--- title: How to Speed Up Server Recovery Using a Virtual Environment description: Find out how Acronis Instant Restore uses virtual environments to reduce server recovery time from hours to seconds, eliminating costly downtime. canonical_url: https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/how-speed-server-recovery-using-virtual-environment/ locale: en last_updated: 2026-10-27 --- [Acronis Blog](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/) # How to Speed Up Server Recovery Using a Virtual Environment When a disaster strikes and the production servers go down, the most important device in your server room is actually the clock on the wall. [Learn More](https://www.acronis.com/en/products/cyber-protect/) [![Image 2: Acronis Editorial Team](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/content/d85707ae91461544212d39836dc32b42.png)](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/authors/acronis/ "Acronis Editorial Team") [Acronis Editorial Team](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/authors/acronis/) 3 min read Last updated 12 September 2023 When a disaster strikes and the production servers go down, the most important device in your server room is actually the clock on the wall. Every hour of downtime costs your organization money. For enterprises, the downtime can cost more than $1 million per hour, and even for small businesses it could push well beyond $20,000 an hour. Quite literally, in a [disaster recovery](https://www.acronis.com/en/solutions/disaster-recovery/) situation, time is money and every second counts. Even if you have complete disk-image backups of your entire server, you need to restore the system by moving the data from backup storage to your production hardware. Your server recovery time is proportional to the size of the backup – and it can be hours. ### Acronis Instant Restore However, with unique technology from Acronis, you can skip the wait and significantly reduce recovery times – from hours to seconds, using Acronis Instant Restore™. Instead of spending time moving data, Acronis Instant Restore lets you start the system on your existing [Microsoft Hyper-V](https://www.acronis.com/en/solutions/backup/virtual/hyperv/) or VMware vSphere ESXi host — directly from the backup storage — without moving the data. Because you are not moving data, the server recovery time is down to a jaw-dropping 10-15 seconds. Here’s how it works: The Acronis Backup 12 agent, which is installed on your virtual host, creates a virtual storage device on your host that looks like a datastore. Whenever the hypervisor reads from this virtual device, the agent will retrieve the data from the backup storage and present it to the hypervisor. As a result, there is no need to move the entire backup to the hypervisor storage – the reading of the backup happens on-demand. If the hypervisor wants to write data, it is written to temporary storage on the host. As you can see, the technology is transparent to the hypervisor – the virtual machine (VM) will start, the operating system and applications will run, and the data will be available. In order to ensure success, the Acronis Backup agent will also apply the versatile Acronis Universal Restore technology to the restored system. This instantly launches the backup of any system – physical or virtual, Windows or Linux. Once your system is up and running, you can move the VM to another, more permanent datastore using either Acronis Backup 12, or your existing hypervisor’s capability, such as VMware vMotion. The Result: You get your system recovered and you can start serving users again in seconds. Take that, clock on the wall! To summarize, Acronis Instant Restore is the only technology on the market that helps you reduce server RTO to seconds by running any physical or virtual Windows or Linux system backup as a VMware or Hyper-V VM. ### Try the Acronis Backup 12 Beta Do you want to try it for yourself? Check out the beta version of the forthcoming Acronis Backup 12 now and see how you can beat the clock when disaster strikes. [Cybersecurity](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/tags/cybersecurity/) [Cyber protection](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/tags/cyber-protection/) ## Written by ![Image 3: Acronis Editorial Team](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/content/d85707ae91461544212d39836dc32b42.png) Acronis Editorial Team Acronis is a global cyber protection company that provides natively integrated cybersecurity, data protection, and endpoint management for managed service providers (MSPs), small and medium businesses (SMBs), and enterprise IT departments. [Previous post](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/premise-backup-software-or-cloud-backup-service-answer/) [On-Premise Backup Software or Cloud Backup as a Service? The Answer Is…](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/premise-backup-software-or-cloud-backup-service-answer/) [Next post](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/why-you-should-backup-your-iaas-cloud/) [Why You Should Backup Your IaaS Cloud](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/why-you-should-backup-your-iaas-cloud/) About Acronis Acronis is a leader in AI-native cyber protection, unifying data protection, cybersecurity, IT operations and hybrid infrastructure to deliver business continuity, security and compliance with less cost and complexity. More than 21,000 service providers trust Acronis to protect over 750,000 businesses in 150 countries. Acronis is headquartered in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. [Add as a preferred source on Google](https://google.com/preferences/source?q=acronis.com) ## Related stories Want to learn more? Read the latest stories featuring this solution on our blog. [Acronis Blog](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/) ![Image 4: stc Bahrain and Acronis partner to bring advanced endpoint security to businesses in Bahrain](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/blog-card/9600f3eea83b8f4e168ea6c1409c8c26.png) [stc Bahrain and Acronis partner to bring advanced endpoint security to businesses in Bahrain](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/stc-bahrain-and-acronis-partner-to-bring-endpoint-security-to-businesses/) We are proud to announce a strategic partnership with stc Bahrain, expanding access to advanced cybersecurity services for businesses across Bahrain. **October 26, 2026**3 min read ![Image 5: Introducing New Acronis CEO: Prakash Panjwani](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/blog-card/30cb571f6f1aaa131733e5727a4a250c.png) [Introducing New Acronis CEO: Prakash Panjwani](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/introducing-new-acronis-ceo-prakash-panjwani/) We are pleased to announce the appointment of our new Chief Executive Officer, Prakash Panjwani. A veteran cybersecurity CEO, Panjwani previously served as CEO of WatchGuard Technologies and SafeNet. **October 15, 2026**2 min read ![Image 6: Acronis expands MDR toward broader workspace protection](https://staticfiles.acronis.com/images/blog-card/18e90e89f5ec4ef0901f19008d4ccbf2.png) [Acronis expands MDR toward broader workspace protection](https://www.acronis.com/en/blog/posts/acronis-expands-mdr-toward-broader-workspace-protection/) Acronis is expanding the MDR service with capabilities that make this expertise easier to deliver and help partners address more risks. The developments build on a broader commitment to managed security: helping service providers protect the connected workspace while giving customers access to the expertise needed to investigate threats, respond effectively and maintain business continuity. **October 13, 2026**6 min read