Question about backing up files to OneDrive
I've read that if you turn off the "Files on Demand" feature of OneDrive, then ATI will successfully backup to OneDrive. Can someone please confirm this is true? Are there any other pitfalls?
Since OneDrive increased it's file limit to 250GB, I'm planning on splitting backups into 200GB chunks, which should circumvent this limitation. I have the Microsoft 365 Family plan which includes 6TB of storage. By creating child accounts, then sharing them, you can backup everything to your primary OneDrive folder.
-Thanks
Steve Smith wrote:Bernard, sorry but your understanding about OneDrive is incorrect regardless of not using the 'Files on Demand' option.
Acronis only allows backups to go to the Acronis Cloud, not to any other cloud services or providers.
You could potentially backup to a local OneDrive folder and let that application mirror the backup data to the cloud servers but there is going to be a whole lot of synchronisation activity going on unless you suspend / pause OneDrive while ATI is writing to the folder!
The other issue here, one that many other users have found and complained about since the introduction of the new .tibx file architecture with ATI 2020 and later versions, is that making incremental backups that use .tibx files automatically consolidates those incremental backups within the base full .tibx file, so any synchronisation / upload will be of the full file size every time!
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Yes, I was referring to backing up to a local OneDrive folder. I did a test backup and found that OneDrive complained about syncing the .tib file. Obviously because ATI had it open. So I was thinking of having ATI call a PowerShell script that shuts down OneDrive, performs the backup, then starts OneDrive. OR -- backing up to a non-OneDrive folder, then copying it to the OneDrive folder.
-Thanks
Bernard, any copying of .tib / .tibx files will also require that Acronis Active Protection is not active as this will want to 'protect' these file types and prevent copying etc!
So, Steve, working around the issues do you see any problem with first turning off OneDrive sync, then backing up (full backups) in 200GB chunks to OneDrive’s local folder. Then after a successful backup turning OneDrive on again to allow the sync.
Bernard - did you have success.?
David, welcome to these public User Forums.
Assuming that you have both the required OneDrive storage allocation and fast upload speeds then the main issue with trying to sync either .tib or .tibx files to their cloud servers will be the need to stop Acronis Active Protection from wanting to 'protect' those files from being touched by the sync process.
I only have the default 5GB free OneDrive storage allocation so this is not something I have ever tried doing! I don't use the Acronis Cloud either as use my own Synology NAS for main storage.
I have found a solution to this issue, but some may feel it is too much work. It can be automated with a script, but I'm not there yet:
- As your normal process have Acronis backup (*.tibx) to a drive that does not have OneDrive on it, like Y:\Acronis. (I don't use Acronis Cloud Backup).
- COPY those *.tibx from Y:\Acronis to a separate drive that DOES contain your OneDrive folders, say X:\OneDrive\backup, but to a separate folder outside OneDrive like X:\Backup_Copy.
- You now have your original backups on drive Y: and a copy of them on drive X:
- Rename the copied files in X:\Backup_Copy so they no longer have the .tibx extension. This is for two reasons. Acronis Active Protection no longer recognizes them, and OneDrive will upload them. I rename them by adding .dat to the .tibx extension so *.tibx.dat is the new extension.
- MOVE (don't copy) the renamed files FROM X:\Backup_Copy into X:\OneDrive\backup. This circumvents OneDrive trying to monitor the (potentially huge) *.tibx.dat files when copying them.
- Allow OneDrive to backup the files.
- You now have your original backup files on Y:, a copy of them in X:\OneDrive\backup (as *.tibx.dat), and in the OneDrive Cloud.
- On subsequent backups, just update the delta from your source backup to the OneDrive copy so they mirror the source .*tibx fileset. This includes deleting any files from X:\OneDrive\backup that no longer exist in Y:\Acronis.
- If your original backup drive (Y:) fails and you need to restore, just get the *.tibx.dat files from X:\OneDrive\backup or OneDrive Cloud onto an external drive/USB and rename the *.tibx.dat to *.tibx. Now you can restore them.
I have tested and proven that this works to circumvent Acronis Active Protection. I recommend a fast upload internet connection to support the OneDrive sync piece.
Carey