Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
PeerSpot user
ERP / HMIS / EMR Specialist at Fauji Foundation
Real User
Backup & Recovery Tool for System Administrators

In any network and system environment, backup and recovery is one of the most crucial, critical and inevitably important and demanding task. There are two products (Norton Ghost & Acronis True Image) which are top of the line in terms of granularity and flexibility. Reliable and rapid recovery is one of the system administrators’ strong needs in deployed domains.


I had used Norton Ghost v.9 quite for some time and the sole purpose for usage was client pc’s restoration in case of HDD failure caused by malfunction, viral activity or any other reason for system drive corruption. Though both Ghost and Acronis provide excellent recovery from scratch for partition recovery to full HDD and Logical Volume backup and restore for almost all Microsoft operating systems (MS Small Business Server, MS Windows Server 2008 to Windows Server 2012 and downstream to Windows Xp), moreover both support for Linux flavors like Ubuntu, Fedora and RHEL 6.


As a regular user of Acronis True image now for windows domain which consist of 74 pc's, with identical hardware and software considerations I found the Acronis true image as an best solution for backup & recovery and optimum tool for any HDD cloning.(Domain Controller with Windows 2003 R2 64 bit operating system on it without any limitation).


I found Acronis to be the best solution for following salient reasons:


1. Acronis UI is simple and easy to understand for novice user as well as advance user .All important tasks focused on one page.


2. True image is providing far more granular facilities like file and folder recovery.


3. Acronis doesn’t require .NET framework 2.x as Norton Ghost.


4. Acronis provides bootable support for Linux as compared to Norton Ghost and NovaStor Backup.


5. Acronis provided unlimited number of backups and doesn’t limit.


6. Network Drive backup is also supported for backup through Acronis True Image.


7. Image size of Acronis is less than image created through Norton Ghost.


8. Acronis keeps all of its incremental and full backups in Acronis Secure Zone which is inaccessible by malware, user interventions or any possible corruption of the image for backup. Secure zone is a propriety partition which is referred as ASZ only accessible by Acronis Backup and Recovery.


9. Recovery disk can be created on almost any type of portable device i.e. USB memory stick, external HDD, Zip drive etc.


Possible Cons:


Help Support is far less than Norton Ghost.


Domain Controller HDD image created through Acronis might pose problems like rejoining of the client pc to domain ,


Reliability in case of Active directory partition, MS SQL Server, Exchange Server is doubtful.


I am using Acronis bootable USB stick with image on it and almost saving 3 hrs. of manhours of our technical staff. One of other benefit which my Windows Domain gets is restoration of image on different hardware with Acronis Universal Restore.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Sofiane Medhkour - PeerSpot reviewer
Sofiane MedhkourHead System /Solution Architect at sorfert
Real User

nice product, i'm using it for more then 12 years

See all 4 comments
it_user454233 - PeerSpot reviewer
Network Administrator at a educational organization
Real User
We use it for backing up our VMware environment. Can configure a single backup for all the VM servers.

What is our primary use case?

Server backups, including all of our VMWare servers and a few physical Windows Servers. 

How has it helped my organization?

I don't worry that the backups aren't running or panic when a storm is coming through; it just reassures us because we've  seen what it's doing, what it can do, and that it's doing what we're asking it to do. For example, if somebody deletes a file out of their Home folder or a shared folder, then knowing that I've got it and that I can get it back fairly quickly is important. Also, if a VM server were to go down we would be able to recover.  It's just that sense of security and peace of mind.

What is most valuable?

My favorite feature is that we use it for backing up our VMware environment and then, we just have a few physical servers. I like that I can configure a single backup so as to backup all the VM servers. I also like that it gives you a place for backing up to multiple locations of all the backup jobs/plans.

Other features such as setting up the vaults, email notifications, restoring a full VM, restoring just down to files and folders (once you know exactly how to do it, it's very easy and quick to do) are also valuable. So, there are a lot of things that I really like about it.

Special for IT Central Station Visitors: Free 30-Day Trial of Acronis Backup 12.5

What needs improvement?

We have been using this solution for almost a year now.  I'm not sure about the improvements aspect because it has been a learning experience for me. However, I know that any time I've come across an issue with it, I open a case with support by calling  or starting a chat session and they help me figure it out.

A lot of the times, it was just something that I was doing wrong. Setting everything up has been fairly easy. In terms of monitoring it, most of the issues that I've had were on the user's side, for example for the restoring part, I was doing it the wrong way. However, once they walked through with me and showed me exactly how I needed to do it, then it worked perfectly. 

For how long have I used the solution?

Less than one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I have not experienced any stability issues. I had to add some more RAM to my Management Server, and then I had some issues with my Synology NAS, but other than that, no other issues were experienced.

Special for IT Central Station Visitors: Free 30-Day Trial of Acronis Backup 12.5

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It seems like I haven't had any issues since I added the RAM to the Management Server, but it does seem to start being sluggish because I have it running on a Windows 7 machine. So, I'm considering trying to move it over to a true server (either a 2008 or 2012 Server) and then, to update that. However, it hasn't been an issue since I added the RAM. We added three physical machines that we're backing up now. It was super easy. Once we had the lessons, added that in and got those backed up really quick. That was really nice. We know, at any point, if we have a VM or a physical server that we need to add to make sure it's getting backed up, we know exactly what we need to do and that it's very capable of handling it.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
it_user3396 - PeerSpot reviewer
it_user3396Team Lead at Tata Consultancy Services
Top 5Real User

Backup VMware is difficult.

Buyer's Guide
Acronis Cyber Protect
May 2025
Learn what your peers think about Acronis Cyber Protect. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: May 2025.
851,823 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Product Manager at Midtown
Real User
Suitable for backing up and securing data and straightforward installation
Pros and Cons
  • "For me, the cost is a significant advantage."
  • "Improved support for immutability and Utility AirGAP could be beneficial."

What is our primary use case?

I use it to back up my home laboratory. I use it to back up my demo lab and secure my data.

What is most valuable?

For me, the cost is a significant advantage.

What needs improvement?

Acronis Cyber Protect should support immutability storage and user support for immutability and Air Gap. These features would be beneficial. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for four years or more. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability a seven out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability a seven out of ten.

How are customer service and support?

I fix the problems by myself.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was straightforward for me. I'm technical, so it was easy. It took about an hour to protect my servers and registration service.

What about the implementation team?

For maintenance, I'm the only administrator, so just me.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution offers a classic price, and I'm okay with it.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

I've worked with various products, such as Networker, NetBackup, and others.

I use them all simultaneously.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend Acronis to other users. Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. There is room for improvement. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Mohamed Naeem - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer at College of International Transport & Logistics - CITLC
Real User
Reliable, stable, and effective restore capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "Acronis Backup is valuable if your data is affected by ransomware, you are able to get it back."
  • "There are times when the backups are slow. A faster backup would be better."

What is our primary use case?

My initial experience with Acronis was to backup my email server's contents. This happened in 2008 when my email suddenly went down, but to my surprise, the backup didn't include the email server. However, after restoring everything, I gained confidence in the software and began using it to backup my DC servers.

What is most valuable?

Acronis Backup is valuable if your data is affected by ransomware, you are able to get it back.

What needs improvement?

There are times when the backups are slow. A faster backup would be better.

The cloud faces a danger concerning data integrity. Briefly, the threat is to attack the integrity of data stored in the cloud. A hybrid solution that combines cloud storage with local storage on your DC server and provides a secure perimeter to protect data without alterations would be ideal. It's crucial that this solution also synchronizes with the cloud to prevent data from being distorted or stolen.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Acronis Backup for approximately 10 years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is reliable and stable.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price of Acronis Backup could be reduced, it is expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Acronis Backup a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
IT Desktop Support
Real User
Universal Restore allows you to reimage a computer without having to have all the drivers
Pros and Cons
  • "I've reimaged servers and been back up and running in exactly no time with the completely new hardware."
  • "It does not delete locked files."

What is most valuable?

I've reimaged servers and been back up and running in exactly no time with the completely new hardware. 

The Universal Restore allows you to reimage a computer without having to have all the drivers. It allows you to boot the machine; once you get the machine up and running, then you can install the drivers.

Click Here For a Free 30-Day Fully Functional Trial of Acronis Backup v12.5

What needs improvement?

It doesn't seem to do the following on the server but it does so on the work station: It does not delete locked files. So I created a small batch file that, after the backup, I go in and I run. That deletes all the extraneous lock files. I tried running the batch file automated but it would not run for some reason.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I keep five months of full images of the server. And my work station, I keep three copies, three months' worth. And I backup my data separately. All the data is on a server and nothing is on the computer.

I backup data daily, five copies of it. Every five days, I overwrite the first one. So I've got five days of data, and three days of images and of the workstation, and five copies of the server image. I do it automated every month and I've never had a problem.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I've used all of them. I've used Norton Ghost, and years and years ago something called FastBack. Norton Ghost is really the only other one, but my experience is there are more problems with using it than Acronis.

How was the initial setup?

Very simple. I can create a backup program in just in minutes because I know the program so well. It is very easy to set up if you know anything about computers, and even if you're not familiar with computers.

It takes me no time at all and the backup procedure is pretty much straightforward, depending on how complicated your system is. 

I'm using the pro version. Personally, I think that the home version is more complicated to set up than the professional version, for some reason. You would think it would be the other way around.

Click Here For a Free 30-Day Fully Functional Trial of Acronis Backup v12.5

What other advice do I have?

Buy it. Simple. It's the best backup. I've used it to restore a number of machines without any trouble at all. It's very simple with a hard drive. It makes it much easier if you have a complete new system.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
it_user674337 - PeerSpot reviewer
Owner at a tech services company
Consultant
The interface is easy to understand and consistent across applications.
Pros and Cons
  • "Consistency and reliability. The interface is easy to understand and consistent across applications. While not 100%, it is a very reliable backup solution."
  • "I needed tech support to straighten out an issue with cloud backup. I have troubleshooting to do with failed backups."

How has it helped my organization?

I use the same backup software provider across all my clients. This means I only have to stay on top of manage interface and workflow. In that aspect, it's reliable.

What is most valuable?

Consistency and reliability. The interface is easy to understand and consistent across applications. While not 100%, it is a very reliable backup solution.

[Click Here for FREE Trial of Acronis Backup. See Why It Gets 5-Star Reviews.]

It makes a full image of the hard drive. If a hard drive fails, all we do is recover to another hard drive. We just pop in the hard drive and that's very fast as well. Speed and the ease in which we recover full hard drives are valuable features.

What needs improvement?

I needed tech support to straighten out an issue with cloud backup. I have troubleshooting to do with failed backups.

[Click Here for FREE Trial of Acronis Backup. See Why It Gets 5-Star Reviews.]

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There were no stability issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There were no scalability issues, although my biggest client has a relatively small-scale backup system.

How are customer service and technical support?

I would give technical support a rating of 8/10. They are very good, quick to access, quick for remote to server, and quick to troubleshoot. Sometimes they are a little slow in understanding the exact issue, but they eventually get it and resolve it.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used Symantec. We switched because they had a bad user interface and it was very difficult to use. I left Symantec years ago for Acronis. The only other backup I encountered was the one included with Windows Server OS.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was somewhat straightforward.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Pricing is what it is. I don't shop around once I find a good solution. I insist they maintain ongoing support year after year for updates and tech support.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We did not evaluate other options.

What other advice do I have?

Go for it!

[Click Here for FREE Trial of Acronis Backup. See Why It Gets 5-Star Reviews.]

It makes a full image of the hard drive. If a hard drive fails, all we do is recover to another hard drive. We just pop in the hard drive and that's very fast as well. Speed and the ease in which we recover full hard drives are valuable features.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Senior System Administrator at a manufacturing company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Leaderboard
We have saved massive drive space and shortened data transfer time to offsite due to the 8:1 ratio of the de-duplication and changed block tracking, but MS Exchange and SQL backups are a little slow.

How has it helped my organization?

We can backup all hosts and clusters. We have saved massive drive space and shortened data transfer time to offsite due to the 8:1 ratio of the de-duplication and changed block tracking. Recovery is easy and can be done by any of the help desk techs with very little training.

What is most valuable?

  • Centralized Management
  • De-Duplication
  • The ability to write to a 2nd backup location, including tape drive
  • The ability to mount SQL databases
  • The ability to stand up a VM from TIB file
  • Converting physical to Virtual and vise-versa
  • Boot and backup any volume regardless of OZ
  • Image or file recovery and database recovery including mailbox
  • Universal restore

There are many more features, but those for the money are outstanding.

Learn More: Get Free Trial of Acronis Backup

What needs improvement?

MS Exchange and SQL backups are a little slow and odd to setup. But once setup they do work, including transaction logs.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

None. Very Stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

None.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

Scale of 1-10, a solid 9!

Technical Support:

7

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Symantec Backup Exec. Throughput issues and support issues. No real VMware support that's helpful.

Learn More: Get Free Trial of Acronis Backup

How was the initial setup?

Very easy to setup.

What about the implementation team?

In-house.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1228086 - PeerSpot reviewer
SA at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
User-friendly and overall good performance
Pros and Cons
  • "I have not used other backup solutions to compare how well the features work but I have found Acronis Backup to be user-friendly, overall easy to use, and performance is good."
  • "We needed to have help from the vendor for implementation. The vendor used two personnel. We have system administrators and they do the server backups themself."

What is our primary use case?

We use Acronis Backup to create a backup policy and schedule to create backup images. We have an incremental backup for images and file-level backups. However, we never restore, test to restore, we have not done it yet.

We are trying to restore from the backups that the supplier help us to create, but we are having problems restoring. It is because the backups are created inside a virtual server and we want to restore it to a Hyper-V environment. We have attempted the process for approximately three weeks, and we have yet to find a solution to our problem.

We are only using Acronis Backup to create a backup plan, and the storage is within our premises. In one or two months, we will create a backup plan that will involve creating a backup from our premises to another location that is approximately 300 kilometers away. Then we will test how Acronis Backup will perform. 

What is most valuable?

I have not used other backup solutions to compare how well the features work but I have found Acronis Backup to be user-friendly, overall easy to use, and performance is good.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Acronis Backup for approximately one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have some problems when we are backing up using Acronis Backup. However, I cannot be certain it is the solution or our servers. I cannot say exactly if Acronis Backup's performance is good or not. The solution is able to detect if there are errors and it gives us an alert warning. This is a good thing because it is able to catch the error before it causes problems before the backup is running.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have 10 licenses for Acronis Backup, which allows ten users.

We are on a three-year contract that will end next year. We might renew with an additional license.

How are customer service and support?

The vendor that is helping us, their knowledge is limited. They need to further their knowledge to help us with the problems we are facing.

How was the initial setup?

We are trying to install the Acronis agent ourself but my colleague and I are experiencing errors.

What about the implementation team?

We needed to have help from the vendor for implementation. The vendor used two personnel. We have system administrators and they do the server backups themself.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

You can expand the license to add more users. If you want more users you have to purchase a license for the capacity. There is a fee for storage space on the cloud.

If the solution was less expensive it would be better.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We have not compared other tools.

What other advice do I have?

I have only heard good things about Acronis Backup from other companies and colleagues.

I rate Acronis Backup an eight of out ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Acronis Cyber Protect Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: May 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Acronis Cyber Protect Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.