Is the imaging same as the regular backup ?

We already have a Veritas backup 9.0 sofware in our environment.
WE have a server which has (Domain controller, exchange, file server) and we take backup regualry using veritas on tapes.

Now we are planning to upgrade or look into a better one and i came across this acronis product.

Questions:

1) Is the imaging same as the regular backup ?

2) Can I restore any flat file from the image what I created using Acronis True Image 9.1 Enterprise Server ?

3) Can I restore any database file from the image what i created using Acronis True Image 9.1 Enterprise Server ?

4) Can I restore one of the mail boxes in Microsoft exchange from the backup image what I have created using Acronis True Image 9.1 Enterprise Server ?

--Prashanth

 

No, an image backup, in my opinion, is far superior, as it is far faster and there is less wear and tear on your hard drives and if you want to extract specific files, you can mount the image and do so. Although I haven't tried doing what you are asking about in 2, 3, and 4, I would be astonished if you could not.
I always do image backups.
I suppose the non image backups would be ok if you were saving a relatively small number of files, like the days work for instance.

 

Hello prashanthchou,

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

Please accept our apologies for the delay with the response.

Please note that the backup archive is a file or a group of files, 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.
Acronis True Image performed in backup in a different way. Acronis True Image 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 stores only those hard disk parts that contain data (for supported file systems). Further, it does not back up swap file information (win386.swp under Windows 98/Me and pagefile.sys under Windows NT/2000/XP) 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. The partition image includes all files and folders independent of their attributes (including hidden and system files), boot record, FAT (file allocation table) and root.

Please see this post describing how Acronis True Image works in more details. Also this article can be useful.

It is important to note, that you can restore files and folders from disk/partition images. To do so, mount the image as a virtual disk (see Chapter 11. "Mounting an image as a virtual drive" in the respective User's Guide) or start the image restoration and select Restore specified files or folders.

We recommend you to download and install the free trial version of Acronis True Image 9.1 Server for Windows to see how the software works on your computer.

If you would like to order your software before the trial period ends, please visit the Acronis online store or contact sales@acronis.com.

Thank you.
--
Aleksandr Isakov