Backup to and restoring from a network drive

I recently purchased an Iomega 1 TB network hard drive and would like to use it in conjunction with my computer backups. I am currently using a USB powered portable hard drive for this purpose, but space is becoming somewhat limited.

I am running ATIH 11 with Windows XP. I have been able to perform several scheduled automated backups directly to the network drive. I have not yet tried to do a restore from the network drive, while running ATI under windows, but I can see the mapped network drive and the appropriate *.tib file, so I am assuming that a restore is possible, under these conditions. However, I have tried to initiate a restore after booting the system from the ATI recovery manager boot disk. Everything initially proceeds normally, but the network drive is not visible. When I select "network" as the location of the restore file, I am presented with the option to add a new "NDAS (network direct attached storge) connection". To complete access to the new NDAS device, I am prompted to type in the NDAS ID, which is supposedly comprised of 20 characters. I have examined all the data on the Iomega network drive, but have found no information about the 20 character device ID. I have also been in contact with Iomega support, and they have no idea what I am talking about (20 character NDAS device ID).

Is it possible to backup to and restore from a network drive using ATI 11? Is restoration possible both normally (from within windows) and using the the recovery manager boot disk to boot the computer?

Any assistance would be appreciated.

James

 

Have a look in the User Manual. You will also require a 5 character Key, which shoulsd also be in the Manual.

 

I have looked through all the documentation that came with the drive, including the User Manual on the CD that shipped with the unit. There is no mention anywhere of a 20 character NSDA ID or of the 5 character (write key) which you mention in your message.

 

Do you still have the box that it came in and all the packaging? My ID and Key were on a sticker in the manual. I would thoroughly check the box that it came in. Without the ID the unit will never work. If you can't find the ID and Key, return it!

 

Yes, I have the box and all the documentation. I have looked again and there is no mention anyware about the ID or write key. It is possible that this drive is different than the one you have. My unit is the 1 TB Iomega Home Media Network Hard Drive. The unit came with a copy of EMC Retrospect Express HD as a data backup and restore software. However, this program does not have "disaster recovery ability" and cannot be booted from CD, as best as I can tell. So, if the computer won't boot normally into Windows, there is no way to access the restore information on the network drive. Which is what brought me to my problem to begin with.

 

Hello all,

Thank you for using Acronis True Image

James, please let me know the license number via PM, I will provide you with an ISO file to create another Acronis Booting rescue media.

Thank you.

--
Oleg Lee

 

Oleg,

Done

 

Oleg,

Thank you. I have created a new Acronis boot rescue media CD with the ISO file you provided. However, I still have the same problem as before. Once I boot using the media and work my way back through the recovery wizard, I cannot access the recovery files on the network drive without a 20 character NDAS device ID, which Iomega says does not exist for this network hard drive.
James

 

Hello James,

Thank you for your response.

Please don't use NDAS connections option. Try to type in the full UNC path or IP address in File name box specifying the destination for the backup (e.g. \\server\share or \\10.1.161.58\share)

Also check the network settings manually in the window, available at Tools -> Options -> Network adapters.

Thank you.

--
Oleg Lee

 

Hello Oleg,

Thank you for the suggestion. Unfortunately, the option of using the full UNC path or IP address are only available if restoring under Windows. If the computer must be booted from the "recovery disk" these two options are not available. The only two network options available are " computers close to me" & the "NDAS ID connection".

Oleg, thank you for your assistance. I have decided to return the network hard drive to the manufacturer. Although the drive itself works well formatted in either NTSF or FAT32 formats. The external USB device which can be attached to the network drive, can only be viewed (under Windows) if it has been formatted in FAT32. This causes problems when trying to store larger backup files or HD movies.

In the meantime, I'll continue to use ATI with an external hard drive attached directly to my computer.

James

 

We also have a 1T home media network hard drive but we are unable to do a backup. Acronis says the NHD has a password but i have tried all kinds of passwords ... . What did you do to get the backup on the 1T HMNHD? HELP!

 

I didn't have a problem with ATI asking for a password for the NHD. I don't usually protect my backups with passwords when I set them up. So the password problem you are having was never an issue for me. I just ultimately got tired of dealing with the issue of not being able to see the Iomega network drive if I booted from the ATI media and sent the network drive back. Sorry I can't help you with the password issue.

 

Hello all,

Our program will ask you for the credentials for your network drive if it is protected. Actually, it's being accessed in the same way as network shared folder. And you should specify the credentials for it in order to access the information.

Thank you.
--
Alexander Nikolsky

 

Oleg,

I have had the same problem trying to restore from a buffalo network attached drive.

after booting from the recovery cd, i try to find the image stored on the buffalo drive, but acronis ti 2009 does not see the buffalo drive even though it is attached.

i also saw that you suggested using the tools->options menu under acronis. under my tools->options there are no options to modify network adapters.

acronis documentation clearly states that restore from network attached drive is supported but based on my experience and the others on this thread acronis software is not working with network attached drives.

i also see the possibility of using NDAS id / write key, but my buffalo drive does not have any such id / key just like the previous poster on this thread.

so how do i recover from buffalo drive using an acronis bootable cd??

 

Got acronis ti home 2009 to restore from network attached buffalo drive.

Make sure that your network attached drive is connected to the network, and make sure that the pc you are restoring is also connected to the same network.

In order to make it work, you boot from the acronis boot disk you previously made.

Then in order to see the network attached drive, once the acronis window comes up after booting from cd, you must first go to the TOOLS menu and pick options in the acronis window that comes up. When you do this, acronis runs a network wizard that allows you to configure the pc network adapter card. When the wizard first comes up the network adapter settings will be defaulted to something that is probably incorrect. Through this same wizard you can manually configure the network adapter for the pc to have the network ip address you want.Once the ip address of the adapter is setup correctly through the wizard, then you will be able to restore from your attached network drive since the drive can now be seen through the network; ie when selecting the drive to restore from you will now be able to see an additional option for selecting in the browse window of acronis. Once you get to this point you then can select the tib file from the network attached storage.

of course, none of this is documented in the acronis documentation

 

Hello rbt9876, I have got this far by selecting Tools>Options. By unticking "Auto Configuration" I am able to change the IP address of the network adaptor manually.

What network IP address do I want and how do I find it?

 

Hello Piranha Pete,

Thank you for using Acronis True Image

The IP address should be available at Network access or Setup setting of your NAS. Also, you can ping the drive from your workstation.

Thank you.

--
Oleg Lee

 

Using ATI Home 2009.
I have a Media Bank ME-747AK NDAS (external network drive).
When I boot into Windows it appears as a local drive on my computer.
However, it does not appear when I boot from my Acronis bootable CD.
At the moment my only solution to restore from the NDAS is to unplug it from the network and plug it directly into the PC. Acronis then recognises it as a local drive.

Q1. Am I meant to change the IP address of the network adapter to the IP address of the NDAS?
Q2. Will Acronis then recognize the NDAS on the network when I boot from the Acronis bootable CD?
Q3. So I want the IP address of the NDAS, correct?
Q4. Where would I find the Network Access or Setup Setting of my NDAS? No such options appear to be available.
Q5. Do I have to uninstall and reinstall the NDAS?
Q6. I presume pinging the NDAS will give me the IP address of the NDAS. So how do I ping the NDAS?

Q7. When are Acronis going to stop claiming and start explaining how to setup ATI Home 2009 so that it will backup and restore from a NDAS when booted from the Acronis RecoveryCD? Why isn't this information freely available?

 

Dear Oleg, any chance of answering my previous relevant questions before this forum closes?