3 acronis secure zone – Acronis True Image Echo Server for Windows - User Guide User Manual
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16 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2007
A standalone, full backup could be an optimal solution if you often roll back the system to
the initial state (for example, systems in a gaming club or Internet café where you need
to undo changes made by the guests). In this case, you need not re-create the initial full
image, so the backup time is not crucial and the restore time will be minimal.
Alternatively, if you are interested in saving only the most current data state to be able to
restore it in case of system failure, consider the differential backup. It is particularly
effective if your data changes tend to be little as compared to the full data volume.
An incremental backup is most useful when you need frequent backups and possibility to
roll back to any one of multiple stored states. For example, let’s say you create a full
backup once a month. If you then create an incremental backup each day of a month,
you will get the same result as if you created full backups every day. However, the cost in
time and disk space (or removable media usage) will be as little as one tenth as much.
It is important to note that the above arguments are just examples for your information.
Feel free to make up your own backup policy in accordance with your specific tasks and
conditions. Acronis True Image Echo Server is flexible enough to meet any real-life
demands.
An incremental or differential backup created after a disk is defragmented might be
considerably larger than usual. This is because the defragmentation program changes file
locations on disk and the backups reflect these changes. Therefore, it is recommended
that you re-create a full backup after disk defragmentation.
3.3 Acronis Secure Zone
®
The Acronis Secure Zone is a special, hidden partition for storing archives on the
computer system itself. For archive security purposes, ordinary applications cannot access
it. In the Acronis True Image Echo Server Wizards’ windows the zone is listed along with
all partitions available for storing archives. Acronis Secure Zone is necessary for using
Acronis Startup Recovery Manager and Acronis Snap Restore features (see below). The
three features, in combination, instantly make operational a system that fails to boot.
A consistent external copy of archives, saved on Acronis Secure Zone, can be created on
a network share using dual destination backup feature. See details in
.
Acronis Secure Zone is always available for archive creation as long as there is space for
the backup file. If there is not enough space, older archives will be deleted to create
space.
Acronis True Image Echo Server uses the following approaches to clear space in the
Acronis Secure Zone:
• If there is not enough free space in the zone to create a backup, the program deletes
the oldest full backup with all subsequent incremental/differential backups.
• If there is only one full backup (with subsequent incremental/differential backups) left
and a full backup is in progress, then the old full backup and incremental/differential
backups are deleted.
• If there is only one full backup left, and an incremental or differential backup is in
progress, you will get an error message telling you there is a lack of available space.
In that case, you will have to either re-create the full backup or increase the size of
the Acronis Secure Zone.
You can back up data automatically on a schedule (see
), and
not worry about zone overflow issues. However, if you keep long chains of incremental