What backup software should I be looking at for my client? Acronis Backup 12 or Acronis Backup for Windows Server 11.7 or others
Good day all,
One of my clients are looking into replacing there current backup software as 1) they dont like the interface 2) backups keep failing for no reason
I have used Acronis in the past for desktops but never for servers. Client setup is the following (very simple) but I will be changing this in the near future as they dont have virtualization of any kind and have redundancy and everything is running off one server :(. Anyhow here is there current setup
1 Physical HP server currently running:
Server OS: Small business server 2011
Active Directory
File and Printer Roles enabled
Exchange 2010
Sharepoint: I believe there is sharepoint but I still need to confirm. The existing backup software is backing up sharepoint but I dont see any share-point being used in the environment.
My question is which software should I be looking at and the price is a little confusing, are they a set price or monthly fee? Ideally I also want a software to be able to backup hyper-v on 2 different nodes as thats what I will be implementing in the next 4 months or so.
Thank you all,

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Thank you very much for the reply and the break down.
Since the OS the client is running is server is Small business 2011, they can get away with just purchasing "Acronis Backup Windows Server Essentials License" correct? From the looks of it, it will backup exchange, SharePoint, sql and file level backup correct? In regards to exchange does it backup the entire datastore as a whole or individual mailboxes.
Other than the Acronis Backup Windows Server Essentials vs the Acronis Backup Server, they both do the same job and include the same addons correct (Exchange, File level, disk level etc)
In regards to offsite backups, the client has 2 external hard drive that he rotates them every week for offsite backups. Would I be able to setup Acronis with a pool of storage (2 x external hard drive) to perform this offsite backup? In other words would Acronis be smart enough not to care which drive is connected and instead look at the offsite pool?
I wasnt able to find the cost of the perpetual cost, would you be able to point that out to me in case the client doesn't want to do subscription.
Thank you
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Hi,
Yes, you are correct - Windows Server Essentials license will also apply. In terms of functionality it is the same as regular server license, but can be applied to Windows SBS systems only (hence the reduced price). Note that the perpetual license cost is also listed here ($499 for Essentials license).
Concerning your question about the rotated drives - there is no such concept as media pools implemented yet in Acronis Backup 12, but still this scenario should work just fine - you can set up the backup location on attached USB drive and swap the drives weekly. Note that you should not enable retention rules in the backup task settings in this case, since they may not work properly after the drives swap, so it makes sense to simply clean up the newly inserted drive before starting backup to it in new cycle.
Thank you.
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Hi Vasily,
Thank you for the reply. After speaking to my customer, they would like to give the Windows Server Essential a try before purchasing it. Is there a way to get a trial so we can install it and see how well it works and than take it from there? I cant seem to find a download tiral option.
Thank you
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Hi,
Yes, sure there is a free trial - check it here: http://www.acronis.com/en-us/enterprise/download/acronis-backup-12/ . The product binary is the same for any license including trial mode, so if you finally decide to buy the product all you'll need to do is to add the proper license, thus no need to re-install anything installed during the trial or re-create backup tasks.
Thank you.
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Excellent thank you kindly. Will keep you posted if I have any issues.
Cheers,
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