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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 Enterprise 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 partition for storing archives on the computer system
itself. Certain Windows applications, such as Acronis disk management tools, can access
the zone. In the Acronis True Image Echo Enterprise Server Wizards' windows the zone is
listed along with all partitions available for storing archives.
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
destination backup
.
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 Enterprise Server uses the following approaches to free up
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
not worry about zone overflow issues. However, if you keep long chains of incremental
backups, it is a good practice to check the zone free space periodically. To do so, start the
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Chapter 8. Scheduling tasks
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6.3.12
Dual
), and
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