55 Copyright © Acronis International GmbH, 2002-2015
4 Backup
4.1 Back up now
Use the Back up now feature to configure and run a one-time backup in a few simple steps. The
backup process will start immediately after you perform the required steps and click OK.
For a long-time backup strategy that includes schedules and conditions, timely deleting of backups or
moving them to different locations, consider creating a backup plan.
Configuring immediate backup is similar to creating a backup plan (p. 55) except for the following:
There are no options to schedule backups and to set up retention rules.
Simplified naming of backup files (p. 77) is used, if the backup destination supports it. Otherwise,
the standard backup naming is used.
The following locations do not support simplified file naming: managed vaults, tape, Acronis
Secure Zone or Acronis Cloud Storage.
Due to simplified file naming, an RDX drive or USB flash drive can only be used in the removable
media (p. 197) mode.
Conversion of a disk-level backup to a virtual machine is not available as a part of the backup
operation. You can convert the resulting backup afterwards.
4.2 Creating a backup plan
Before creating your first backup plan (p. 439), please familiarize yourself with the basic concepts
used in Acronis Backup.
To create a backup plan, perform the following steps.
What to back up
Items to back up (p. 57)
Select the type of data to back up and specify the data items. The type of data depends on
the agents installed on the machine.
Access credentials, exclusions
To access these settings, click Show access credentials, exclusions.
Access credentials (p. 59)
Provide credentials for the source data if the plan's account does not have access
permissions to the data.
Exclusions (p. 60)
Set up exclusions for the specific types of files you do not wish to back up.
Where to back up
Location (p. 61)
Specify a path to the location where the backup archive will be stored and the archive name.
The archive name has to be unique within the location. Otherwise, backups of the newly
created backup plan will be placed to the existing archive that belongs to another backup
plan. The default archive name is Archive(N) where N is the sequence number of the archive
in the location you have selected.
