Question about creating incrementals
I'm considering using Acronis for long term backups (archiving). Is it possible to create an initial backup (in my case two 100GB Blu-ray m-discs) and send them off to a relative for safe keeping, then every year create an incremental of that backup without needing the original discs? Does Acronis keep an index or record of it?
I'd like to have a regular backup job for day to day stuff that would go to a NAS, and then have a separate 'Archive' job that would we done once a year or so and would only contain new or changed files since the previous full backup.
Thanks for this, it sounds like it will work for my purposes.
I understand your concerns. The data I'm archiving on disc is only a copy of documents, photos, and videos... no system restore data... I have a RAID5 NAS for system backups and a central store for all my data... from there I create nightly 'cloud' backups and I also keep an offline USB drive for monthly backups.
I was just looking for 1 final 'archive' style backup in which M-Discs would work... I currently have about 150GB worth of photos, videos, and documents that I want to write in 'stone' and every year add to it... I dont see this data really exceeding 200GB / yr so discs will work.
Can you migrate an Acronis 'job' from one version to the next? If down the road, I upgrade my OS, can a job be exported and reimported once Acronis is reinstalled?
Last question, does Acronis create any parity files? Blu-Rays can get scratched... previously i used many 100MB 7zip files with PAR2 to ensure that if any data is lost to disc defects, the parity files can repair it.
I was just looking for 1 final 'archive' style backup in which M-Discs would work... I currently have about 150GB worth of photos, videos, and documents that I want to write in 'stone' and every year add to it... I dont see this data really exceeding 200GB / yr so discs will work.
When you say you are looking for 1 final 'archive' style backup - can we assume that you understand the difference in ATIH 2017 between doing a Backup versus using Archive versus using Synchronisation?
Backup creates a single compressed backup image file .TIB which is effectively a container file that only Acronis can open, so you will need ATIH in order to look at / browse or copy any of the contents of the backup file.
Note: compression works fine for documents or other files with lots of 'white space' but files such as photos, videos tend to already be highly compressed and are unlikely to be able to be compressed further so will be stored 'as is'.
Archive moves the source data from the source drive to a second location deleting the original data in doing so.
Synchronisation copies the source data from the source drive but can only copy to either the Acronis Cloud or another computer running the Acronis synchronisation software.
Can you migrate an Acronis 'job' from one version to the next? If down the road, I upgrade my OS, can a job be exported and reimported once Acronis is reinstalled?
Please see KB document: 1689: Backup archive compatibility across different product versions which speaks to this question but deals in terms of the backup image file .TIB compatibility. There is no need to export / import an Acronis backup task (aka job). Backup files created by ATIH 2017 should be compatible with future versions such as 2018 but you would need to test this once a new version is available / consult this KB for updated content.
Last question, does Acronis create any parity files? Blu-Rays can get scratched... previously i used many 100MB 7zip files with PAR2 to ensure that if any data is lost to disc defects, the parity files can repair it.
Not as parity files. Each Acronis backup image .TIB file contains an embedded checksum value that was calculated for the file when it was created and which the Validation option recalculated and compares with to confirm that no changes have occurred to the file. This is not a guarantee that the contents of the file are 100% what you expect them to be, only that what was selected to be saved and stored in the file remains the same. If any of the selected content was already corrupted or damaged then that is what Acronis will save to the backup file. This would be the same with any other similar backup software products. (in the IT trade the saying was 'garbage in = garbage out'). After making a backup file, it is recommended to open this in Windows Explorer (double-click on the .TIB file) and navigate around the contents, opening random files etc.
Steve, thanks so much for your quick response!
When you say you are looking for 1 final 'archive' style backup - can we assume that you understand the difference in ATIH 2017 between doing a Backup versus using Archive versus using Synchronisation?
I will clarify my answer:
- All of my home machines synchronize thier user data (documents, photos, home videos) to a NAS server via SyncThing (i do not create OS / system restore backups)
- My NAS server then backs up that user data to a 'cloud source' via CrashPlan
- Roughly once a month, I connect a USB drive and syncronize the user data content stored on my NAS via WinMerge, then put the drive back in a safe (mainly for fire protection)
What I am looking to do with Acronis is create a perpetual / incremental user data 'backup of last resort' using M-Discs. Archive may have been the wrong word to use. I have other data that is less important that might get 'Archived' and for this i would use hard drives.
There is no need to export / import an Acronis backup task (aka job). Backup files created by ATIH 2017 should be compatible with future versions such as 2018 but you would need to test this once a new version is available
Lets say I use Acronis 2017 to make these long term backup discs, in 2019 I get a new server and reinstall the OS, and re-install Acronis 2017, what would I have to do to continue to add to this incremental? Does it need to read the original 'full' discs? Is there something I can save / export from Acronis before I do an OS re-install that would allow me to create a new incremental disc without needing the original fulls to 're-read'?
Not as parity files. Each Acronis backup image .TIB file contains an embedded checksum value that was calculated for the file when it was created and which the Validation option recalculated and compares with to confirm that no changes have occurred to the file.
Is it possible to create a bunch of .TIB files of a certain size? Perhaps 100MB each?
My thinking: Instead of having Acronis write to disc directly, i would have it backup to a folder and then i can create parity files of these to insure the future integrity of the .TIB files (instead of a scratch making the entire disc useless, it would only corrupt a few .TIB files which could then be rebuilt using the parity files.)
What I am looking to do with Acronis is create a perpetual / incremental user data 'backup of last resort' using M-Discs.
You can do this but I would not recommend going for a perpetual incremental backup scheme as this has an inherent weakness in that every portion of the incremental chain must be intact with no errors, corruption etc else the whole chain is broken from that point forward. We recommend keeping incremental backup chains short for this reason.
For example: if you create an incremental backup chain that grows to 100 incrementals but then backup #5 is damaged for any reason, you have just lost the whole chain from that point forward, i.e. are left with only the first 4 backups of the chain. Note: an incremental backup chain is only complete when all elements are available, i.e. the initial full backup plus all subsequent incremental backup files.
Lets say I use Acronis 2017 to make these long term backup discs, in 2019 I get a new server and reinstall the OS, and re-install Acronis 2017, what would I have to do to continue to add to this incremental? Does it need to read the original 'full' discs? Is there something I can save / export from Acronis before I do an OS re-install that would allow me to create a new incremental disc without needing the original fulls to 're-read'?
See previous answer about using large numbers of incremental backup files. You can save the Acronis backup task and configuration information by saving a copy of the C:\ProgramData\Acronis\TrueImageHome\Scripts and Database folders which hold this detail - each backup task has a matching .tib.tis XML configuration file in the Scripts folder, and all backup task activities are recorded in the Database files in SQL data format. So you could reinstall ATIH 2017 and then restore these folders to recover your backup tasks and history status.
There is no option to export or import configuration settings.
Is it possible to create a bunch of .TIB files of a certain size? Perhaps 100MB each?
My thinking: Instead of having Acronis write to disc directly, i would have it backup to a folder and then i can create parity files of these to insure the future integrity of the .TIB files (instead of a scratch making the entire disc useless, it would only corrupt a few .TIB files which could then be rebuilt using the parity files.)
Yes, you can set a maximum size for your .TIB files, but you will also increase the complexity and potential frailty of the backup by having very large numbers of small (100MB ?) size files. This is an option on the Advanced page tab in the Options settings for the backup task.
Steve, thanks for all your help... I'll be picking up a copy of Acronis shortly to do some testing... it sounds like it will do what I need and regarding the incrementals, I dont forsee going more than 5 or so before starting a new full backup set. I will also consider using fewer but larger .TIB files.
I've hit a bit of a roadblock in testing. It appears that Acronis needs to read the existing full backup files before it can create an incremental.
I was under the impression that it internally stored a file list of what it had backed up originally during the full backup so that an incremental could be created without needing the original files in place.
In my situation, I would have to get back my orignal full backup discs, copy the data to the original folder destination and then create an incremental from there... or am I missing something?
Acronis works differently to how you were under the impression - there is no stored file list of what was originally backed up, rather the initial part of any backup is a scan of the source data to determine what has changed in relation to the initial full backup file or the previous incremental backup file. Acronis works on a sector comparison as far as I am aware.
This, unfortunately, is where your quest to make these backups and store them on individual BD discs will hit some issues - this is fine when doing only full / single version backups, but once you choose to do either incremental or differential backups, then Acronis will need access to read the discs created in the previous execution of the task.
This may be a case of approaching this from a different direction. Create your incremental backups on an external disk drive and then copy/burn/write the backup files to your BD discs in a separate operation outside of Acronis. This would leave the files on the external drive intact but give you the security of having the BD discs stored offsite without needing to bring them back for each further backup run.
Steve, thanks once again. While this is a disappointing finding, I was thinking along the same lines as your suggestion. I can keep a copy of the acronis generated files on an external drive for reference, then burn the full and incremental .TIB and thier corresponding .PAR files to disc outside of acronis and mail off those discs.
Having a now 19 mo old and another on the way in october, plus videos and pictures from my wife and I all safely backed up is worth all the effort.
Having your offsite backups is definitely looking very wise given the world-wide ransomware attacks that have been going on since yesterday and hitting around 74 countries to date.
Sounds like you are going to have your hands full with family with two under the age of 3 by later this year. Can remember those days albeit we are now in the grandparents stage with our eldest grand-daughter approaching 17 next month.