Acronis Backup & Recovery

Management Server

Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 Management Server is the central server that drives data protection within the enterprise network. The management server provides the administrator with:

• a single entry point to the Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 infrastructure
• an easy way to protect data on numerous machines using backup policies and grouping
• enterprise-wide monitoring and reporting functionality
• the ability to create centralized vaults for storing enterprise backup archives
• the ability to manage storage nodes.

If there are multiple management servers on the network, they operate independently, manage different machines and use different centralized vaults for storing archives.

  The management server's databases  

The management server uses three Microsoft SQL databases:

• The configuration database that stores the list of registered machines and other configuration information, including backup policies created by the administrator.
• The synchronization database used for synchronization of the management server with registered machines and storage nodes. This is a database with rapidly changing operational data.
• The reporting database that stores the centralized log. This database may grow large. Its size depends on the logging level you set.

The configuration and synchronization databases should reside on the same Microsoft SQL Server (called an operational server) preferably installed on the same machine as the management server. The reporting database can be configured on the same or different SQL server.

When installing a management server, you can select for both operational and reporting servers what server to use. The following options are available:

1. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express that comes with the installation package and installs on the same machine. In this case, an SQL server instance with three databases will be created on the machine.
2. Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (any edition) previously installed on any machine.
3. Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (any edition) previously installed on any machine.

  VMware vCenter integration  

This feature provides the capability to view virtual machines managed by a VMware vCenter Server in the management server GUI, view the backup status of these machines in the vCenter, and automatically register virtual machines created by Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 in the vCenter.

Integration is available in all Acronis Backup & Recovery 10 advanced editions; a license for Virtual Edition is not required. No software installation is required on the vCenter Server.

This feature also enables automatic deployment and configuration of Agent for ESX/ESXi to any ESX/ESXi server, that is not necessarily managed by the vCenter.