares can be accessed.

If you have any further questions concerning Acronis software, please feel free to submit a request for technical support or post any of them on this forum. We will certainly try to help you in resolving any issues.

Thank you.
--
Marat Setdikov