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Acronis Tech Fundamentals 2024 Handout

The Acronis Academy Tech Fundamentals course provides essential knowledge for deploying Acronis Cyber Protect, focusing on identifying target customers, understanding key features, and navigating the deployment process. The course is structured into 11 modules covering case studies, product overviews, and practical installation guidance. A case study on Power Systems Inc. illustrates how Acronis Cyber Protect addresses challenges in automation, recovery, and cybersecurity, resulting in improved productivity and customer satisfaction.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
25 views137 pages

Acronis Tech Fundamentals 2024 Handout

The Acronis Academy Tech Fundamentals course provides essential knowledge for deploying Acronis Cyber Protect, focusing on identifying target customers, understanding key features, and navigating the deployment process. The course is structured into 11 modules covering case studies, product overviews, and practical installation guidance. A case study on Power Systems Inc. illustrates how Acronis Cyber Protect addresses challenges in automation, recovery, and cybersecurity, resulting in improved productivity and customer satisfaction.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 137

Academy

Acronis Academy

2
Academy

Acronis Academy

3
Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect


Tech Fundamentals

#CyberFit

#CyberFit Academy

Welcome to this Tech Fundamentals course. This course is the starting point to
empower you with essential knowledge on how to deploy Acronis Cyber Protect.
Let’s get started.

4
Learning Objectives

• Identify target customers and typical use cases of Acronis


Cyber Protect
• Describe Acronis Cyber Protect key features and benefits
• Understand Acronis Cyber Protect licensing
• Break down the critical components of Acronis Cyber Protect
and navigate through the deployment process
• Getting Started with Acronis Cyber Protect: Serve as a
practical guide to begin your journey with Acronis Cyber
Protect, from environment setup to initial configuration steps
• Understanding Supported Environments
• Installation Guidance

Acronis Academy

As we embark on this learning journey, let's focus on three core objectives. Firstly, we
will identify the target customers for Acronis Cyber Protect. Understanding the
challenges and needs of potential customers is key to successful sales. We will
explore typical use cases, helping you to see how Acronis Cyber Protect fits into
diverse IT environments. Secondly, we will delve into the key features and benefits of
Acronis Cyber Protect. Knowing what sets this product apart in a competitive market
is crucial. We'll cover its backup and recovery, cybersecurity, and endpoint protection
management capabilities and how they address the evolving demands of data
protection and cybersecurity. Thirdly, we'll understand Acronis Cyber Protect
licensing. This includes the different editions and licenses available. You will learn
how to choose the right options for your customers. Grasping the licensing aspects is
vital for offering tailored solutions to your clients.

6
Course Modules

1. Case Study
2. Product Overview
3. Cybersecurity
4. Backup and Recovery
5. Endpoint Protection Management
6. Licensing

Acronis Academy

In this course, we've structured our content into 11 modules, each designed to give
you essential information into the various aspects of Acronis Cyber Protect 16. First,
we will look at a case study and how Acronis Cyber Protect solved the severe
challenges the customer was facing. Second, we will learn to identify key target
customer segments and how Acronis Cyber Protect fits into different environments
and addresses specific needs. The third module focuses on cybersecurity features.
Cyber threats are evolving, and in this module, we will explore how Acronis Cyber
Protect offers all-round defenses against these threats. In the fourth module, we will
go over an area Acronis has always been a leader in, and that is backup and recovery.
You will learn about the supported platforms, how your customer's data can be
protected with the most secure backup, and how fast and efficient recovery can be a
game-changer for businesses. For the fifth module, we will discuss how Acronis Cyber
Protect streamlines and simplifies endpoint protection management across an
organization. You will understand how patch management, auto-discovery, remote
desktop, and more work together to reduce risk and improve compliance. Lastly, we
will break down the different editions and licensing options available in the licensing
module. This module is crucial for understanding the most suitable Acronis Cyber
Protect licenses to recommend to your customers.

7
Course Modules

7. Components and Deployment


8. Getting started
9. Supported environments
10. Installing management server and
storage node
11. Installing agents

Acronis Academy

As we move into the 'Components and Deployment' section, we'll break down the
essential components of Acronis Cyber Protect and guide you through the
deployment process, ensuring you're well-prepared to implement this solution
effectively.
'Getting Started' will serve as your practical guide to initiating your journey with
Acronis Cyber Protect, from setting up your environment to the initial configuration
steps.
The 'Supported Environments' module is designed to give you a comprehensive
understanding of the IT environments compatible with Acronis Cyber Protect,
ensuring you can adapt the solution to fit your specific infrastructure.
Finally, we'll walk you through 'Installing Management Server and Storage Node' and
'Installing Agents,' providing step-by-step instructions to ensure a smooth setup
process and successful deployment.

8
Academy
Acronis Cyber Protect
Case Study

Acronis Academy

Let’s look at a case study to learn how to identify companies with similar challenges
that will benefit from Acronis Cyber Protect.

9
Meet Power Systems Inc
Electrical Equipment Manufacturer

Technology leader in electrification and


automation

Provides solutions to utilities, industrial, transport


and infrastructure sectors

Thousands of production plants worldwide

Hundreds of customers including national and


multinational companies

Acronis Academy

Meet Power Systems Inc., a leader in electrical equipment manufacturing. Power


Systems Inc. is at the forefront of electrification and automation technology,
providing solutions to a range of sectors, including utilities, industrial, transport, and
infrastructure. This company operates thousands of production plants worldwide and
serves hundreds of customers, ranging from national to multinational corporations.
Power Systems Inc.'s characteristics are typical of middle to large manufacturing
companies in that they have multiple production sites with customers in various
sectors. This mean automation, reliability, and ease of deployment will be their key
considerations when looking for IT solutions.

10
Case Study

Key challenges
• Difficult to automate backups with current solution
• Slow recovery with little standardization due to
complex multi-step recovery operations
• Long turnaround time when failures occur
• Need:
 Complete and automatic disk backup
 Rapid recovery and restart in case of minor failure
 Ability to recover to different hardware reliably

Acronis Academy

After discussions with Power Systems Inc., we uncovered their key challenges. Firstly,
they are struggling to automate backups for their equipment with their current
solution. With the large scale of their operations, automation is a must to maintain
productivity. Further impeding productivity was slow recovery processes, which
lacked standardization due to complex, multi-step operations. Furthermore, the
turnaround time was long when failures occurred due to unreliable recovery. They
needed a solution that could provide complete and automatic disk backup together
with rapid recovery and restart in case of minor failures. In cases of complete
hardware failure, reliable recovery to different hardware is a must.

11
Case Study

Acronis solution
 Centrally managed disk-level backup of entire
machines with one-click bare-metal recovery
enables automation with simple and standardized
rapid recovery
 Acronis Universal Restore enables reliable recovery
to any hardware, reducing turnaround time
 Easy and fast deployment with one agent for backup
together with integrated security capabilities reduce
risk and improve compliance

Acronis Academy

Ultimately, Power Systems Inc. decided to adopt Acronis Cyber Protect as their
solution to address their challenges because it met all of their requirements. Firstly,
Acronis Cyber Protect offered centrally managed disk-level backup of entire machines
and easy-to-use one-click recovery. Backup can be automated through management
servers, and recovery is simple and standardized regardless of backup location or user
expertise. Next, Acronis Universal Restore enables recovery to dissimilar hardware,
thereby reducing the chances of failed recovery when failed hardware is replaced,
dramatically reducing turnaround time. Lastly, with one agent for backup, installation
on multiple equipment and production sites is fast and easy to accomplish. Integrated
security capabilities such as anti-ransomware, patch management and backup
malware scanning reduce risk from cyber threats and improve compliance for Power
Systems Inc. and their customers.

12
Case Study

Results
 Automation and standardization of backup and
recovery operations improved productivity and
reduced need for manual intervention
 Increased reliability to recover to different
hardware reduced incident response time
 Ease-of-use sped up technical testing and
reduced deployment times to customer sites
 Increased security provided additional assurance
to customers and accelerated acquisition of
customer orders

Acronis Academy

The implementation of Acronis Cyber Protect at Power Systems Inc. yielded


significant results. Firstly, the automation and standardization of backup and recovery
operations significantly improved productivity while reducing the need for manual
intervention by support engineers. Customer satisfaction increased due to reduced
incident response time with more reliable recovery. Faster and easier agent
deployment sped up technical equipment testing at customer sites and reduced
overall deployment times. Lastly, enhanced security provided by Acronis Cyber
Protect without needing additional software and tools gave additional assurance to
Power System Inc.'s customers, leading to increased orders. You should now have a
better understanding of how to identify customers with similar challenges and how to
illustrate the benefits of Acronis Cyber Protect.

13
Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect


Product Overview

Acronis Academy

In this module, we will go over an overview of Acronis Cyber Protect.

14
Evolving market challenges for enterprises

01 02 03 04

8.6% global IT 25,000+ SaaS apps 4.3M global IT staff 70% of firms are
budget reduction in worldwide shortage for experiencing skill
2023 IT/Cybersecurity shortages

Acronis Academy

There are two main market segments for Acronis Cyber Protect: enterprises and
SMBs. Let's review the market challenges enterprises face and how they will
influence their buying decision. The landscape of global IT is undergoing significant
transformation. In 2023, there was an 8.6% reduction in global IT budgets, presenting
a pressing challenge for organizations striving to maintain robust data protection and
cybersecurity infrastructures. In parallel, the proliferation of Software as a Service
applications is staggering, with over 25,000 SaaS apps now available worldwide. This
explosion of applications adds complexity and diversity to IT environments,
demanding more sophisticated management and protection strategies. Compounding
these challenges is a critical shortage in global IT staff, especially in the cybersecurity
sector. A staggering 4.3 million positions remain unfilled globally, leaving a gaping
void in the cyber defense capabilities of many organizations. This shortage is further
exacerbated by the fact that 70% of firms are currently grappling with skill shortages,
making it increasingly urgent for companies to automate and streamline their IT
processes. These converging factors significantly influence how enterprises approach
their IT investments, seeking integrated solutions that can mitigate these challenges
effectively and efficiently.

15
Ideal customer profile - enterprise

Multi-site Enterprise Specialized or Industrial Computing

Deployment  On-premises  On-premises

 Have fragmented IT environment which is managed at a  Industries with high downtime costs and with the need for
local level without global visibility or centralization self-service recovery of failed computers without direct IT
intervention, especially those using computers that
Profile  Or managed centrally with local IT but without unified
control OT, ICS, and other specialty equipment
backup, recovery and cybersecurity resulting in high TCO
and complexity  Or business with many remote computers that require
rapid recovery/minimal downtime in case of disruptions

1. Rapidly evolving cyber threats 1. Very high cost of downtime


2. Fragmented IT estate 2. Specialist OT, ICS and scientific testing equipment often
running on legacy OS
3. Lack of centralized management of data protection
Pain points 3. Lack of local IT staff
4. Lack of local autonomy in recovering data
4. Need to recover remote computers at remote sites and
5. High TCO due to utilizing numerous cybersecurity
home offices
vendors
6. Strained budgets and skills shortages

Acronis Academy

For the enterprise market segment, there are two types that would be a good fit for
Acronis Cyber Protect. The first is multi-site enterprise. On-premises deployment of
Acronis Cyber Protect would be the preferred set up. They often have a fragmented IT
environment, and this can manifest in two ways: either the IT environment is
managed locally without global visibility or centralization, or it is managed centrally
with local IT but lacks unified backup, recovery, and cybersecurity. This results in high
total cost of ownership (TCO) and complexity.
The pain points for such enterprises are manifold. One. They face rapidly evolving
cyber threats, which can only be mitigated by advanced security capabilities. Two.
Their fragmented IT estate makes cohesive management and protection a significant
challenge. Three. There is often a lack of centralized management for data protection,
complicating the safeguarding of critical data assets. Four. These companies may also
experience a lack of local autonomy in recovering data, making it difficult to respond
quickly in the event of data loss or system failures. Five. High TCO is a pressing
concern, often exacerbated by the need to engage multiple vendors. Finally, these
enterprises are contending with strained budgets and skill shortages, which limit their
ability to respond effectively to these challenges.
The second type is enterprises with specialized or industrial computing environments.
Here, on-premises deployment would also be preferred. They are typically in

16
industries that face unique challenges due to the high costs associated with
downtime, such as manufacturing. They often require self-service recovery options
for failed computers, especially those controlling Operational Technology, Industrial
Control Systems, and other specialty equipment. Or they can be companies with
many remote computers that require rapid recovery and minimal downtime in case
of disruptions. The pain points for such enterprises include the following. One.
Extremely high cost of downtime, which can have severe financial and operational
impacts. Two. Using specialist OT, ICS, and scientific testing equipment, often running
on legacy operating systems, which poses unique challenges for backup, recovery and
security. Three. A lack of local IT staff at remote sites makes remote management and
simple recovery crucial. And lastly, a need for rapid recovery of remote computers at
remote sites and home offices to ensure minimal disruption to operations.

16
Value proposition for enterprise customers

Multi-site enterprise Specialized/Industrial computing

Acronis Cyber Protect delivers the most secure Acronis Cyber Protect rapidly restores any computer
backup and fastest recovery for multi-site, multi- without the need for IT intervention, minimizing costly
generational environments. downtime – including downtime from ransomware.

 AI-enabled protection against cyber threats  Recovery of any computer regardless of age or
function
 Empowers users to drive recovery
 Dramatically reduces TCO  Local recovery of computers controlling special-
purpose industrial equipment
 Simplifies management
 Self-service recovery of remote computers
 Allows you to master data sovereignty

Acronis Academy

The value proposition for the two types of enterprise customers are as follows. For
multi-site enterprises, Acronis Cyber Protect offers the most secure backup and
fastest recovery options tailored for multi-site, multi-generational environments. Its
AI-enabled protection shields against cyber threats, while empowering users to drive
recovery processes. This not only dramatically reduces TCO but also simplifies
management and helps enterprises master data sovereignty. For specialized or
industrial computing sectors, Acronis Cyber Protect stands out by rapidly restoring
any computer without IT intervention. This capability is crucial in minimizing costly
downtime, including downtime resulting from ransomware attacks. It offers local
recovery of computers controlling special-purpose industrial equipment and self-
service recovery of remote computers, ensuring operational continuity.

17
Top use cases for enterprise customers

1 Enterprise-level backup and recovery 6 Legacy system support


Delivers secure, fast recovery across multi-site, multi-generational IT Rapidly restores any computer, including legacy systems, with
environments with AI and ML proactive protection against all forms of options for bare-metal recovery to new hardware if necessary.
malware.

2 User-driven recovery 7 Reduce industrial equipment downtime


Empower users with one-click recovery for distributed endpoints, Local recovery options for special-purpose industrial equipment
including bare-metal recovery, reducing IT dependency. minimize downtime in critical operations.

3 Reduce TCO 8 Remote work protection


Reduce TCO through support for broad, multi-generational OS and Extensive remote work protection capabilities, including remote wipe
enable vendor consolidation while providing comprehensive and tools for secure remote access.
protection.

4 Improve management & autonomy 9 Immutability & post-attack recovery


Simplifies operations with centralized management that retains local Provides immutable backups and backup malware scans to prevent
control, integrating seamlessly with third-party tools. reinfection, ensuring safe, rapid recovery post malware-attack,
minimizing the risk of reinfection.

5 Data sovereignty & compliance 10 Real-time protection & auto-response


Global data center network for compliance with local laws and Offers real-time protection for documents and auto-response to
regulations ensuring compliance emerging threats, minimizing unplanned downtime.

Acronis Academy

To further qualify if Acronis Cyber Protect would be a good fit for a prospective
enterprise customer, discover if they have one or more of the use cases on this slide.
The more uses cases met, the more likely Acronis Cyber Protect will be a fit solution
for the customer.

18
Evolving market challenges for SMBs
SMB data security concerns

Ransomware Phishing DDoS Data loss/ Lack of Lack of Other


attacks attacks attacks data theft time budget
Sources: Digital Ocean, Small businesses and cybersecurity, How startups and SMBs are viewing security threats in 2023

Acronis Academy

Let’s review the market challenges SMBs face and how they will influence their
buying decision. SMBs operate in a dynamic and often challenging environment with
multiple constraints. Data security is a primary challenge for SMBs, with the top two
concerns being lack of time and data loss or theft. This indicates that many SMBs do
not have enough IT staff with the necessary expertise to handle security threats that
may arise. Furthermore, the third highest concern is the lack of budget, further
limiting their ability to address increasingly complex security challenges. These
factors mean SMBs will seek integrated, easy-to-manage cybersecurity solutions that
deliver high value.

19
Ideal SMB customer profile

SMB (<100 staff)

Deployment  Cloud deployment

 IT managers and business owners, responsible for protecting their business against a wide
range of cyber threats as well as the protection of business data against all data loss risks
Profile  Often frustrated by the effort it takes to keep business data safe and is struggling with the
cost, complexity, and management burden of managing numerous disparate solutions for
backup, DR, security, and endpoint management.

1. Difficulty of keeping data safe due to rapidly evolving cyber and data loss threats
2. High TCO and complexity due to having disparate solutions for backup, DR, security, and
Pain points endpoint management
3. High management burden due to using multiple vendors to protect their entire estate
4. EDR has historically been far too expensive and not perceived as a priority by management

Acronis Academy

For the SMB market segment, the type of customer that would be a good fit for
Acronis Cyber Protect are companies with less than 100 staff. Cloud deployment is
the preferred setup to reduce the need for in-house IT infrastructure. The primary
stakeholders in these businesses are IT managers and business owners. They
shoulder the responsibility of defending against a wide array of cyber threats and
safeguarding business data against all forms of data loss risks. These individuals often
express frustration with the effort and resources required to secure business data.
They struggle with the cost, complexity, and management burden of juggling multiple
disparate solutions for backup, DR, security, and endpoint management. Their pain
points would be: one, the difficulty of keeping their business data safe due to the
evolving sophistication of cyber threats. Two. High TCO not just in monetary terms
but also in terms of time and resources spent managing multiple disparate solutions.
Three. High management burden brought on by utilizing multiple vendors with
different support channels, inconsistent user interfaces and varied update schedules.
And lastly, EDR solutions have been perceived historically as expensive and not a
priority due to budget constraints.

20
Value proposition for SMB customers

SMB

Acronis Cyber Protect is the cyber resilience solution that


seamlessly integrates the most secure backup with cybersecurity to
provide complete, streamlined protection.

 The most secure backup and rapid recovery with integrated anti-
ransomware technologies, eliminating gaps in your defense
 Comprehensive security capabilities – including streamlined and
prioritized endpoint detection and response (EDR) and
automated URL filtering – to ensure peace of mind and avoid
costly downtime
 Integrated remote endpoint monitoring and management,
including vulnerability assessments, patch management, and
more

Acronis Academy

The value proposition for SMB customers is as follows. Acronis Cyber Protect is a
cyber resilience solution that integrates the most secure backup with cybersecurity
for complete, streamlined protection. It offers the most secure backup and rapid
recovery with integrated anti-ransomware technologies, comprehensive security
capabilities, including EDR and automated URL filtering, and integrated remote
endpoint monitoring and management. This combination ensures peace of mind for
SMBs, simplifies management, and helps reduce TCO.

21
Top use cases for SMB customers

1 Reducing TCO 6 Post-malware attack recovery


Unifies backup, DR and cybersecurity into a single cost-effective Provides immutable backups and scans backups to prevent
solution. reinfection, ensuring secure, rapid recovery post malware-attack,
minimizing the risk of reinfection.

2 Simplified administration 7 Simple, non-technical recovery


Centralized administration with a single agent for antimalware, EDR, Features push-button simplicity for non-IT staff to initiate recovery
backup, remote desktop, DR, and patch management. without IT intervention..

3 Zero-day malware protection 8 Backup your entire environment


AI-based active protection with EDR and DR planning to pre-empt Ensures complete coverage by backing up your entire environment,
and recover from threats. safeguarding systems, applications, and data across all endpoints
and servers.

4 Endpoint monitoring & management 9 Remote work protection


Comprehensive remote endpoint monitoring and management, Extensive remote work protection capabilities, including remote wipe
including vulnerability assessment, and patch management. and tools for secure remote access.

5 Data sovereignty & compliance 10 Real-time protection of critical data


Utilizes a global data center network to ensure data is managed Offers real-time protection for critical documents, minimizing
according to regional laws, offering compliance and peace of mind. downtime.

Acronis Academy

To further qualify if Acronis Cyber Protect would be a good fit for a prospective SMB
customer, discover if they have one or more of the use cases on this slide. The more
uses cases met, the more likely Acronis Cyber Protect will be a fit solution for the
customer.

22
Acronis Cyber Protect

+ +
Most secure backup Fastest Recovery Maximized Efficiency
The industry standard for Lightning-fast recovery of entire Dramatically reduce TCO and
secure backup, leveraging AI, systems or individual files. Acronis simplify protection with a single
ML and immutability to ensure One-click recovery automates the pane of glass. Streamline
your backups remain recovery process, making it simple administration and training.
impenetrable for regular users.

Seamlessly integrates the most secure backup with cybersecurity to


provide complete, streamlined protection

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect is a solution providing the most secure backup and fastest
recovery for enterprises and SMBs. It leverages AI, ML, and immutability to ensure
impenetrable backups for protecting valuable business data. It offers the fastest
recovery for entire systems or individual files with one-click recovery automation. It
maximizes efficiency by dramatically reducing TCO and simplifying protection with a
unified management interface. Acronis Cyber Protect seamlessly integrates the most
secure backup with cybersecurity to provide complete, streamlined protection
against evolving cyber threats.

23
Ensure compliance and a local presence
Choose from over 40 data centers worldwide to store data

Over 40
DATA CENTERS
Strong presence in Asia-Pacific,
Singapore, Japan, Australia

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect supports cloud backup and there are over 40 data centers
worldwide to choose from. This helps customers ensure compliance with data
sovereignty regulations.

24
Acronis security industry recognition

VIRUSTOTAL Cloud Security


MVI member
member Alliance member

Anti-Malware
Anti-Phishing MRG-Effitas
Testing Standard
Working Group participant and test
Organization
member winner
member

Anti-Malware Test NioGuard Security


Lab participant and ICSA Labs certified Lab participant and
test winner test winner

AV-Comparatives
AV-Test participant
approved business VB100 certified
and test winner
security product

Acronis Academy

Acronis is a leader in independent security test results. We submit our antivirus


antimalware engine to independent testing labs such as AV-test and VB100 for
testing, and you and your customers can easily find the results of the latest tests
through the testing labs' websites. We do this to ensure our antivirus/antimalware
technology is among the best to protect against modern malware. Along with
independent testing, Acronis is a member of several security organizations, such as
MVI, Cloud Security Alliance, A M T S O, and A P W G. These memberships enable
Acronis to contribute to the security industry and help develop standards for security
solutions.

25
Section Summary
1 Acronis Cyber Protect Overview: Addresses enterprise
and SMB challenges with integrated IT solutions for secure
backup, fast recovery, and cybersecurity.

Key Benefits: Reduces total cost of ownership, simplifies IT


2 management, and ensures data sovereignty and
compliance with global data center support.

Proven Efficacy: Demonstrated through independent


3 security tests, positioning Acronis as a leader in
cybersecurity solutions.

Acronis Academy

We've learned that Acronis Cyber Protect stands out by offering secure, AI and ML-
enhanced backup solutions that ensure fast and efficient recovery, critical for
maintaining operational continuity in the face of cyber threats. It effectively reduces
the total cost of ownership and simplifies IT management processes, making it an
ideal choice for organizations looking to navigate the complexities of cybersecurity
and data protection.
Moreover, the solution's global data center presence supports data sovereignty and
compliance needs, providing peace of mind for businesses operating in various
jurisdictions. Acronis's leadership in cybersecurity is further confirmed by its strong
performance in independent security tests, showcasing its commitment to delivering
top-tier protection against modern malware.
In summary, Acronis Cyber Protect is a robust, integrated solution designed to meet
the diverse needs of both enterprises and SMBs, ensuring they can confidently
protect their valuable business data against the ever-evolving landscape of cyber
threats.

26
Academy
Acronis Cyber Protect
Cybersecurity

Acronis Academy

In this module, we will briefly go over the main cybersecurity features and benefits of
Acronis Cyber Protect.

28
Complete protection against advanced malware
Acronis Cyber Protect

Acronis Acronis Acronis Acronis


Active Protection static anti-malware behavioral
A.I. analyzer engine engine
Anti-ransomware,
anti-cryptojacking, On-access Any malware On-access
A.I. and M.L. enabled and on-demand (cloud and local detection
detection detection*)

Native integration with Windows Security Center

Actively prevent downtime and data loss,


don’t just recover information after an attack
Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect provides complete protection against advanced malware


through Acronis Active Protection and the Acronis anti-malware engine. Acronis
Active Protection uses AI and ML-enabled behavioral heuristics to safeguard against
ransomware and crypto-jacking. This advanced technology allows Active Protection
to detect new ransomware variants without relying on definition updates. The
Acronis anti-malware engine, which includes the Acronis static AI analyzer and
behavioral engine completes the picture by providing protection against advanced
malware. Acronis static AI analyzer detects malicious files before they can execute,
and Acronis behavioral engine detects hidden malware by watching for suspicious
behaviors.

29
Anti-malware/Antivirus

Full-stack antimalware protection for


Windows and macOS
• Real-time protection against malware
• On-demand scanning
• Exploit prevention
• File quarantine
• Exclusion management
• Ransomware protection
• Cryptomining process detection
• Self-protection Why?
• Network folder protection • Avoid costly downtime with real-time protection
• Comprehensive coverage to ensure peace of
• Server-side protection
mind

Acronis Academy

Let’s dive a bit deeper into the capabilities of Acronis anti-malware. It is available for
both Windows and Mac operating systems and comes with real-time protection and
on-demand scanning for malware detection. There’s exploit prevention to guard
against zero-day malware and suspicious files can be quarantined for further actions.
There is a comprehensive exclusion management where you can specify processes,
files, folders and use wildcards to avoid false positives. For Active Protection, besides
guarding against ransomware and cryptojacking on the local computer, there’s
network folder protection to protect network shares and self-protection to protect
Acronis processes and backups against tampering. Acronis Cyber Protect provides
comprehensive coverage to ensure peace of mind for your customers.

30
Backup malware scanning

Avoid restoring infected files from


backups
• Detect previously undetectable malware with updated
malware definitions
• Increase potential rootkit and bootkit detections
• Dedicated machine for scanning purposes can be
used to optimize backup scanning

Why?
• Prevent re-infection from hidden malware
• Increase user confidence for system recovery

Acronis Academy

A unique feature of Acronis Cyber Protect is backup malware scanning. This helps
prevent re-infection from hidden malware when performing recovery. Zero-day
malware can remain undetected from anti-malware scans and get included in
backups. Backup malware scanning takes advantage of updated definitions to detect
zero days that have become known. Another advantage is detecting potential rootkits
and bootkits, which are notoriously difficult to discover with regular scanning.
Furthermore, a dedicated machine can be used for the task to avoid placing
additional load on end-user computers.

31
Vulnerability assessment

Keep data safer by identifying and


remediating known vulnerabilities
• Based on Acronis vulnerability and patch
management database which is continuously
updated
• Gain visibility over missing updates and patches
through interactive Dashboard and Report widgets
Scan for vulnerabilities in:
• Microsoft stack – OS, Microsoft Office and related
components, .NET and server applications
• Common applications – Adobe Reader and Oracle
Java Why?
• Collaboration software – Zoom, WebEx and Teams • Identify vulnerabilities before attackers find them
• Identify the level of risk on your systems
• Browsers, VPNs and other software
• Optimize security investments

Acronis Academy

Unpatched software vulnerabilities are a major cause of data breaches and malware
infections. However, many companies and organizations struggle to identify which
systems require patching. This is where Vulnerability Assessment becomes extremely
useful. It can scan Windows, and mac OS computers to discover missing software
patches and updates. With Acronis Cyber Protect, your customers can now identify
and remediate known vulnerabilities before attackers find and exploit them.

32
URL filtering and categorization

Block malicious websites and restrict


access to objectionable web content
• Automatically intercept and block malicious URLs in
web browsers
• Restrict access to specific website categories
• Protection against malicious websites such as drive-
by-downloads, scams, phishing and more
• Category filtering for safe browsing and compliance
to company Internet use policy
• Ability to add Trusted or Blocked URLs
Why?
• User notification for blocked URLs • Prevent attacks through malicious/hacked
• Dashboard and Reports available for blocked URLs websites
• Gain better compliance to company policies
• Increase employee productivity

Acronis Academy

Users can be tricked into clicking on malicious URLs in various ways, such as in scam
and phishing emails or through malvertising and compromised websites. This will
typically result in malware infection and sensitive data loss. URL filtering solves that
problem by intercepting and blocking malicious URLs in web browsers, preventing
attacks through malicious or hacked websites. Additionally, there is website category
filtering to restrict access to one or more website categories. This enhances safe
browsing and allows companies to enforce their internet use policies with minimal
effort.

33
Endpoint Detection & Response (EDR)
Simplify endpoint security
 Real-time attack identification and
analysis

 Assured business continuity with a


multitude of remediation features

 Integrated backup and security to


ensure continuous data integrity

Why? Protect endpoints from advanced attacks with ease and speed
Acronis Academy

Advanced attacks need advanced security tools to defend against them. That’s where
Endpoint Detection and Response come in. Acronis Cyber Protect enables your
customers to acquire EDR capabilities easily without the burden of onboarding
another vendor and tool. With EDR, real-time cyber-attack identification and analysis
become possible with our AI-driven event monitoring and easy-to-understand MITRE
ATT&CK-based threat intel. Once a threat is analyzed, rapid remediation, such as
recovery from backup, adding to the blocklist, and installing patches all at once, can
be performed to minimize business disruptions. The best part is that no other tools
are required since backup and security are integrated into Acronis Cyber Protect.

34
Section Summary
1 Advanced Malware Protection: Acronis Cyber Protect
utilizes AI and ML for real-time defense against
ransomware and advanced malware, with capabilities like
Acronis Active Protection and the Acronis anti-malware
engine.
Comprehensive Cybersecurity Features: Features include
2 backup malware scanning to prevent re-infection,
Vulnerability Assessment for patch management, URL
filtering for safe browsing, and Endpoint Detection and
Response (EDR) for real-time attack mitigation.

Integrated Solution for Peace of Mind: Offers a unified


3 approach to cybersecurity, simplifying management and
enhancing protection without the need for multiple
vendors or tools.

Acronis Academy

In this module, we've delved into the comprehensive cybersecurity features and
benefits of Acronis Cyber Protect, an integrated solution designed to safeguard
businesses from the ever-evolving landscape of cyber threats.
Acronis Cyber Protect stands at the forefront of combating advanced malware with its
AI and ML-driven Acronis Active Protection and anti-malware engine. These
technologies provide proactive defense mechanisms against ransomware, crypto-
jacking, and other sophisticated cyber threats, employing behavioral heuristics and
static analysis to detect and neutralize dangers before they can cause harm.
We've also explored the extensive cybersecurity toolkit that Acronis Cyber Protect
offers. This includes backup malware scanning, which ensures recovery processes are
free from hidden malware, Vulnerability Assessment to help businesses stay ahead of
software vulnerabilities, URL filtering to prevent access to malicious websites, and an
advanced Endpoint Detection and Response system. These features work in concert
to offer a robust defense mechanism against zero-day malware, phishing attacks, and
other cyber threats.
Acronis Cyber Protect is not just about defense but also about simplification and
integration, providing a seamless experience that consolidates backup and security
functionalities. This eliminates the complexity and overhead associated with
managing multiple cybersecurity solutions, offering businesses a streamlined,

35
efficient, and effective way to protect their digital assets.
In summary, Acronis Cyber Protect delivers an all-encompassing cybersecurity
solution that ensures peace of mind for businesses, enabling them to focus on their
core operations while leaving their cyber defense needs in capable hands.

35
Academy
Acronis Cyber Protect
Backup and Recovery

Acronis Academy

In this module, we will briefly go over the main backup and recovery features and
benefits of Acronis Cyber Protect.

37
20+ workload types protected including all popular physical,
virtual and cloud platforms

Windows Windows SQL Share Active Microsoft Google


Azure Exchange Hyper-V
Server PC Server Point Directory 365 Workspace

What’s New:

Amazon Linux SAP


• Backup and recovery
Mac iPhone iPad Android for Synology NAS
EC2 Server HANA

• Support for:
• Red Hat, AlmaLinux
9.0-9.2
• macOS 14 Sonoma

VMware Oracle x86 Oracle Red Hat Linux Citrix Scale • macOS on ARM
Virtuozzo Nutanix
vSphere VM Server Database Virtualization KVM XenServer Computing CPU

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect supports backup for more than 20 different types of workloads,
including popular physical, virtual, and cloud platforms. This greatly simplifies backup
management by eliminating the need for multiple tools for different workloads.
Recently, we have added support for Synology NAS and macOS on ARM CPU to our
solution as part of continuing efforts to be a one-stop solution for business backup.
Using Acronis Cyber Protect, businesses can protect their entire infrastructure while
lowering their total cost of ownership.

38
Full-image and file-level backup

Back up individual files or safeguard your


entire business and operations with a few
clicks
• File-level backup: Use this option to protect specific
files and folders, reduce backup size and save
storage space
• Full-image backup: Easily backup entire systems as a
single file and enabling one-click bare-metal
recovery
• Easily restore all data to new hardware in the event of
a disaster

Why?
• Ensure business and operational continuity with flexible backup and recovery options
• Avoid costly downtime and data loss

Acronis Academy

Backup individual files or safeguard entire systems with image-based backup.


Businesses need both in order to ensure business and operational continuity. Acronis
proprietary disk-imaging technology can back up entire systems as a single file,
simplifying storage and backup operations. It also makes it possible for bare-metal
recovery and migration to any physical or virtual machine, speeding up recovery and
increasing the usefulness of backups. Additionally, Acronis Cyber Protect include
application-aware backup for Microsoft SQL, Exchange, and SharePoint, with granular
recovery of application items for faster recovery.

39
Flexible storage options

Grow with ease using the storage that


best fit business and operational needs
• Disk
• Tape
• NAS
• SFTP
• SAN
• Acronis Cloud
• Partner Cloud
• Public Cloud
• Private Cloud Why?
• Balance value of data against cost and
regulatory compliance requirements

Acronis Academy

Businesses have to strike a balance between the value of their data and the cost of
storing it, all while adhering to compliance requirements. Acronis Cyber Protect
provides a solution to this challenge by offering support for various storage options
for backup. You can make the most of your existing storage investments by storing
backups on local storage such as disk, tape, and NAS or ensure protection against
local disasters by utilizing cloud storage from Acronis or other providers. We also
offer support for SFTP, making it easy and secure to transfer data between different
physical sites.

40
Continuous data protection

Avoid losing in-progress work by


continuously backing up changes
• Define list of critical apps that are frequently used in
addition to pre-defined list for monitoring changes
made to user files
• Additional files and folders for monitoring changes
can be added
• Continuously back up files when changes are made;
only the latest version will be kept in the CDP backup
• Files can be recovered from CDP backup in the event
of accidental deletion or loss due to ransomware
• In the event of system failure, recover from regular
backup and thereafter CDP backup to minimize data
loss
Why?
• Ensure all essential work in progress is safe as
data is protected even between regular backups

Acronis Academy

Ensure users don’t lose their work-in-progress with Continuous Data Protection. It
works by continuously backing up user file changes between backups. Office
documents, images, and videos are protected by default, and additional apps, files,
and folders can be included to cater to your customer’s workflows. This way,
regardless of accidents or system failures, user files can be safely recovered, reducing
loss of productivity.

41
One-click recovery

Enables regular users to perform system


recovery with one-click
• Automatically recover Windows and Linux systems
without direct IT intervention
• Enables user self-service recovery for remote sites and
home offices
• Supports recovery from backups in local, network and
cloud
• Password can be set to prevent unauthorized recovery

Why?
• Push-button simplicity enables non-IT users to perform system recovery easily
• Removing reliance on IT intervention results in faster resumption of operations after an outage

Acronis Academy

Easily enable self-service recovery with Acronis Cyber Protect one-click recovery.
With push-button simplicity, regular users can perform system recovery without IT
intervention and resume work faster. Companies can reduce the burden on their IT
departments while improving the resilience of remote sites and home offices. In
cases requiring additional security, a password can be set to prevent unauthorized
recovery.

42
Acronis Universal Restore
Disk image Restore
Restore Windows and Linux to dissimilar
hardware
• Quick and easy system recovery and migration to
dissimilar hardware, including bare-metal physical,
virtual, or cloud environments
• After bare-metal recovery, Acronis Universal Restore Original Target
can be used to ensure compatibility with recovery 500GB 2TB
hardware

Universal Restore
(HAL, CPU, SCSI/SAS/RAID)

Drivers

Why?
• Seamless recovery and migration of entire Windows and Linux systems

Acronis Academy

Ever come across a situation where a recovery is stuck due to incompatible


hardware? With Acronis Universal Restore, that is no longer a problem with the
ability to restore any Windows or Linux system to dissimilar hardware. By overcoming
compatibility issues, Acronis Universal Restore technology minimizes expensive
downtime with quick and easy system recovery and migration to any physical, virtual,
or cloud platform.

43
Acronis Instant Restore

Get running again in


How it works seconds
• Attach virtual NFS storage • Reduce recovery times with best-in-


Register VM
Apply universal restore
industry RTOs
Acronis Cyber • Start / stop VM
• Immediately start a Windows or
Virtual machine
Protect Agent Linux backup as a VM directly from
VMware ESXi / storage
Create NFS Microsoft Hyper-
virtual share • VM can be up and running in mere
Access virtual NFS storage V

Open VM files
seconds with all applications and
Acronis •
data accessible
virtual NFS
Server

Backup image
Get only
(Works with backup locations on local
storage, network shares or cloud)
Why?
requested data
• Reduce RTOs and downtime
• Leverage existing infrastructure

Acronis Academy

Reduce recovery times with best-in-industry RTOs by immediately starting a Windows


or Linux backup as a virtual machine directly from storage. Acronis Instant Restore
technology allows companies to have their critical servers up and running as a VM in
mere seconds, reducing downtimes and improving service availability. VMs can be
started on Microsoft Hyper-V or VMware vSphere ESXi hosts, so if there are such
existing infrastructures in place, no additional investment is required, saving cost.

44
Immutable Storage

Prevent accidental and malicious data loss


• When enabled, backups deleted automatically by
Cleanup rules in a backup plan or manually by user will
be kept for an additional period of time (can be
specified)
• Backup protected as such cannot be tampered with, i.e.,
no further deletion, encryption, modification possible
until the additional period of time has lapsed
Hackers Accidental
• Once the specified period of time has lapsed, backups deletion
will then be deleted permanently
Ransomware
• Available for both on-premises and cloud deployment attacks

Why?
• Ensure that there will always be a backup for
recovery in the event of accidental or malicious
deletion

Acronis Academy

A main cause of data loss is accidental or malicious tampering or deletion of data.


This is especially damaging if it happens to backups. Acronis Cyber Protect offers a
solution in the form of immutable storage. With immutable storage, backups are
protected against modification and deletion, ensuring that a backup will always be
available for recovery.

45
Deduplication

Protect more systems while reducing the


impact on disk-storage and network
capacity
• Detect data repetition
• Eliminate duplicate data blocks when backing up and
transferring data
• Store identical data once only
• Reduce network load since less data is transferred

Why?
• Reduce storage space usage
• Eliminate the need to invest in costly data
deduplication storage hardware

Acronis Academy

For companies with lots of similar machines to be backed up, storage space and
network capacity utilization are significant concerns. Data deduplication storage
hardware offers a solution but can be very costly. Acronis Cyber Protect provides an
alternative with software-based deduplication of backups. Identical data from
multiple computers are transferred and stored only once, reducing the impact on disk
storage and network capacity.

46
Complete Microsoft 365 protection

Backup for Backup for Backup Backup for


Microsoft Microsoft OneDrive for Microsoft Microsoft Teams
Exchange Online for Business SharePoint Online Including call protection

Back up from Microsoft data centers directly to cloud storage


Automatically protect new Microsoft 365 users, groups, and sites
Search through Microsoft 365 backups to quickly access backed-up data

Acronis Academy

For companies that use Microsoft 365, backing up 365 data is critical to avoid
unrecoverable data loss. Acronis Cyber Protect provides complete Microsoft 365
protection with backup for Exchange Online, OneDrive, SharePoint Online, and
Teams. 365 data is backed up directly from Microsoft data centers to Acronis Cloud
via cloud-to-cloud backup with no agent installation required, simplifying
deployment. Backed-up data can be searched easily for rapid recovery to the original
state, thereby ensuring business continuity.

47
Google Workspace backup

Get an efficient Ready-to-use cloud storage with Protection for Gmail, Drive
cloud-to-cloud solution with Acronis Cloud (including team drives), Calendars,
nothing to install and Contacts

Flexible restore options – from Search Google Workspace Verify the authenticity
single items to a user’s entire Drive backups – with metadata and full- of files in Drive backups with
or Gmail data text (email body) capabilities blockchain

Acronis Academy

Similar to Microsoft 365 backup, Acronis Cyber Protect provides protection for
Google Workspace with backup for Gmail, GDrive, Google Contacts and Google
Calendar. Google Workspace data is backed up directly from Google data centers to
Acronis Cloud via cloud-to-cloud backup and backups can be searched for rapid
recovery of needed items.

48
Section Summary
1 Comprehensive Backup Solutions: Acronis Cyber Protect
supports over 20 types of workloads, including physical,
virtual, and cloud platforms, plus recent additions like
Synology NAS and macOS on ARM CPU.

Advanced Backup Technologies: Features include image-


2 based backup, application-aware backup, and
Continuous Data Protection for real-time file changes,
enhancing operational continuity.

Flexible Storage and Recovery: Offers various storage


3 options, self-service recovery, and technologies like
Acronis Universal Restore and Instant Restore to reduce
downtime and ensure data resilience.

Acronis Academy

In this module, we've explored Acronis Cyber Protect's backup and recovery
capabilities, highlighting its support for a broad range of workloads and its advanced
technologies for comprehensive data protection. With support for everything from
physical and virtual platforms to Synology NAS and macOS on ARM CPU, Acronis
simplifies backup management and reduces ownership costs.
We highlighted key features like image-based and application-aware backups,
Continuous Data Protection for real-time file changes, and flexible storage options.
These ensure businesses can quickly recover from disruptions, keeping operations
smooth.
Acronis Cyber Protect also offers innovative recovery technologies, such as one-click
recovery and Universal Restore, to minimize downtime. Instant Restore further
reduces recovery times by starting backups as virtual machines instantly.
Moreover, the solution provides immutable storage to safeguard backups and
software-based deduplication to optimize storage. For cloud applications, it offers
secure backup for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, ensuring data is always
recoverable.
To summarize, Acronis Cyber Protect delivers an integrated, efficient backup and
recovery solution, ensuring businesses are well-equipped to handle data protection
challenges with ease and confidence.

49
Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect


Endpoint Protection Management

Acronis Academy

In this module, we will briefly go over the main endpoint protection management
features and benefits of Acronis Cyber Protect.

51
Single Protection Plan

Configure all aspects of cyber protection


in a single location
• Backup
• Antivirus and antimalware protection
• URL filtering
• Windows Defender/Microsoft Security Essentials
• Vulnerability assessment
• Patch management
• Data protection map
Why?
• Save time and effort
• Easily locate configured protection for any
machine

Acronis Academy

Significant time and effort can be expended looking for configuration settings if they
are in multiple locations. Acronis Cyber Protect has a single protection plan to
configure all aspects of cyber protection in one location, saving time and effort. It
also allows administrators to easily locate configured protections for any machine in
their environment without having to look all over the place.

52
Flexible monitoring and reporting

Interactive widget-based dashboard and


reports
• Powerful dashboard and reports to stay on top of
operations
• Customizable widgets for dashboard and reporting
• Quickly identify problems
• Fast access to management actions
• Report scheduling:
• Sent reports via email to relevant persons
• Available as XLS and PDF
Why?
• Quickly identify any issues
• Obtain actionable information
• Get regular reports delivered to mailboxes

Acronis Academy

When it comes to backup and security, getting accurate operational information is


crucial for timely intervention to pre-empt potential issues and for future planning.
Acronis Cyber Protect has an interactive widget-based dashboard and reports,
allowing administrators to stay on top of operations easily. Widgets are customizable
and clickable to provide fast access to management actions. Both the Dashboard and
Reports can be downloaded and sent via email as Excel and PDF files for information
sharing and record keeping.

53
Auto-discovery and remote installation

Simplify mass deployment of Windows


agent
• Network-based discovery
• Active Directory-based discovery
• Import a list of computers from a file
• Auto-apply a protection plan
• Batch remote agent installation with the discovery
wizard

Why?
• Save time and resources when deploying to
large numbers of Windows machines
• Discover unprotected Windows machines in the
network

Acronis Academy

For large companies, it can be daunting to deploy new solutions as there may be
hundreds or even thousands of machines to install software on. Auto-discovery and
remote installation can help alleviate that concern by simplifying mass deployment of
Windows agent across the network. Machines can be discovered through network
and Active Directory-based discovery and in addition to remotely installing required
agents, protection plan can be applied to start protecting machines immediately.

54
Remote desktop

Remotely operate any endpoint as if you


are near the device
• Provide support to remote users without them having
to download and install additional remote desktop
tools
• Securely connect to remote machines even behind a
firewall on a private network without changing firewall
settings or establishing additional VPN tunnels
• Allow technical support personnel to view a user’s
screen, provide support with specific tasks or fix
issues

Why?
• Save time
• Easily manage and access data
• Solve issues quickly and easily

Acronis Academy

Providing support to remote users and the ability to operate any endpoint as if you
are near the device are standard requirements for companies with multiple sites and
companies with specialized or industrial computing. Acronis Cyber Protect has built-in
remote desktop capabilities to securely connect to remote machines even behind a
firewall without changing firewall settings or establishing additional VPN tunnels. This
saves time and enables administrators to solve issues quickly and easily without
having to download additional tools.

55
Patch management

Fix issues before they happen


• Works together with vulnerability assessment scans
to patch and update discovered vulnerabilities
• Improve compliance with automatic patching
• Scheduled and manual patching
• Minimize hassle of testing patches with auto-approval
of patches
• Minimize risk of bad patches with auto-backup (fail-
safe patching) before patch
• Detailed Dashboard and Reports on patched and Why?
unpatched machines in the network
• Reduce potential risk
• Automate patching for all Windows devices
• Prevent attacks from known vulnerabilities
• Improve compliance for cyber insurance

Acronis Academy

Software patches and updates are essential to securing a business environment to


reduce potential risk. Acronis Cyber Protect patch management works with
vulnerability assessment scans to patch and update discovered vulnerabilities.
Patches can be scheduled or manually deployed to keep systems safe, and risk from
bad patches can be minimized with auto-backup before patching. For companies with
patch testing regimes, there's auto-approval of patches to reduce the hassle of
testing patches.

56
Windows Defender/Microsoft Security Essentials
Management
Centrally manage Windows Defender /
Microsoft Security Essentials settings
• Enforce settings across multiple machines for
compliance
• Collect and display all Windows Defender and
Microsoft Security Essentials events in Dashboard and
Reports for better visibility
• Configure antivirus scan schedules and actions
• Enable/disable real-time protection for compatibility
with other 3rd party antivirus
• Manage exclusions

Why?
• Streamline Windows Defender management
• Save time and administrative effort

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect provides an easy way to centrally enforce Windows Defender
and Microsoft Security Essentials settings across all Windows machines if this is
something your customer needs. Besides saving time and administrative effort, an
additional advantage is the ability to view all Windows Defender and Microsoft
Security Essentials events in the Acronis Cyber Protect Dashboard and Reports. This
can increase visibility for administrators and help improve compliance.

57
Drive health monitoring

Discover potential disk failures before it


happens
• Uses machine learning on S.M.A.R.T. reports to
predict HDD and SSD failures
• Machine-learning model has 98.5% prediction
accuracy
• Enables pre-emptive actions for failing drives, e.g.,
backup critical files

Why?
• Easily detect potential disk failures
• Avoid unpredictable data loss
• Proactively improve uptime
• Reduce risk of unexpected downtime

Acronis Academy

A major cause of unexpected data loss is disk failure. Acronis Cyber Protect drive
health monitoring can help safeguard against such accidents. Drive health monitoring
uses machine learning on SMART reports to predict physical HDD and SSD failures
with up to 98.5% accuracy. Administrators can then avoid unpredictable data loss by
taking pre-emptive actions for failing drives.

58
Data protection map

Get detailed information about backup


status of important files
• Ensure critical data is protected for compliance
reporting
• Discover if important files are backed up or not
• Get alerts on missed files and outdated backups

Why?
• Satisfy compliance requirements by proving
critical data is backed up properly and regularly
• Quickly uncover failed backups
• Get actionable insights to mitigate risk

Acronis Academy

Can you tell if all important files on a computer are backed up? What about all
computers in a network? Your customer may be missing critical files in their backups.
Data protection map scans uncovers missed files and outdated backups to ensure
that backups are complete and up to date. Companies can leverage on data
protection map scans to satisfy compliance requirements to prove critical data is
backed up properly and regularly.

59
Section Summary
1 Unified Configuration: One location for all cyber protection
settings enhances efficiency.

2 Dashboard Insights: Customizable dashboard for real-time


monitoring and easy report sharing.

3 Simplified Deployment: Auto-discovery and remote


installation streamline mass deployment.

4 Integrated Patch Management: Combines vulnerability


scans and patch management for security compliance.

5 Drive Health and Backup Completeness: Predictive drive


health monitoring and data protection scans ensure
reliability and compliance.
Acronis Academy

In this module, we've examined Acronis Cyber Protect's endpoint protection


management, focusing on its streamlined approach to cybersecurity and backup
management.
Acronis Cyber Protect simplifies the management process with a single, unified
protection plan, reducing the complexity of configuring and managing cybersecurity
settings. The interactive dashboard offers critical operational insights and
customizable reporting features, making it easier for administrators to monitor and
share information effectively.
For large-scale deployments, the solution's auto-discovery and remote installation
capabilities significantly ease the rollout process across networks. Integrated patch
management ensures systems are always up to date, minimizing vulnerabilities and
enhancing security compliance.
Furthermore, Acronis Cyber Protect includes predictive drive health monitoring to
preempt hardware failures and data protection map scans to guarantee
comprehensive backup coverage. These features not only prevent data loss but also
assist in meeting stringent compliance standards.
In essence, Acronis Cyber Protect delivers an efficient, comprehensive suite of
management tools designed to safeguard endpoints with minimal effort, ensuring
businesses can focus on their core operations while maintaining high standards of

60
data protection and cybersecurity.

60
Academy
Acronis Cyber Protect
Licensing

Acronis Academy

In this module, we will go over Acronis Cyber Protect licensing.

62
Acronis Cyber Protect licensing

Acronis Cyber Protect is available in 3 different editions.


All editions of Acronis Cyber Protect are subscription-based and licensed by the number of protected
workloads - per workload for workstation, server, server essentials, virtual host and per seat (min 5
seats) for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace
Knowing the difference between them is important to recommend the best fit for your client’s needs
and budget

Acronis Cyber Protect Editions

 Essential data protection and advanced cybersecurity for small and medium businesses
Standard
and remote offices

 Advanced data protection and advanced cybersecurity for medium and large enterprises
Advanced
and organizations with complex IT environments

Backup  Advanced data protection for medium and large enterprises and organizations with
Advanced complex IT environments

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect is available in 3 different editions: Standard, Advanced, and


Backup Advanced. The advanced edition has the complete set of backup, security,
and management features and is meant for medium and large enterprises and
organizations with complex IT environments. The standard edition has a subset of the
features available in the Advanced edition and is meant for small and medium
businesses. Backup Advanced has the complete set of backup features + essential
security and management features such as Active Protection, vulnerability
assessment, auto-discovery and remote installation.All editions are subscription-
based and licensed per workload for workstations, servers, server essentials, and
virtual hosts. The licensing is per seat for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace,
starting with 5 seats.

63
Edition comparison
Standard Advanced Backup Advanced

Standard backup features

Advanced backup features


• Red Hat Virtualization, KVM, Citrix, Nutanix, Oracle, Virtuozzo support
• Deduplication
• Tape support

Auto-discovery and remote installation


Vulnerability assessment

Anti-malware and security management features


• Antivirus and anti-malware protection
• URL filtering and categorization
• Patch management
• Data protection map
• Windows Defender/Microsoft Security Essentials management

Advanced anti-malware and security management features


• Backup malware scanning
• Safe recovery
• Forensic backup

Acronis Academy

This table compares the key differences between the three Acronis Cyber Protect
editions. Standard backup features, auto-discovery and remote installation, and
vulnerability assessment are available across all editions. Advanced backup, security
and management features are not available for Standard edition and both standard
and advanced security and management features are not available for Backup
Advanced edition.

64
Available subscription licenses
Standard Advanced Backup Advanced

Workstation

Windows Server Essentials

Server

Virtual Host

Universal license

Microsoft 365

Google Workspace

Acronis Academy

This table shows the types of licenses available for each edition. Take note that
Universal license is meant for upgrading from previous versions and is not generally
available for sale.

65
Licensing terms

• Subscription licenses for Acronis Cyber Protect are License Platform


available for 1, 3, and 5 years
• Subscription period starts on license purchase Workstation
Physical or virtual machine with
date and can be renewed anytime before expiry Windows desktop OS or Apple macOS

• All product functionality except recovery will not be Physical or virtual machine with
available when a subscription expires Windows Server Essentials
Windows Server Essentials
• Only protected devices need to be licensed,
components such as Management Server, Storage Physical or virtual machine with
Server
Node and Backup Appliance do not require Windows Server OS or Linux
additional licenses
Physical virtualization host and all virtual
• Each license is only valid for its supported platform, Virtual Host
machines on licensed host
e.g., workstation license is not valid for a machine
with Windows Server OS installed Physical or virtual machine or physical
• When using on a cluster, every host in the cluster Universal license virtualization host and all virtual machine
requires a valid license on licensed host

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect offers subscription licenses for 1, 3, and 5 years, with the
subscription period starting on the date of license purchase. Renewal can be done
anytime before expiry. All product functionality, except recovery, will be unavailable
when the subscription expires. Licenses are only required for protected devices, and
additional licenses are not needed for components like Management Server, Storage
Node, and Backup Appliance. Each license is valid only for the platform it supports;
for example, a workstation license cannot be used for a machine with Windows
Server OS installed. In a cluster environment, every host in the cluster must have a
valid license. The table shows the supported platforms for each type of license.

66
Free cloud storage per workload

• Free Acronis Cloud storage is available for every Backup


workload license purchased Standard Advanced Advanced
• Amount of free Acronis Cloud storage is assigned
per individual workload and cannot be combined Workstation 50 GB 50 GB 50 GB
or transferred with other workloads
Windows Server Essentials 150 GB
• Total cloud storage will be shown in the web
console as follows:
Server 250 GB 250 GB 250 GB
• Total storage = Paid storage + free storage
where free storage = number of licenses x free Virtual Host 250 GB 250 GB 250 GB
cloud storage per license
Universal license 250 GB

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cloud storage is provided free of charge for each workload license purchased.
The quantity of free Acronis Cloud storage is allocated per individual workload and
cannot be combined or transferred with other workloads. The web console will
display the total cloud storage as follows: Total storage = Paid storage + free storage,
where free storage equals the number of licenses multiplied by the free cloud storage
per license. The table shows the amount of free Acronis Cloud storage assigned for
each type of license.

67
Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace licenses

Acronis Cyber Protect for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace are licensed per seat.
For Microsoft 365:
• A seat refers to either a Microsoft 365 user, a shared mailbox or a public folder and unlimited
number of SharePoint Online sites and Teams
• One seat for a Microsoft 365 user covers all Microsoft 365 apps available to this user
For Google Workspace:
• A seat refers to a Google Workspace user

License Seats Term

Acronis Cyber Protect – Backup Advanced Microsoft 365 subscription license


5, 25 and 100 seats 1,3 and 5 years
Acronis Cyber Protect – Backup Advanced Google Workspace subscription license

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect is licensed on a per-seat basis for both Microsoft 365 and
Google Workspace. When it comes to Microsoft 365, a seat can refer to a Microsoft
365 user, a shared mailbox, or a public folder. Additionally, an unlimited number of
SharePoint Online sites and Teams are also included in a seat. For Microsoft 365
users, one seat covers all Microsoft 365 apps available to that user. As for Google
Workspace, a seat refers to a Google Workspace user. The table shows the types of
licenses available for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace.

68
Section Summary
1 Editions: Three editions (Standard, Advanced, Backup
Advanced) tailored to different business sizes.
Subscription-Based Licensing: Workstations, servers,
2 virtual hosts, and per seat for Microsoft 365 and Google
Workspace.
Features and Subscription Terms: Advanced for complex
3 IT environments, Standard for SMBs, and Backup
Advanced for essential security. Options for 1, 3, and 5-
year subscriptions.
Renewal and Functionality: Renew before expiry to
4 maintain functionality; recovery remains available post-
expiration.
Cloud Storage Benefit: Free Acronis Cloud storage with
5 each license, detailed in the web console.

Acronis Academy

We've covered Acronis Cyber Protect's licensing, showcasing its adaptability for
various businesses. The software is split into Standard, Advanced, and Backup
Advanced editions, each serving distinct needs from SMBs to large enterprises with
complex IT requirements. Licenses are subscription-based, tailored for specific
platforms, and include free cloud storage, enhancing data protection strategies.
Subscription terms are flexible, ranging from 1 to 5 years, with a straightforward
renewal process to keep your data protected without interruption. This licensing
approach ensures businesses can select the most appropriate coverage for their
operations, maximizing data security and management efficiency.

69
Acronis Cyber Protect
Components and Deployment

Acronis Academy

In this module, we will go over Acronis Cyber Protect components and deployment.

71
3-tier architecture

Physical | Virtual | Cloud


Data Source Applications
Agents

On-Premises Deployment
Management Management
Management Server
Cloud Deployment
Portal
Cloud Console
Service Console

Acronis Cloud
Storage Cloud, Local, On-premises
Network

Acronis Academy

First, let’s learn about the 3-tier architecture for deploying software and storing data
when working with Acronis Cyber Protect.

1st is the Data Source tier, which refers to workloads with data to be protected. They
need to have the appropriate Cyber Protect agent installed on them. Supported
workloads are physical and virtual machines, cloud infrastructure and applications
such as Amazon EC2 and Microsoft 365, and applications such as Microsoft SQL,
Exchange, and Oracle databases.

2nd is the Management tier, which refers to the interface for configuring and
managing Acronis Cyber Protect. It is the management server for on-premises
deployment, and for cloud deployment, it is the cloud console. Both are web-based,
so there’s no need for additional clients to be installed; just a supported web browser
will do.

3rd is the Storage tier which refers to where backups can be stored. Acronis Cyber
Protect supports cloud, local and network locations for storing backups. For cloud
locations, it’s Acronis cloud. For on-premises, it’s local and removable drives, network
locations such as SMB and NFS folders, SFTP and tape devices.

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Acronis Cyber Protect components

Data Source Management Ancillary


Install on workload to be protected For managing protection For additional functionality

 Agent for Windows (32-bit and 64-bit)  Management Server – on-premises  Bootable media
 Agent for Linux (32-bit and 64-bit)  Cloud Console - cloud  Bootable media builder
 Agent for Mac (64-bit and ARM)  Cyber Protect monitor
 Agent for VMware (Windows and VA)  Command-Line tool
 Agent for Hyper-V  Acronis SharePoint Explorer
 Agent for Scale Computing HC3 (VA) Storage  Storage Node
 Agent for Virtuozzo (64-bit) For storing backups  Catalog Service
 Agent for Exchange  PXE Server
 Agent for SQL  Acronis Cloud storage  Acronis Cyber Protect Appliance
 Agent for Active Directory  Local folders
 Agent for Microsoft 365  Secure zone
 Agent for Oracle  Network folder, NFS folder Management Server
Agent for Synology

 iOS and Android app
 SFTP Database
 Tape
 Storage Node
 SQLite – built-in
 Acronis Cyber Infrastructure
 Microsoft SQL or PostgreSQL - external
 Defined by script

Acronis Academy

Let’s go over the components of each tier in more details.

For Data Source, there are agents for supported operating systems, virtualization
platforms and applications. For some virtualization platforms such as VMware and
Microsoft Hyper-V, there’s also agents for agentless backup. These typically have to
be installed on the workload to be protected.

For Management, it is the management server and cloud console. Management


server is installed on-premises while cloud console can be accessed through the
Acronis web account used to register purchased licenses.

For Storage, it’s Acronis Cloud Storage in Acronis data centers, local folders, Acronis
Secure Zone, network folder, NFS folders, SFTP, and tape devices. Advanced storage
locations such as Storage Node, Acronis Cyber Infrastructure, and locations defined
by a script can also be used.

In addition, there are Ancillary components that enable additional functionality, such
as bootable media for bare-metal recovery and command-line tool for configuring
Agents and other components through a command-line interface. You can find

73
descriptions for all ancillary components in the user guide.

Lastly, the on-premises management server uses the built-in SQLite database by
default. Some functionalities, such as scan service and centralized dashboard, require
a separate Microsoft SQL or PostgreSQL database. These external databases must be
pre-installed on the same or separate machine before installing the management
server.

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On-premises deployment

• Management Server installed on-premises


• Choose this deployment method if:
• Machines are not connected to Internet (air-
gapped) – offline license activation required
• Using perpetual license
• Using SFTP server, tape, Acronis Storage Node
or Acronis Cyber Infrastructure as backup
locations
• Upgrading from previous versions of Acronis
Cyber Protect

Acronis Academy

There are 2 types of deployment available for Acronis Cyber Protect, on-premises and
cloud. You can also think about them as to how workloads will be managed. For an
on-premises deployment, a Management Server needs to be installed locally for on-
premises management. Opt for this method if your machines are not internet-
connected. This is also the only deployment type that supports using perpetual
licenses or relying on SFTP servers, tape, Acronis Storage Node, or Acronis Cyber
Infrastructure as backup locations. Additionally, choose this method if you are
upgrading from previous versions of Acronis Cyber Protect that do not support cloud
deployment.

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Cloud deployment

• No on-premises management server


installation required, management is
through cloud console (via cloud
management server)
• Choose this deployment method if the
following is required:
• Backup of Microsoft 365 or Google
Workspace (cloud-to-cloud backup)
• Backup of macOS on Apple ARM-
based processors
• Agentless backup of Virtuozzo,
Virtuozzo Hybrid Infrastructure and
oVirt KVM VMs
• Disaster recovery to the cloud with
Disaster Recovery add-on

Acronis Academy

Cloud deployment does not require the installation of an on-premises management


server. Instead, management is through management servers hosted in Acronis Cloud
and accessed using the cloud console. Use this deployment if you require Microsoft
365 or Google Workspace backup. Backup of ARM-based Macs and agentless backup
of Virtuozzo and oVirt VMs are only supported with cloud deployment. Additionally, if
Disaster Recovery add-on is purchased, cloud deployment must be used to enable
disaster recovery to the cloud.

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Backup locations
On-premises Cloud

• Cloud storage: Acronis data centers

• Local folder: local disk and removable media such as USB drive
• Secure Zone: secure partition on local disk accessible only by Acronis software (must be created
prior to backup), not supported for macOS

• Network folder: SMB/CIFS/DFS shares or NFS folder (Linux and macOS only)

• SFTP: secure FTP, not supported for macOS and application-aware backups

• Tape: locally attached tape device or tape device attached to Storage Node

• Storage Node: storage location managed by Acronis Storage Mode, can be local disk, network
folder or tape

• Acronis Cyber Infrastructure: Highly-available software-defined storage with data redundancy and
self-healing or as gateway to Microsoft Azure, S3 or Swift compatible cloud

• Defined by script: available for machines running Windows, store backups in a local or network
folder defined by a script, supports Jscript, VBScript or Python 3.5

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect supports a wide variety of backup locations. Cloud, local, and
network folders are available for on-premises and cloud deployment. Other backup
locations are available only for on-premises deployment.

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Supported file systems
Supported By
File System Linux-based bootable Limitations of File System
Agents Mac bootable media
media

FAT16/32

NTFS All agents


 No limitations
ext2/ext3/ext4

HFS+

 Supported for macOS High Sierra 10.13 and


Agent for Mac above
APFS  Disk configuration should be re-created
manually when recovering to a non-original
machine or bare-metal

JFS  Files cannot be excluded from a disk backup


Agent for Linux
ResierFS3  Fast incremental backup not supported1

1 Incremental and differential backups may be significantly slower than backups that use fast-incremental mode

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect supports all commonly used file systems for backup and
recovery, although there are some limitations with specific file systems. FAT, NTFS,
ext2, ext3, and ext4 are supported by all agents, and there are no limitations when it
comes to backup and recovery. For APFS, there is a limitation of having to re-create
the disk configuration before bare-metal recovery or when recovering to a non-
original machine. For JFS and ResierFS, due to the nature of the file system, there are
2 limitations, One, files cannot be excluded from a disk-level backup, and two, fast
incremental backup is not supported. The 1st limitation means that it is not possible
to use the File filter backup option to exclude specific files from a backup, and the
2nd limitation means that incremental and differential backups may be significantly
slower than backups that can use fast incremental mode.

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Supported file systems
Supported By
File System Linux-based bootable Limitations of File System
Agents Mac bootable media
media

ResierFS4 Agent for Linux


 Files cannot be excluded from a disk backup
ReFS  Volume cannot be resized during a recovery
All agents
 Fast incremental backup not supported1
XFS

Linux swap Agent for Linux  No limitations

 Only disk/volume backup is supported +


individual files recovery from disk/volume
backup not supported
exFAT All agents
 Files cannot be excluded from a disk backup
 Bootable media cannot be used for recovery
if backup is stored on exFAT volumes

1 Incremental and differential backups may be significantly slower than backups that use fast-incremental mode

Acronis Academy

For ReFS and XFS, besides the 2 limitations similar to ResierFS, disk volume cannot be
resized during a recovery. For other file systems without this limitation, changing the
size of the recovered disk volume is possible when performing recovery from disk-
level backups. For exFAT, only disk/volume backup and recovery are supported.
Recovering individual files and folders from a disk/volume backup is not supported.
For file systems without this limitation, it is possible to recover individual files and
folders from a disk-level backup. Additionally, bootable media cannot read exFAT
volumes, so recovery of backups stored on exFAT volumes using bootable media is
not possible. Lastly, the File filter backup option cannot exclude files from a disk-level
backup of an exFAT volume.

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Tape

• On-premises deployment agents can backup to a


tape device directly or through a Storage Node:
• Supports external SCSI tape devices connected to
Fiber Channel or using SCSI, iSCSI, SAS interfaces
and USB tape devices
• Not compatible with 3rd-party proprietary tape
management tools, deactivate or uninstall such tools
• Not compatible with Windows RSM, make sure
neither a user nor 3rd-party software enables the tape
device in RSM
• Tape hardware compatibility list:
https://go.acronis.com/acronis-cyber-protect-
advanced-tape-hcl
• If a tape device is not on the compatibility list, check
using tape compatibility tool:
http://kb.acronis.com/content/57237

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect on-premises deployment agents support tape backup directly
or through a Storage Node. Supported tape devices include external SCSI devices
connected to Fiber Channel or using SCSI, iSCSI, and SAS interfaces. USB tape devices
are also supported. For a tape device to be correctly detected for backup, drivers for
the device's drives must be installed in the OS. Acronis Cyber Protect is incompatible
with other 3rd-party proprietary tape management tools, so they must be
deactivated or uninstalled for tape backup to work. The same applies to Windows
RSM. Ensure that the tape device is not being enabled in Windows RSM. Acronis
Cyber Protect tape backup is compatible with all major tape device manufacturers.
For the complete list of compatible tape hardware, go to the webpage listed on this
slide. If your tape device is not listed, check for compatibility with Acronis Cyber
Protect using the tool in the KB listed on this slide.

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Tape operations

• Tape devices are automatically detected by the Pool Description


Agent or Storage Node; manual detection can be
used if auto-detection fails
Unrecognized Tapes that were written by 3rd-party
• Before tapes can be used, they must be detected by tapes applications
using the Inventorying operation:
Tapes that were written by Acronis Cyber
• Full inventorying: reads earlier written tags and Imported
Protect in a tape device attached to another
analyzes other information to discover tape tapes
Agent or Storage Node
contents and assign to relevant tape pool
• Fast inventorying: scans tape for barcodes to Empty tapes or tapes moved explicitly from
Free tapes
recognize tapes, if no barcode reader is present, other pools to be used for new backups
tapes will be sent to the unrecognized tape pool
or use full inventorying to discover tape contents Acronis Pool used for backing up by default

• Tapes will be organized into logical groups known as Create custom pools to separate backups
tape pools after inventorying Custom
sets, e.g., backups from different machines
• By default, the Acronis tape pool is used for backup,
more custom pools can be created to organize
different backups

Acronis Academy

Locally attached tape devices are detected automatically by agents and Storage
Nodes. Usually, if automatic detection fails, it means that either correct drivers were
not installed, or a 3rd-party tape management tool is preventing detection. Resolve
the issue and use manual detection to try again. After a tape device has been
successfully detected, inventorying must be performed to discover tapes available for
backup. It is recommended to perform full inventorying, which will discover the
contents of each tape based on written tags and other available information. Once
inventorying is complete, available tapes will be placed into one of the pre-defined
tape pools. Tape pools are logical groups used for organizing tapes in Acronis Cyber
Protect. Refer to the table to find out what each tape pool is used for. Only Acronis
and custom tape pools can be selected for backup. Other pools, such as Imported and
Free tapes, cannot be selected for backup. For backup to proceed, at least one tape
must be added from free tapes to the Acronis or custom pool to be used. To use a
tape in the unrecognized or imported tapes pool for new backups, move it to the free
tape pool.

80
Storage Node

• Server designed to enable:


• Centralized access to locally attached tape device
– backup and recover multiple devices to the same
tape device
• Centralized deduplicated storage – reduce storage
used when backing up multiple similar machines
• Centralized encrypted storage – increase security
for data stored on network folders, e.g., NAS
• Supported storage (managed locations):
• Tape: locally attached tape device
• Local folder: on local disk or locally attached SAN
storage
• Network folder: SMB/CIFS share

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect Storage Node is an optional component with 3 key


functionalities. First, it enables centralized backup by multiple machines on the
network to a locally attached tape device. Second, it can be used to create a
centralized deduplicated storage location using local disks to reduce storage use
when backing multiple similar machines. Third, it can be used to create centralized
encrypted storage locations using network share folders. If you do not require any of
the 3 functionalities, then there's no need to install Storage Node. Conversely,
multiple Storage Nodes can be set up as needed. The backup locations created
through a Storage Node are known as managed locations and can be managed
through the Settings > Storage Node tab.

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Section Summary
Three-Tier Architecture: Simplifies deployment with Data
1 Source, Management, and Storage tiers.

2 Ancillary Components: Enhances functionality with tools


like bootable media and command-line interfaces

3 Deployment Options: Supports both on-premises and


cloud deployments, with specific backup locations and file
system support.

Acronis Academy

In this module, we've explored the comprehensive components and deployment


strategies of Acronis Cyber Protect, structured around a three-tier architecture to
streamline the protection of your data across various environments.
At the foundation, we have the Data Source tier, encompassing the workloads to be
protected, ranging from physical and virtual machines to cloud applications. Each
requires a specific Acronis agent for effective protection. The Management tier
simplifies configuration and oversight through a web-based server or cloud console,
ensuring ease of access and use. The Storage tier offers flexible backup storage
options, including cloud, local, and networked solutions, tailored to meet diverse
needs.
Beyond these core tiers, Ancillary components like bootable media and command-
line tools extend functionality, allowing for comprehensive system management and
recovery capabilities. Whether you're dealing with standard file systems or require
specialized support for file systems like APFS, ReFS, or XFS, Acronis Cyber Protect
offers tailored solutions, even as it navigates the complexities of different
deployment scenarios.
We delved into the nuances of on-premises and cloud deployments, highlighting
how each approach suits different organizational needs, from internet-connected
environments to specific backup requirements like Microsoft 365 or Google

82
Workspace.
Understanding the backup locations, file system compatibilities, and the strategic use
of components like the Acronis Cyber Protect Storage Node, you're now better
equipped to deploy Acronis Cyber Protect effectively, ensuring your data is
safeguarded across any environment.
This module has laid the groundwork for deploying Acronis Cyber Protect in a manner
that aligns with your organization's infrastructure and operational needs, marking a
significant step towards mastering this comprehensive cybersecurity and backup
solution.

82
Acronis Cyber Protect
Getting started

Acronis Academy

In this module, we will go over getting started with Acronis Cyber Protect.

84
Getting started
Setting up Acronis Cyber Protect

Register account and login to


Register license https://account.acronis.com

Open cloud console or


Cloud deployment or on-
install Windows or Linux
premises deployment? management server

Enable backup,
Download and install agents
cybersecurity and on machines to be protected
endpoint management

Acronis Academy

There are 3 main steps to get started with Acronis Cyber Protect. First is to register
purchased licenses by creating an Acronis account. Second is to choose whether to
use cloud or on-premises deployment. Depending on your choice, you may need to
install a management server on-premises. Third is to download and install agents on
machines to be protected. One important thing to note is that on-premises and cloud
deployment are not interchangeable, although they can co-exist. This means that on-
premises deployment agents are incompatible with cloud deployment agents, and
you will not be able to manage machines installed with on-premises agents using the
cloud console and vice versa. You can, however, use on-premises deployment to
protect on-premises devices and cloud deployment to protect cloud apps such as
Microsoft 365 simultaneously. In such cases, you must allocate licenses for cloud and
on-premises management accordingly.

85
Getting started step-by-step
Create/login to
On-
account at
Receive license key premises Cloud
Acronis website and
or cloud?
register licenses

On-premises

Prepare target
Download installer machine for
from website installing
management server

Install Complete Login to web


management server installation console

On-
premises Cloud
or cloud?

On-premises

Download and
Activate install agents on Configure
management server machines to be Protection Plan
protected

Acronis Academy

Let's go through the steps to get started with Acronis Cyber Protect.
1st, Receive purchased licenses via email.
After that, create an Acronis web account through the Acronis official website, log in,
and register the purchased licenses.
For cloud deployment, proceed to log in to the cloud console.
Download and install agents on machines to be protected.
Configure protection plans to start protecting machines.
For on-premises deployment, depending on whether you want to install a Windows
or Linux management server, download the respective installer from the downloads
page.
Prepare the target machine and install the Windows or Linux management server.
Since a Windows or Linux agent will also be installed on the same machine, ensure
the target machine meets hardware and software requirements for both
management server components and agent.
Once installation is complete, log in to the management server's web console.
Activate the management server by logging in with the Acronis account used to
register the licenses.
Similar to cloud deployment, download and install agents on machines to be
protected and, after that, configure protection plans to start protecting machines.

86
Registering licenses

1. Upon purchase, a customer will receive an email with


license certificate and license keys
2. They will need to create an account on the Acronis
website https://account.acronis.com and register the
license keys
3. After registration, license details such as subscription
expiry date and amount of free cloud storage per
workload will be shown
4. For cloud deployment, click on Open Cloud Console
to switch to the Cyber Protect Service Console to start
downloading agent installers
5. For on-premises deployment, click on the dropdown
arrow beside the Open Cloud Console button to
download Windows/Linux installer to install the first
management server

Acronis Academy

Purchased licenses must be registered before they can be used. License keys and
certificates will be delivered via email, and an Acronis account must be created to
register and manage the licenses. After registration, license details such as
subscription expiry date and amount of free cloud storage per workload will be
shown. For cloud deployment, click on the open cloud console button to switch to
the cyber protect console where agent installers can be downloaded. For on-premises
deployment, click on the dropdown arrow beside the open cloud console button to
go to the downloads page. There you can download the Windows or Linux installer to
install the first management server.

87
Managing licenses

• Licenses are managed through the Cyber Protect


Service Console a.k.a. cloud console > Settings >
License usage tab
• For cloud deployment, licenses are synced to cloud
management server and assigned to workloads
automatically when a protection plan is applied
• For on-premises deployment:
• A management server must first be activated
before licenses can be allocated to it for assigning
to workloads
• Management servers can be activated online if
Internet connection is available or through
activation file if it’s offline or air-gapped
• The first management server activated will have all
licenses allocated to it, reallocate licenses if more
than one management server is being used

Acronis Academy

Registered licenses are managed through the cloud console aka cyber protect
console's Settings > License usage tab. For cloud deployment, licenses are
automatically synced to cloud management servers and assigned automatically to
workloads when a protection plan is applied. For on-premises deployment, a
management server must first be activated. A management server can be activated
online if an Internet connection is available or through an activation file if it is offline
or air-gapped. The first management server to be activated will have all licenses
allocated to it. Licenses will have to be reallocated if, subsequently, there are more
management servers activated. Similar to cloud deployment, licenses will be assigned
automatically to workloads when applying a protection plan.

88
Section Summary
Initial Setup Steps: Register licenses, decide on
1 deployment type (cloud or on-premises), and install
agents on devices

2 License Registration and Management: Create an Acronis


account to register licenses, view subscription details, and
manage license allocation.

3 Deployment and Activation: Choose between cloud and


on-premises deployment, install the management server if
on-premises, and activate servers for license management.

Acronis Academy

In the module 'Getting Started with Acronis Cyber Protect', we outlined the
foundational steps to embark on your cybersecurity journey with Acronis Cyber
Protect.
The process begins with three key steps. Initially, you're required to register your
purchased licenses by creating an Acronis account, a straightforward process that
ensures your licenses are securely managed and accessible. Following this, you'll
decide between cloud or on-premises deployment based on your organization's
needs. It's crucial to note that while these deployment options can co-exist, they are
not interchangeable due to agent compatibility differences. However, you can
seamlessly manage both on-premises devices and cloud applications like Microsoft
365 with respective deployments.

The steps to get started are simple: receive your licenses, register them on the
Acronis website, and then proceed according to your chosen deployment. For cloud
deployment, access the cloud console directly to download and install agents. For on-
premises setups, download and install the management server, then activate it with
your Acronis account. In both scenarios, the final step involves downloading and
installing agents on the machines you wish to protect and configuring protection
plans.

89
License registration is a prerequisite to utilization, with all details managed through
your Acronis account. For cloud deployment, licenses sync automatically, and for on-
premises, the management server activation is a crucial step. The first management
server activated holds all licenses, with the option to reallocate as more servers are
brought online.

89
Acronis Cyber Protect
Supported environments

Acronis Academy

In this module, we will go over supported environments for Acronis Cyber Protect.

91
Supported environments
Component Supported Environment

 Windows OS from Windows Server 2003 SP1/2003 R2, Windows XP Pro SP1 and above, x86 and x64, except
for RT edition and Nano Server installation
Agent for Windows
 There are certain OS updates that must be installed for Agent installation to be successful and for certain
functions to work. Check the user guide for more information prior to Agent installation

 Linux OS with kernel 2.6.9 and above, glibc 2.3.4 and above, x86 and x64 including Red Hat Enterprise Linux |
Ubuntu | Fedora | SUSE Linux Enterprise Server | Debian | CentOS | Oracle Linux | CloudLinux | ClearOS |
Agent for Linux AlmaLinux | Rocky Linux | ALT Linux
 To install the Agent on a system that does not use RPM Package Manager such as Ubuntu, the RPM Package
Manager must be manually installed first

 OS X 10.10 and above, macOS 10.12 and above, x64 and ARM
Agent for Mac
 ARM-based processors are currently supported by cloud deployment agents only

 Agent for VMware (Virtual Appliance) – VMware ESXi 4.1 and above
Agent for VMware  Agent for VMware (Windows) – Windows OS supported by Agent for Windows except for 32-bit Window OS,
Windows XP, Windows Server 2003/2003 R2 and Windows Small Business Server 2003/2003 R2

Acronis Academy

On this and the next few slides are tables with information on supported
environments for installing Agents and other components. If you go through the
tables, you can see that Acronis Cyber Protect has good backward compatibility for
older versions of operating systems, virtualization platforms, and applications.
However, they usually require specific patches and updates to be installed before you
can install Acronis agents. Check the user guide for more information before starting
installation. One thing to note is that on-premises and cloud deployment support
similar environments with few exceptions. An example would be Agent for Mac.
ARM-based processors are currently supported only by the cloud deployment version
of the agent.

92
Supported environments
Component Supported Environment

Agent for Hyper-V  Windows Server 2008, Windows 8/8.1 and above, x64, with Hyper-V except for Nano Server installation

Agent for Virtuozzo  Virtuozzo 6.0.10 and above, Virtuozzo Hybrid Server 7.5, cloud deployment only

Agent for Virtuozzo


 Virtuozzo Hybrid Infrastructure 3.5 and above, cloud deployment only
Hybrid Infrastructure

Agent for Scale


 Scale Computing Hypercore 8.8 and above
Computing HC3

Agent for oVirt  Red Hat Virtualization 4.2 and above, cloud deployment only

Agent for Exchange  Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and above

Agent for SQL  Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and above

Agent for Active Directory  Windows Server 2003 and above, with Active Directory Domain Services

Agent for Microsoft 365  Windows Server 2008, Windows 8/8.1 and above, x64, except for RT editions and Nano Server installations

Acronis Academy

For virtualization platforms, Virtuozzo and Red Hat Virtualization, when managed by
oVirt, are supported in cloud deployment only. For application backup of Microsoft
SQL, Exchange, and Active Directory, besides the supported application version, keep
in mind supported environments for Agent for Windows since both Agent for
Windows and the respective application agent need to be installed. Complete backup
for Microsoft 365, which includes Mailbox, OneDrive, SharePoint sites, and Teams, is
supported in cloud deployment only. Mailbox-only backup for Microsoft 365 via
Agent for Microsoft 365 is supported in both cloud and on-premises deployment.

93
Supported environments
Component Supported Environment

 Windows 2008 R2 and Windows 2012 R2


Agent for Oracle
 Linux kernel and distributions supported by Agent for Linux

Agent for Synology  DiskStation Manager 6.2.x, 7.x, NAS with x86_64 processors only, ARM processors are not supported

Oracle Database  Oracle Database 11g, 12c, single-instance configurations only

SAP HANA  HANA 2.0 SPS 03 installed on RHEL 7.6, SAP HANA containers with one tenant database only

 Windows OS from Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 and above, x86 and x64, except for RT edition and
Nano Server installation
Management Server  Linux OS with kernel 2.6.9 and above, glibc 2.3.4 and above, x86 and x64 including Red Hat Enterprise Linux |
Ubuntu | Fedora | SUSE Linux Enterprise Server | Debian | CentOS | Oracle Linux | CloudLinux | ClearOS |
AlmaLinux | Rocky Linux | ALT Linux

 Windows OS from Windows Server 2008, Window 7 and above, x64 only, except for RT edition and Nano
Storage Node
Server installation

Acronis Academy

Agent for Oracle is supported for Windows and Linux operating systems and Oracle
database version 11g and 12c, single-instance configuration only. Oracle RAC is not
supported. Agent for Synology is supported on DiskStation Manager 6.2.x and 7.x on
x64 processors only. ARM-based NAS is not supported. SAP HANA is supported for
HANA 2.0 SPS 3 on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.6. For management server, both
Windows and Linux are supported. Storage node is only supported on 64-bit
Windows.

94
Supported environments
Component Supported Environment

VMware  VMware vSphere 4.1 and above | vSphere Hypervisor (Free ESXi) | VMware Server | Workstation | ACE | Player

 Windows Server 2008, Windows 8/8.1 and above, x64, with Hyper-V except for Nano Server installation |
Hyper-V
Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 and above | Microsoft Virtual Server 2005

Scale Computing  Scale Computing Hypercore 8.8 and above

Citrix  Citrix XenServer/Citrix Hypervisorr 4.1.5 and above, fully virtualized a.k.a HVM guests only

Red Hat and Linux  RHEV 2.2 and above | RHV 4.0 and above | KVM

Parallels  Parallels Workstation | Parallels Server 4 Bare Metal

Oracle  Oracle VM Server 3.0 and above | Oracle VM Virtualbox 4.x

Nutanix  Nutanix Acropolis Hypervisor (AHV) 20160925.x through 20180425.x

Virtuozzo  Virtuozzo 6.0.10 and above | Virtuozzo Hybrid Server 7.5 | Virtuozzo Hybrid Infrastructure 3.5 and above

Cloud instances  Amazon EC2 instances | Azure virtual machines

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VMs can be backed up using agent-based, aka guest-level backup, by installing Agent
for Windows or Linux in the VMs. Acronis Cyber Protect supports agent-based backup
for all virtualization platforms in this table. For some platforms such as VMware,
Hyper-V, and Scale Computing, agentless backup, aka hypervisor-level backup, is
supported. Check the user guide for more details.

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Supported environments
Category Supported Environment

 443 and 8443: Accessing cloud console, registering agents, downloading certificates, user authorization and
downloading files from cloud storage
 9877: Accessing on-premises management server web console
 9876: Sending and receiving backup data for on-premises storage node
 7780: Communications between on-premises product components
 7770 – 7800: Agent communications with management server (in Acronis data center)
Network Ports
 44445 and 55556: For backup and recovery
(TCP Inbound and
Outbound)  443, 902 and 3333: For backup and replication of VMware VMs via Agent for VMware
 6888, 6771, 18018, 18019: For Agent Downloader component to download updates and distribute to other
Agents
 6109 for Acronis Active Protection
 445, 25001, 43234 for remote installation
 127.0.0.1:9999, 127.0.0.1:43234, 127.0.0.1:9850 not being used by other processes (not required to open in
firewall)

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Acronis Cyber Protect uses several network ports for various functions, including
communications between components, backup and recovery, and remote
installation. On Windows, the installer will open the necessary ports if Windows
Firewall is used. For other firewalls, exceptions for required ports may have to be
configured. Check the user guide for more details.

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Supported environments
Category Supported Environment

 Google Chrome 29 and above | Mozilla Firefox 23 and above | Opera 16 and above | Microsoft Edge 25 and
Web Browsers
above | Safari 8 and above

 Microsoft BitLocker | Checkpoint Harmony Endpoint | McAfee Endpoint Encryption | PGP Whole Disk
Disk Encryption
Encryption

 Available for Windows management server only


 Required for backup malware scanning, safe recovery and corporate whitelist feature
Scan service
 Requires installation of Microsoft SQL Server 2012 and above as management server database, built-in SQLite
database for management server is not supported

 Available for Windows management server only


 Provides a widget-based dashboard for monitoring multiple management servers
Centralized dashboard
 Requires installation of Microsoft SQL Server 2012 or above as management server database, built-in SQLite
database for management server is not supported

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Acronis Cyber Protect supports all modern web browsers, such as Google Chrome,
Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Microsoft Edge, and Apple Safari. For disk encryption,
Microsoft BitLocker, Checkpoint Harmony Endpoint, McAfee Endpoint Encryption,
and PGP Whole Disk Encryption are supported. The general rule for disk encryption is
to enable it before installing Acronis Cyber Protect. Scan service and centralized
dashboard are two additional management server components that are not installed
by default when installing a Windows management server. They provide additional
functionalities and require using an external Microsoft SQL server as the
management server database.

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Supported environments for Cyber Protect features
OS Supported Environment1

 Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 SP1 and above,


Windows
 Windows Defender antivirus management is supported on Windows 8.1 and above

 CentOS 7.x, 8.0, Virtuozzo 7.x, Acronis Cyber Infrastructure 3.x


Linux
 Other Linux distributions and versions might be supported but have not been tested

Mac  macOS: 10.13.x and above – only antivirus/antimalware protection is supported

1 Cyber Protect features (cybersecurity and endpoint protection management) requires agent installation on the machine to be protected. For VMs using agentless backup, an agent
need to be installed in each VM to enable Cyber Protect features.

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Cyber Protect features for security and endpoint protection management are
supported for the operating systems in this table and require installation of the Agent
for Antimalware protection and URL filtering. Therefore, if you are backing up VMs
using agentless backup, you need to additionally install agents on the guest VMs to
enable these features. Also, for Agent for Linux and Mac, Cyber Protect components
are integrated into the agent. For Windows, Cyber Protect components are separate,
although they require Agent for Windows as the base before they can be installed.

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Component installation cheat sheet
What to back up What to install Where to install
Physical machines

Disk, volumes and files on physical


Agent for Windows
machines running Windows

Disk, volumes and files on physical


Agent for Linux On the machine that will be backed up
machines running Linux

Disk, volumes and files on physical


Agent for Mac
machines running macOS

Applications

SQL databases Agent for Windows + Agent for SQL On the machine running Microsoft SQL Server

On the machine running the Mailbox role of Microsoft Exchange


Exchange databases Agent for Windows + Agent for Exchange
Server

Machines running Active Directory Agent for Windows + Agent for Active
On the domain controller
Domain Services Directory

Acronis Academy

The component installation cheat sheet shows what agent to install for backing up
various types of workloads. For backing up disk and volumes, files and folders on
Windows, Linux and Mac physical machines as well as guest-level backup of VMs,
install the respective agent in the OS. For application-aware backup, both OS and
application agent must be installed.

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Component installation cheat sheet
What to back up What to install Where to install
Agent for Windows + Agent for Oracle
Machines running Oracle Database On the machine running Oracle Database
Agent for Linux + Agent for Oracle

Microsoft 365 mailboxes Agent for Microsoft 365 On a Windows machine that is connected to the internet

Virtual machines

Agent for Windows + Agent for VMware On a Windows machine that has network access to vCenter Server
VMware ESXi VMs (Windows) and to the virtual machine storage

Agent for VMware (Virtual Appliance) On the ESXi host

Hyper-V VMs Agent for Windows + Agent for Hyper-V On the Hyper-V host

Agent for Scale Computing HC3 (Virtual


Scale Computing HC3 VMs Appliance)
On the Scale Computing HC3 host

Red Hat Virtualization virtual


Agent for oVirt (Virtual Appliance) On the Red Hat Virtualization host
machines (managed by oVirt)

Acronis Academy

For VMware, there are 2 types of agents for agentless backup, a virtual appliance and
a Windows version. Both have the same functionality when it comes to backing up
VMs on VMware vSphere. For Hyper-V, you need to install both the Agent for
Windows and Agent for Hyper-V for agentless backup. For Scale Computing HC3, the
agent is a qcow2 virtual appliance that needs to be deployed to an HC3 host. For
agentless backup of Red Hat Virtualization VMs and Linux KVM managed by oVirt,
deploy the agent for oVirt to the Red Hat virtualization hosts.

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Component installation cheat sheet
What to back up What to install Where to install
Virtuozzo virtual machines and
Agent for Linux + Agent for Virtuozzo On the Virtuozzo host
containers

Virtuozzo Hybrid Infrastructure


Agent for Virtuozzo Hybrid Infrastructure On the Virtuozzo Hybrid Infrastructure host
virtual machines

VMs hosted on Amazon EC2 and


Microsoft Azure

Citrix XenServer VMs

Red Hat Virtualization (RHV/RHEV)


The same as for physical machines On the machine that will be backed up

KVMs

Oracle VMs

Nutanix AHV VMs

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For Virtuozzo, install the Agent for Linux and Agent for Virtuozzo on the Virtuozzo
host. Only agentless backup of VMs is supported, containers are not supported. For
Virtuozzo Hybrid Infrastructure, the agent is a qcows2 virtual appliance that needs to
be deployed to the hybrid infrastructure host. For other virtualization platforms, It's
guest-level backup only, so installation is the same as physical machines depending
on the OS in the VM.

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Required Linux packages

i Acronis setup program need the following Linux packages

• Packages with kernel headers or sources, package version must match the kernel version
• GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) compiler system, GCC version must be the one with which
the kernel was compiled
• Make tool
• Perl interpreter
• libelf-dev, libelf-devel, or elfutils-libelf-devel libraries for building kernels starting with 4.15
and configured with CONFIG_UNWINDER_ORC=y
• Names of packages may vary depending on the Linux distribution used

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To install Agent for Linux, the setup program needs certain Linux packages. They are
1st, packages with Linux headers or sources, and package version must match the
kernel version of the Linux OS being used for installation. 2nd, GCC compiler. 3rd,
Make tool. 4th, Perl interpreter and 5th, ELF libraries for building kernels starting with
4.15 and configured with CONFIG_UNWINDER_ORC=y. The names of the packages
may vary depending on the Linux distribution used.

102
Required Linux packages

i Acronis setup program need the following Linux packages

• In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS and Fedora, these packages normally will be installed by
the setup program1
• In other distributions, they need to be manually installed if they are not installed or do not
have the required versions

1 Required packages will need to be manually installed if the machine does not have an active Red Hat subscription or Internet connection.

Acronis Academy

In Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, and Fedora, the required packages will normally
be installed by the setup program. In other distributions, they may need to be
manually installed if they are not installed or do not have the required versions.
Check the user guide for instructions on how to verify if the packages are available in
the OS and if they are the correct version.

103
Section Summary
Broad Compatibility: Acronis Cyber Protect offers
1 backward compatibility with various OS, virtualization
platforms, and applications, often requiring specific
updates for agent installation.

Deployment Flexibility: Supports both cloud and on-


2 premises environments with specific considerations for
ARM-based Macs and virtualization platforms like
Virtuozzo and Red Hat Virtualization for cloud deployment
only.

3 Specialized Support: Includes detailed support for


application backup, virtual machine backup strategies
(agent-based and agentless), and network port
configurations for component communication.

Acronis Academy

In this module on Acronis Cyber Protect's supported environments, we've highlighted


its compatibility with a wide range of operating systems, virtual platforms, and
applications. Key takeaways include the need for specific updates prior to agent
installations and the distinct support for both cloud and on-premises deployments.
Notably, ARM-based Macs and certain virtualization platforms are exclusive to cloud
deployment.

We've outlined considerations for application and virtual machine backups,


emphasizing the platform's flexibility in addressing diverse IT infrastructure needs.
Whether opting for agent-based or agentless backups, Acronis Cyber Protect ensures
comprehensive coverage across environments.

Understanding these supported environments and deployment specifics is crucial for


effectively utilizing Acronis Cyber Protect. This ensures your data remains secure and
recoverable, regardless of the infrastructure you operate within.

104
Acronis Cyber Protect
Installing management server and
storage node

Acronis Academy

In this module, we will go over installing management server and storage node.

106
Downloading installer

1. Login to https://account.acronis.com
2. Click on the dropdown arrow besides the Open
Cloud Console button to access the Download
installer webpage
3. Download the Windows or Linux installer to install the
management server on either platform respectively:
• Both installers contains all required software
components for their respective platforms for on-
premises deployment
• For Windows, there’s a web installer that’s meant
for fast download due to its small file size; software
components will be separately downloaded once
installation is started
4. Run the installer on the machine to be installed with
the management server

Acronis Academy

To start management server and storage node installation, download the installer
after logging in to your Acronis account. The download page can be accessed from
the dropdown arrow beside the open cloud console button. Download the required
installer depending on whether a Windows or Linux management server is to be
installed. Both installers contain all required software components for their operating
system. For Windows, there’s a web installer that’s much smaller in size, typically only
several megabytes, which is meant for fast download. It will separately download
only the required components once the installation is started.

107
Download page

Windows
web
installer

Full
installers

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All installers are available on the download page. For Windows and Linux, there are
32 and 64-bit installers. For Mac, it’s 64-bit only. To ensure the correct file is
downloaded, verify using the respective md5 checksum.

108
Installing management server

1. Log on as an administrator on the local machine and


start the installer
2. [Optional] To change the language, click Setup
language
3. Accept the terms of the license agreement and the
privacy statement, and then click Proceed
4. Make sure, Install a protection agent and
management server option is selected
5. Click on Install to start installation with default settings
or Customize installation settings to change
installation settings
6. Alternatively, click on Create .mst and .msi files for
unattended installation to extract installation files for
unattended installation or installation through Group
Policy

Acronis Academy

To start local installation on Windows, log on as an administrator and run the installer.
You can change the language if desired. Accept the terms of the license agreement
and privacy statement and click Proceed. Ensure the option to Install a protection
agent and management server is selected. This will include the management server
component for the default installation. Click on the Install button to start the
installation with default settings, which will install the management server and Agent
for Windows on the local machine. Click on Customize installation settings if
customization is required. These include changing the installation folder or adding
components such as Scan service and Centralized Dashboard. Click on Create .mst
and .msi files for unattended installation If you are performing mass deployment
using unattended installation or installation through Group Policy.

109
Installing management server

7. Start the installation


8. After installation completes, click Close to open the
web console in the default browser
9. To start using the management server, activate it by
signing in to the Acronis account used for activating
the licenses purchased or through an activation file
for offline activation.

Acronis Academy

Start the installation after making your choices. Once installation is complete, close
the installer to open the web console for the management server in the default web
browser. If you choose not to open the web console upon closing the installer, you
can do so subsequently through Desktop shortcuts created by the installation. To
start to use the management server, it needs to be activated by signing in to the
Acronis account used for activating purchased licenses if an Internet connection is
available. If the management server is air-gapped, it can be activated using an
activation file.

110
Activating a management server

i For management server with Internet connection

• Open web console to on-premises management server and sign in using local administrator
credentials (use http://localhost:9877 if logging in locally or replace localhost with name/ip
address of management server if logging in from a remote machine)
• You will be prompted to sign in with the Acronis account used for registering your licenses or
you can sign in from the Settings > License usage tab
• After signing in, the management server will be automatically registered and activated
• If the registered management server is the first management server in the environment, all
registered licenses will be allocated to it
• License check happens once a day and if the management server is offline for more than 30
days, all protection plans will stop working

Acronis Academy

To activate a management server with an Internet connection, open the web console
and sign in using local administrator credentials. A dialog box will appear, and you can
sign in with the Acronis account used for registering your licenses to activate the
management server. If the dialog box does not appear, go to Settings > License usage
and sign in from there. After signing in, the management server will be automatically
registered to your Acronis account and activated. All registered licenses will be
allocated to the first management server activated. If more management servers are
activated, you will have to reallocate required licenses to them through the cloud
console so that they can be assigned to workloads when protection plans are applied.
Once licenses are allocated to a management server, a license check will happen once
a day. All protection plans stop working if the management server is offline for over
30 days.

111
Activating a management server

i For management server without Internet connection

• Open web console to on-premises management server and sign in


• In the dialog box that appears, click Activation through file and select Download the
registration file to download the file
• On a machine with Internet connection, login to your Acronis account
(https://account.acronis.com) and open cloud console
• Go to Settings > License usage and click Register offline management server on the upper
right of the webpage
• Upload the registration file and download the activation file
• On the on-premises management server, go to Settings > License usage and click on
Activate through file on the upper right of the webpage to upload the activation file

Acronis Academy

To activate a management server without an Internet connection, such as in air-


gapped environments, offline activation is required. Open the web console and sign
in to the offline management server. In the dialog box that appears, click Activation
through file and select Download the registration file. If the dialog box does not
appear, go to Settings > License usage and click on Activate through file on the upper
right of the webpage. You can download the registration file from here. On a separate
machine with an Internet connection, log in to the Acronis account used for
registering your licenses. Open cloud console and go to Settings > License usage. Click
Register offline management server on the upper right of the webpage. Upload the
registration file to obtain the activation file. Afterward, in the offline management
server's web console, go to Settings > License usage. Click on Activate through file on
the upper right of the webpage. Upload the activation file to activate the offline
management server. If this is the first management server activated, all licenses will
be allocated to it. License allocation can be changed in cloud console, and a new
activation file must be generated and uploaded to the offline management server.

112
Installing storage node

• If installing Storage Node for deduplication, Windows


machine used must meet RAM and disk space
requirements to avoid performance issues. Refer to
Deduplication best practices in the user guide for
more details
1. Log on as an administrator on the local machine and
start the installer
2. [Optional] To change the language, click Setup
language
3. Accept the terms of the license agreement and the
privacy statement, and then click Proceed
4. Click on Customize installation settings and change
What to install
5. Scroll down, select Storage Node and click Done
6. Click Install to start the installation

Acronis Academy

Storage nodes can only be installed through customized Windows installation.


Additionally, if installing a Storage Node for deduplication, the Windows machine
used must meet RAM and storage space requirements to avoid performance issues.
Refer to Deduplication best practices in the user guide for more details. To install a
Storage Node on Windows, log on as an administrator and run the installer. Agree to
the license terms and click Proceed. Click on Customize installation settings, and in
the What to Install section, scroll down until you see the Storage Node component.
Select it and click Done. You may need to provide management server details if you
are installing Storage Node on a machine that does not have a management server
installed. Start the installation.

113
Section Summary
Download and Installation: Start by downloading the
1 management server and storage node installer from your
Acronis account. Choose between Windows or Linux
based on your needs.

Activation: Activate the management server with an


2 internet connection directly or use offline activation for air-
gapped environments. The first server activated allocates
all registered licenses.

3 Storage Node Installation: Install the storage node via


customized installation on Windows, ensuring the system
meets requirements for deduplication.

Acronis Academy

In this module, we've outlined the process for installing the management server and
storage node for Acronis Cyber Protect. Begin by downloading the installer from your
Acronis account, ensuring you choose the correct version for your operating system.
Installation is straightforward, with options for both standard and customized setups,
including for mass deployments.
Activation is essential, with straightforward online methods for internet-connected
environments and offline activation for air-gapped setups. This step ensures your
management server is ready to manage licenses and protection plans.
For those implementing a storage node, particularly with deduplication, ensure your
system meets the necessary specifications for optimal performance. This custom
installation ensures your storage infrastructure is robust and ready for efficient data
management.
Through these steps, your Acronis Cyber Protect system will be set up and activated,
marking the beginning of comprehensive protection and management for your digital
assets.

114
Acronis Cyber Protect
Installing agents

Acronis Academy

In this module, we will go over installing management server and storage node.

116
Adding machines for on-premises deployment

i Downloading Agent installation software for local installation

• Open web console (http://localhost:9877) to on-premises management server and sign in


using local administrator credentials
• Go to Devices > All devices and click on the +Add button on the upper right of the webpage
• Alternatively, click on Account button on the upper right of the webpage and select
Downloads
• Select the desired agent installer to download
• Note that on-premises and cloud deployment agents are neither compatible nor
interchangeable and cannot be installed at the same time on the same machine

Acronis Academy

You need to download the agent installers to start adding machines for on-premises
deployment. Log in to the web console of the on-premises management server and
go to Devices > All devices. Click on the Add button on the upper right of the
webpage. That will open the Add devices pane, where you can select the installer to
download. For Windows, remote installation is also available through the Add devices
pane. Alternatively, click on the Account button on the upper right of the webpage
and select Downloads. That will open the downloads menu where installers can be
downloaded as well. An important thing to note is that on-premises and cloud
deployment agents are incompatible and not interchangeable. This means that on-
premises agents can only be added to and managed from an on-premises
management server. The same is true for cloud deployment agents. They can only be
added to and managed from the cloud console.

117
Adding machines for cloud deployment

i Downloading Agent installation software for local installation

• Login to your Acronis account (https://account.acronis.com) and open cloud console


• Go to Devices > All devices and click on the +Add button on the upper right of the webpage
• Alternatively, click on Account button on the upper right of the webpage and select
Downloads
• Select the desired agent installer to download
• Note that on-premises and cloud deployment agents are neither compatible nor
interchangeable and cannot be installed at the same time on the same machine

Acronis Academy

For cloud deployment, it's the same as with on-premises deployment. Download
agent installers to start adding machines for cloud deployment. Log in to the cloud
console and go to Devices > All devices. Click on the Add button on the upper right of
the webpage to open the Add Devices pane where agent installers can be
downloaded. A slight difference here is that remote installation for Windows is not
available. Alternatively, go to the downloads menu from the Account button to
download agent installers.

118
Adding machines – Add devices panel

Click to open Add devices panel

Devices >
All devices
section

Acronis Academy

The web console for on-premises management server and cloud console have the
same layout. Here you can see the Add button when navigating to Devices > All
devices tab.

119
Adding machines – Add devices panel

Select agent
to download

Acronis Academy

In the Add devices pane, you will be able to see workloads for which agents can be
downloaded.

120
Adding machines – Downloads menu

Click to open Downloads menu

Acronis Academy

The link to the downloads menu is under the Account button. You can also change
the language of the UI and switch to Settings > License usage tab from the Account
button.

121
Adding machines – Downloads menu

Select agent
to download

Acronis Academy

The downloads menu will include download links to all available agent installers as
well as ancillary components. This can be more convenient if you just want to quickly
download a particular installer.

122
Local installation

i Ensure the following are met

1. Check for supported environment requirements, i.e, supported OS, application version,
edition and disk space requirements
2. Microsoft Visual C++ 2017 Redistributable is installed on Windows machines to enable
Cyber Protect features
3. For cloud deployment: Internet connectivity for machines to be installed with Agents
4. For on-premises deployment: Internet connectivity is optional for management servers, LAN
connectivity to management sever required for machines to be installed with Agents
5. Allow inbound/outbound connections through firewalls and other network security systems
such as proxy servers for required TCP/UDP ports

Acronis Academy

Before performing local installation, check that the prerequisites are met. Especially
important are the 1st and 5th prerequisites. The most common causes of installation
failure are failing to meet supported environment requirements and required ports
being blocked by 3rd-party firewalls. So, make sure to check the user guide if you are
unsure.

123
Local installation for Windows

1. Log on as an administrator on the local machine and


start the installer
2. [Optional] To change the language, click Setup
language
3. [On-premises deployment] Accept the terms of the
license agreement and the privacy statement, and
then click Proceed
4. [On-premises deployment] Select Install a protection
agent
5. Click on Install to start installation with default settings
or Customize installation settings to change
installation settings
6. Alternatively, click on Create .mst and .msi files for
unattended installation to extract installation files for
unattended installation or installation through Group
Policy

Acronis Academy

To start local installation on Windows, log on as an administrator and run the installer.
You can change the language if desired. For on-premises deployment, you will need
to accept the terms of the license agreement and ensure Install a protection agent is
selected before proceeding to choose the type of installation. Click on the Install
button to start the installation with default settings or Customize installation settings
to add additional components or change other installation settings. Alternatively, for
mass deployment through unattended installation and group policy, click on Create
.mst and .msi files to extract the installation files required.

124
Local installation for Windows

7. [On-premises deployment] Specify the management


server where the machine with the agent will be
registered
8. Start the installation
9. [Cloud deployment] After installation is complete,
register the machine to your account by clicking on
Register workload.
10.[Cloud deployment] Alternatively click on Show
registration info and copy the registration code to
register via the Add devices panel in cloud console
11. After successful installation/registration, machine will
appear in Devices > All devices tab

Acronis Academy

For on-premises deployment, specify the management server to which the machine
will be registered after agent installation. Start the installation. For cloud deployment,
when the installation is complete, you will need to register the machine to the
Acronis account used for registering your licenses. After successful installation and
registration, machines will appear in Devices > All devices tab.

125
Registering machines

i Automatic and manual registration

• On-premises deployment: Register the machine by specifying the management server to register to during
software installation
• Cloud deployment: Register the machine in Devices > All devices > +Add button after logging in to cloud
console through Acronis account (https://account.acronis.com) or directly (https://cloud.acronis.com)
using Acronis account credentials
• In cases where registration through cloud console fails or to register a workload to a new management
server/Acronis account, use the registration tool to register a machine manually:
• In Windows: "%ProgramFiles%\BackupClient\RegisterAgentTool\register_agent.exe"
• In Linux: sudo "/usr/lib/Acronis/RegisterAgentTool/RegisterAgent"
• In macOS: sudo "/Library/Application Support/BackupClient/Acronis/RegisterAgentTool/RegisterAgent“

Acronis Academy

Machines must be registered before they can be managed. For on-premises


deployment, machines can be registered as part of the agent installation process. For
cloud deployment, machines are registered after successful agent installation. In
cases where registration fails, or the machine needs to be re-registered to a new
management server or Acronis account, the registration tool can be used to perform
manual registration. It is a command-line tool and can be found in the locations listed
on this slide. Check the user guide for the syntax.

126
Dynamic installation/uninstallation of components

i For Windows workloads protected by Agent version 15.

• The following components are installed dynamically when required by a protection plan:
• Agent for Antimalware protection and URL filtering
• if a workload become protected by a plan using any of the following modules:
• Antivirus & Antimalware protection | URL filtering
• If a workload is no longer protected by a plan with any of the above modules, the component
is automatically uninstalled
• Dynamic installation/uninstallation of components can take up to 10 minutes after protection
plan changes and will only start if no other operation is running

Acronis Academy

Acronis Cyber Protect supports dynamic installation and uninstallation of Cyber


Protect components. The Agent for Antimalware protection and URL filtering will be
automatically installed if not present when a protection plan with the antivirus &
antimalware protection or URL filtering module is applied. Conversely, if a workload is
no longer protected by a protection plan with those modules, the Agent for
Antimalware protection and URL filtering will be uninstalled. Dynamic installation and
uninstallation will only start if no other operation, such as backup, is running.

127
On-premises remote installation for Windows

i Pre-requisites to install Windows-based Agent, e.g., Workstation, Server or Virtualization host

• Requires on-premises deployment Windows-based management server


• For Windows 7 and above, Control panel > Folder options > View > Use Sharing Wizard must
be disabled on the remote machine
• UAC must be disabled on the remote machine if it is not a member of an Active Directory
domain
• By default, credentials of the built-in Administrator account are required, to use credentials of
another Administrator account, UAC remote restrictions must be disabled
• File and Printer Sharing must be enabled
• If using a firewall other than Windows Firewall, TCP ports 445, 25001 and 43234 must be
allowed for inbound and outbound connections

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For on-premises deployment, remote installation for Windows is available when


working with a Windows-based management server. For remote installation to be
successful, the pre-requisites listed on this slide must be met.

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On-premises remote installation for Windows

1. Log in to the management server


2. Go to Devices > All devices and click on +Add button
on the upper right of the webpage
3. Select to desired Windows-based agent to install
4. Select the deployment agent, by default, the agent
installed along with the management server will be
selected
5. Specify the remote machine to install on
6. Specify the management server for registering the
remote machine after successful installation
7. Click Install to start remote installation
8. Alternatively, click Download to download the installer
to perform local installation

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To perform remote installation, log in to the management server and go to Devices >
All devices. Click on the Add button and select the desired Windows-based agent to
install. The Add Windows machine pane will be shown where you can configure
remote installation settings such as deployment agent, remote machine credentials,
and management server to register to. Alternatively, click on download to download
the installer to perform local installation.

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Mass deployment

i Installing Agents on large numbers of machines

• In Windows:
• Unattended installation | Deploy agents through Group Policy (AD domain) |
Autodiscovery
• In Linux:
• Unattended installation
• In macOS:
• Unattended installation
• To register agents, a registration token generated from Devices > All devices > Add devices
panel can be used

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You can perform mass deployment to install agents on large numbers of machines for
Acronis Cyber Protect. Mass deployment is supported for Windows, Linux, and Macs.
To simplify installation, a registration token can be used in place of administrator
credentials for registering machines after successful installation. Refer to the user
guide for more details on performing the different types of mass deployment.

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Autodiscovery of machines

i Discover, automate installation, registration of agents and protection plans

• Enables discovery of Windows machines via:


• Active Directory – discovery agent machine must be domain member
• Local network – uses NETBIOS, Web Service Discovery (WSD) and Address Resolution
Protocol (ARP)
• Manual - machine IP address or host name or import list of machine from a file
• Pre-requisite:
• At least 1 Windows machine with Agent for Windows to act as the Discovery agent
• Remote installation is supported only for machines running Windows (Win XP is not
supported)

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Autodiscovery of Windows machines can be used to discover and automate remote


installation and registration of Windows agents and protection plans. It is available
from the Add devices pane. Discovery of Windows machines can be via scanning
Active Directory, local network, or manually by specifying an IP address or hostname
or importing a list of machines from a text file. At least one Windows machine with
an agent installed is needed to act as the Discovery agent for Autodiscovery. Remote
installation is supported for machines running Windows, except for Windows XP.

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Autodiscovery of machines

i Discover, automate installation, registration of agents and protection plans

• After discovery, choose to:


• Install and register machines | Register machines with installed agents | Add as
unmanaged machines
• To perform remote installation of agents:
• Remote installation of agents works without any preparation only if built-in administrator
credentials is used
• UAC and UAC remote restrictions must be disabled if another administrator credential is
used or when installing on machines that are not AD domain members

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After discovering available Windows machines, you can choose to install agents and
register the machines. If the machines have an existing agent installed, you can
register them to your Acronis account or management server, depending on the type
of deployment. Lastly, discovered machines can be added as unmanaged machines
for installing agents at a later date. Since Autodiscovery uses remote installation, the
same prerequisites apply.

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Updating Agents

i Things to know

• Agents can be updated from Settings > Agent tab or by performing local installation with an
installer with a newer build
• Select the machines to update, outdated machines will have an orange exclamation mark
• For on-premises deployment, first update the management server before updating agents

Acronis Academy

Agents can be updated from Settings > Agent tab or by performing local installation
with an installer with a newer build. In the Settings > Agent tab, outdated machines
will have an orange exclamation mark. For on-premises deployment, the
management server has to be updated first before agents can be updated. For cloud
deployment, agent update requires the target machines to be online.

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Uninstalling Agents

i Agents must be manually uninstalled

• In Windows:
• Run the installer and select modify to remove individual components
• Go to Control Panel > Programs and Features to uninstall all components
• In Linux:
• Run /usr/lib/Acronis/BackupAndRecovery/uninstall/uninstall
• In macOS
• Select Uninstall after mounting the .dmg file
• After agent uninstallation, you may have to manually remove a machine from the management
server or cloud console if it was not automatically removed (due to network problems)

Acronis Academy

Agents have to be manually uninstalled to remove them from a machine. On this


slide, you can see how to perform uninstallation for agents on different operating
systems. After agent uninstallation, you may have to manually remove the machine
from the management server or cloud console if it was not automatically removed.
This can happen if there are network connectivity issues.

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Section Summary
Agent Installation: Download agents for on-premises or
1 cloud deployment from the web console, with options for
local or remote installation.

Registration and Management: Register machines to the


2 management server or cloud console for management,
using manual registration if needed.

3 Efficient Deployment: Utilize mass deployment,


autodiscovery for Windows, and dynamic component
management for streamlined setup and optimization.

Acronis Academy

In this module on installing the management server and storage node for Acronis
Cyber Protect, we've outlined the streamlined process for integrating Acronis agents
into your IT environment.

Begin by downloading the necessary agent installers directly from the web console,
tailored for your specific deployment type. The installation process supports both
local and remote methods, ensuring flexibility across various setups.

Once installed, machines must be registered to your chosen management platform.


This is crucial for enabling comprehensive management and protection capabilities
within Acronis Cyber Protect. For larger deployments, take advantage of mass
deployment and autodiscovery features to efficiently scale your cybersecurity
infrastructure.

Acronis simplifies ongoing management by dynamically adjusting component


installations based on your protection plans, ensuring your systems are always
optimized without manual intervention.

By following these steps, you can seamlessly integrate and manage Acronis Cyber

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Protect within your organization, ensuring robust protection and efficient operation
of your digital assets.

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Academy
Acronis Cyber Protect
What`s Next

Acronis Academy

So we are at the end of our course. What comes next?

137
Review the Materials

Download and
review the course
materials
Re-watch the videos
as many times as
you’d like

Acronis Academy

Feel free to come back to watch sections of this video as often as needed. Please be
sure to download any PDF’s attached to this course for reference material and to
assist with the exam.

138
Take your test

Assessment:

20 MCQ Quiz

60 Min Working
Time

70% Passing
Grade
2 Attempts,
Open Book

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There will be 20 questions for the exam and all the answers are within any PDF's
attached in the course.
You will have one hour, need a 70% passing grade and remember two attempts and
open book (the PDF’s are searchable so Control “F” is your best friend).

139
Thank you for watching

Acronis Academy

We have come to the end of this course, thank you for watching.

140
Acronis Academy

141
Cyber Foundation
Building a More Knowledgeable Future

Create, Spread and Protect


Knowledge with Us!
www.acronis.org
#CyberFit
Building New Schools
Publishing Education Programs
Publishing Books

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