Sync activities ?
I have recently been testing the backup to Acronis Cloud functionality with a view to using it for small file backup. I created a backup job which is not scheduled so that I could run on demand but now find "Sync" records in the logfile every day and some reference to Sync in the system tray saying all syncs are up to date.
Can anyone explain what's going on here because :
1. This job isn't scheduled so why all this activity every day.
2. What is Sync anyway ? I believed I was just creating a backup like normal local backups but in this case the resulting file would be written to the Cloud.
I am very nervous about the term Sync in case my backups aren't really backups but Acronis is actually trying to Synchronise files i.e. the risk of it overwriting some of my files incorrectly.
All I want it to do is backup whatever is in the specified folder(s)
Hopefully I've just misunderstood what it's doing ?
Thanks for the reply. Yes I think I see now how the Sync function has in fact been invoked indirectly by setting up a Cloud backup and versions of all files within the backed up folder are being stored in the Acronis Cloud.
Unfortunately reading further on the link you provided leads me to believe that it wouldn't back up one of my most important files namely my Outlook email .pst file.
Since I like to store most of my mail locally it's essential that the .pst file is backed up.
Perhaps you could confirm I've got this right and is there any way around it ?
Thanks
You do have it right. Fortunately TI provides a way to backup your email here is the link:
http://www.acronis.com/en-us/support/documentation/ATIH2014/#9498.html
Thanks again for the reply.
Yes, that looks very interesting and could well do what I need.
Just another couple of queries though if you can help :
I've set up a test job and backed up my mail (Outlook 2010 )with the Acronis function to a local drive first.
I see the resulting backup isn't actually a backup of the .pst file but more a backup of data and registry values and I guess lots of other settings, so I presume this is why it looks like there is only an option to restore to "original locations" i.e. it will restore everything exactly as it was ??
Which would of course be fine if it works.
It does pose a bit of a problem as to how to validate this since I don't really want to try it out in case something goes wrong, but as you'll appreciate a backup strategy is useless unless there's confidence it will work.
At this stage all I can see is the size of the backup file ( 190 Mb ) which looks a bit small even allowing for some compression.
The original Outlook.pst is 261Mb and there is an Archive.pst file of 106Mb ( I presume it backs this up as well ? )
I also need to be sure it will pick up email storage folders from folders other than the Outlook default since I always opt to have my .pst files within the Documents folder so that other backups always pick them up.
Don't know whether you have any answers to the above but any guidance would be appreciated.
Thanks
Acronis True Image 2014 provides backup of IMAP (Internet Messages Access Protocol) mail folders for Microsoft Outlook. This means that you can back up folders stored on a mail server. For Microsoft Outlook Express and Windows Mail only backup of local e-mail folders is available.
See this KB article for more details: https://kb.acronis.com/content/44347
Your mail application determines what level of functionality TI provides.
Since email is mostly text files compression levels should be quite good however, I think you may be using Outlook Express as your mail application given what you have indicated. If so then only locally stored e-mail folders can be backed up.
Hope this helps.
Thanks once again for your advice on this.
Yes, I am using Outlook 2010 configured with an IMAP mail service but also have local folders which I move mail to for filing.
I have always been nervous about storing all my mail on third party servers - not because it won't be backed up but in case anyone ever hacked in and deleted it all ! I can't imagine how difficult it would be to ever get deleted mail back from an email host provider.
Anyway, I guess from what you say Acronis will take care of all of this and work out for itself where the mail is even if it's in both .pst or .ost folders.
I suppose the only downside is recovery is not selective i.e. the whole mail system as of a given time must be restored.
At least this provides a robust method of backing up mail which is on a third party server in case something was to go wrong.
It just leaves the issue of how to validate the process without potentially messing up a live system ?
Thanks once again for the help.