Overall Satisfaction with Acronis True Image
Acronis True Image (ATI) provides locally-stored daily backups of client projects, drafts and assets. Since our files are fairly large, its delta backup feature saves a lot of time by backing up only parts that have changed. These backups also make it possible to test certain configurations and then revert them afterwards. ATI is also used to store clean ready-to-go images of common applications and software configurations which can be easily restored if a system becomes corrupted or degrades significantly in performance.
- Delta backup makes backups super fast of larger files that do not change in its entirety (e.g. VM images, large PSD files)
- Easy to use (set it and forget it)
- Rescue media makes it easy to restore backups to different hardware and migrate to other work stations
- Lots of backup options on the Windows version of ATI
- Like many other backup software, its reliance on volume shadow service (VSS) can be troublesome to troubleshoot. Errors around VSS tend to be cryptic and could be caused by completely unrelated issues (Acronis VSS doctor can only help so much)
- Mac version of ATI has many issues and occasionally fails to restore an image because of the split system and data volumes in macOS Catalina and later
- Updater in Mac version of ATI causes constant kernel_task activity (20%+) randomly until internet connection is cut off or the updater file is made non executable
- Error messages in ATI are often too generic and not helpful
- ATI will also randomly delete all the previous backups except the recent one even though ample disk space is available on the destination disk. As mentioned previously, the mac version will sometimes fail to restore on Catalina (10.15) and later.
- Fast scheduled backups
- Easy to use, (usually) easy to restore
- Delta backup (backing up only the parts of a large file that has been changed)
- Able to quickly deploy and test new configurations since restores are generally fast with ATI
- Saves lots of time by not having to re-configure the basic set of apps when restoring a clean image to a system
- Code42 (formerly CrashPlan) and Macrium Reflect
CrashPlan no longer provides software for local backups so I have migrated away from them. They still remain a viable alternative if cloud backups are important. Unfortunately, cloud solutions in ATI are fairly limited in offerings. ATI also has a slightly easier learning curve than some of the other alternatives. For backing up Macs, I highly recommend considering other solutions due to the high number of issues in the software. Forum support is almost non existent and dedicated support lines were unable to fix the underlying issues and has archived my case.
Do you think Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office's feature set?
Yes
Did Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office live up to sales and marketing promises?
No
Did implementation of Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy Acronis Cyber Protect Home Office again?
No
Acronis True Image Support
Pros | Cons |
---|---|
Support cares about my success | Slow Resolution Poor followup Not kept informed Escalation required Difficult to get immediate help Need to explain problems multiple times Slow Initial Response |
Premium support is not offered.
Yes - The case was archived due to their team being unable to solve it. They did offer an alternate solution however (but still doesn't solve the primary issue and requires a undocumented/unsupported workaround).
After nearly two months of going back and forth, they did come up with an alternate solution and while not perfect/seamless and "hack-ish" that could potentially stop working, it does get the job done for the time being.