Deciding where to store your backups
Acronis True Image supports quite a few of storage devices. For more information, refer to Supported storage media.
The table below shows possible backup destinations for your data.
|
HDD* |
SSD* | USB flash drive | Acronis Cloud |
File server, NAS or NDAS |
Network share | SMB | FTP |
DVD |
Memory card | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MBR partitions or entire disks (HDD, SSD) |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| GPT/dynamic volumes or disks |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
| Files and folders |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
+ |
*Internal or external.
Though backing up to your local hard drive is the simplest option, we recommend that you store your backups off-site because it enhances the security of your data.
Recommended storage media:
- Acronis Cloud
-
External drive
If you plan to use an external USB hard drive with your desktop PC, we recommend that you connect the drive to a rear connector by using a short cable.
-
Home file server, NAS, or NDAS
Check whether Acronis True Image detects the selected backup storage, both in Windows and when booted from the bootable media.
To gain access to an NDAS-enabled storage device, in many cases you will need to specify the NDAS device ID (20 characters) and the write key (five characters). The write key allows you to use an NDAS-enabled device in write mode (for example, for saving your backups). Usually the device ID and write key are printed on a sticker attached to the bottom of the NDAS device or on the inside of its enclosure. If there is no sticker, you need to contact your NDAS device vendor to obtain that information.
-
Network share
See also: Authentication settings.
-
FTP server
See also: FTP connection.
-
Optical discs (CD, DVD, BD)
Blank optical discs such as DVD-R, DVD+R are very cheap, so they will be the lowest cost solution for backing up your data, though the slowest one.
Due to the necessity of swapping discs, we strongly recommend to avoid backing up to DVDs if the number of discs is more than three. When there is no alternative to backing up to DVDs, we recommend to copy all DVDs to a folder on a hard disk, and then to recover from that folder.