Choosing a subscription

Normally, you choose a subscription based on the operating system your machine is running.

Server operating systems supported by Acronis Backup & Recovery Online:

  • Windows 2000 Server/Advanced Server
  • Windows Server 2003/2003 R2 – the Standard, Enterprise, Small Business Server editions (x86, x64)
  • Windows Server 2008 – the Standard, Enterprise, Small Business Server, Foundation editions (x86, x64)
  • Windows Server 2008 R2 – the Standard, Enterprise, Small Business Server, Datacenter, Foundation editions
  • Windows MultiPoint Server 2010

Workstation operating systems supported by Acronis Backup & Recovery Online:

  • Windows 2000 Professional SP4
  • Windows XP Professional SP2+ (x86, x64)
  • Windows Vista – all editions except for Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium (x86, x64)
  • Windows 7 – all editions except for the Starter and Home editions (x86, x64)

Virtualization products supported by Acronis Backup & Recovery Online (host-based backup of virtual machines):

  • VMware ESX Infrastructure 3.5 Update 2+
  • VMware ESX(i) 4.0 and 4.1

(Host-based backup is available only for paid licenses of VMware ESXi.)

  • Windows Server 2008/2008 R2 (x64) with Hyper-V
  • Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008/2008 R2

If your backups are likely to exceed the storage quota for this type of subscription, you may want to use a subscription with larger storage quota. For example, you can use a server subscription or a subscription for virtual machines on a workstation. Or you can use a subscription for virtual machines on a server which is not a virtualization server.

The inverse usage is not possible. You cannot back up a server using a workstation subscription. If you try to back up ESX(i) or Hyper-V virtual machines from the host that uses a server subscription, the backup will fail. With a server subscription, you can only back up the Windows host. With a subscription for virtual machines, you can back up both the Windows host and its virtual machines.

  Trial subscriptions  

You can get one free workstation subscription, server subscription, or subscription for virtual machines per account. The storage quota of the trial subscription is equal to that of the standard subscription. The subscription period is limited to 2 months.

Obtaining a trial subscription is possible until you buy a paid subscription. You can use a trial subscription along with paid ones. The same expiration rules apply to trial and paid subscriptions.

To continue using the service after the trial subscription expires, buy the same type subscription and renew the trial subscription specifying the paid subscription. Your backed up data will be kept online. Regular backups of your machines will continue uninterrupted. The service will not need to perform a new full backup.

Choosing a subscription