Example 2. Backing up to a remote location through a low-bandwidth network connection

Case: The company's branch office has a dedicated Exchange mailbox server that hosts 500 GB of data. The network bandwidth available between offices allows transferring about 5 GB per hour. Thus, it requires about 100 hours to back up the Exchange mailbox databases over the network. The amount of daily changes on this server almost never exceeds 5 GB.

Solution: Use the express full backup method to do full backups of the Exchange server without transferring the entire database over the network. Since the initial backup is still required, export the backup to a detachable medium such as a USB hard drive and ship it to the main office. In the office, export the backup to the deduplicating vault. Then, set up the backup plan to use the deduplicating vault as a backup destination for the subsequent express full backups.

Steps to perform

The initial full backup in the branch office

1. Connect the console to the machine running Agent for Exchange.
2. Click Create backup plan and specify the settings as follows:
   1. Under What to back up, select the required server's data.
   2. Under Where to back up:
      • Specify a vault that will store the data.
      • In the Name field, add the [Machine Name] variable before the archive name. The whole archive name should look like [Machine Name]_Archive(N), where the [Machine Name] stands for the machine's name, and N is a sequence number.
   3. Under How to back up, select Manual start.
      • Click Show backup type, 2nd location, validation to access the Backup type setting.
      • In Backup type, choose Full.
3. Click OK to create the backup plan.
4. You will see the Backup plans and tasks view with the backup plan you have just created. Select this backup plan and click Run.

Exporting the initial backup to a detachable medium

1. After the backup is created, navigate to the vault containing the backup.
2. In the vault view, click the Archive view tab and select the created backup.
3. Click Export.
4. On the Export page, under Where to export, specify the path to the USB hard drive.
5. Click OK to export the backup.
6. Once the export is completed, ship the drive to the main office.

Exporting the backup to a remote location

1. In the main office, attach the drive to the machine running the Agent for Exchange.
2. Connect the console to this machine.
3. In the Actions menu, select Export backup.
4. Under What to export, select the archive on the attached drive.
5. Under Where to export, select the deduplicating vault.
6. Click OK to export the backup.

Scheduling the express full backups

1. Connect the console to the machine running Agent for Exchange in the branch office.
2. Click Create a backup plan.
3. Under What to back up, select the same data as when creating the initial full backup.
4. Under Where to back up:
   • Select the managed vault containing the exported archive.
   • In the Name field, enter the following: [Application Instance Name]_Archive(N), replacing N with the same number as in the exported backup. For example, if the exported backup name is machine1.corp.com_Archive(1), the sequence number you should specify in the parentheses must be the same: [Application Instance Name]_Archive(1).
5. Under How to back up, select Simple backup scheme.
   • In Schedule, select Daily and specify the daily backup schedule.
   • Click Show backup type, 2nd location, validation to access the Backup type setting.
   • In Backup type, select Create full backups using the Express full backup method.
6. For information about specifying the rest of the backup plan settings (replication, retention, and validation of backups), refer to the "Backup" section of the product help system or guides for Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 Advanced Editions.
7. Click OK to save the created backup plan.