Disaster Recovery to Azure

Frequently Asked Questions

• Is Acronis Disaster Recovery to Azure secure?

  Yes. Backup files are encrypted with AES-256 while stored in Azure Blob, and every data transfer uses TLS 1.2 or higher. You decide which Azure virtual networks and subnets are used during failover when using disaster recovery to Azure. Role-based access control (RBAC) limits what staff can change, and multi-factor authentication (MFA) blocks brute-force attacks. Detailed audit logs record each action, helping you prove compliance and investigate any unusual behavior.

• How is Disaster Recovery to Azure priced?

  The service has three cost elements. First, Azure Blob storage holds your backups at a per-gigabyte rate. Second, Azure compute and public IP charges apply only when an Azure virtual machine is running during disaster recovery testing, warm-tier replication, or an actual disaster. Third, optional egress bandwidth fees are incurred if you copy data out of Azure, for example during final failback. There are no license fees for unused standby VMs, and you can down-scale at any time, keeping bills predictable.

• Can I use my existing backups stored in Azure?

  Yes. Acronis Disaster Recovery is natively integrated with backup, and for disaster recovery purposes, you can use any existing backups stored in Microsoft Azure. No reseeding is required, which cuts onboarding time.

• How do I start with Acronis Disaster Recovery to Azure?

  Install the Acronis agent on the systems you need to protect, open the console, create a new Protection Plan, enable Disaster Recovery, and choose Microsoft Azure as the recovery location. Select the target Azure region, map networks, and define a runbook that sets boot order. After the wizard finishes, launch an on-demand test failover to confirm that networking and application services come up as expected.

• How does Acronis DR to Azure compare to native Azure Site Recovery?

  Azure Site Recovery (ASR) is built for workloads already running inside Azure or Hyper-V. It handles replication and orchestration well but does not include backup, malware protection, or multitenant management. Acronis provides a full Azure backup and disaster recovery stack: backup, anti-malware, vulnerability assessment, and failover in one agent and one console. Acronis also supports physical servers and various hypervisors, including VMware, so you can protect mixed environments without separate tools. For MSPs, Acronis offers usage-based billing, white-label tenant views, and open APIs that ASR lacks, simplifying service delivery while still using Azure’s reliable infrastructure.