Acronis True Image backups to Synology DSM 3.2 fail

[Darek100]

I have bought a DiskStation to have large network storage, and to securely backup my data there. After setting up my NAS, DiskStation DS-411+II, I was considering backup software. I was thinking of the well-known backup program Acronis True Image, because it creates images of whole partitions as backups, as well as synchronizes files and folders to the NAS. Furthermore, the Synology website lists Acronis True Image as compatible backup software by verifying its older version.

However, the combination of Synology DSM 3.2 and Acronis True Image Home 2012 seems to not work seamlessly:
1. In True Image, the DiskStation doesn’t appear under ‘NAS connections’ when browsing the destination for backups;
2. I used to think, no big deal, because I have mapped Network Drives to various folders of the DiskStation, and can choose them as the destination for my backups. I was wrong! True Image asked for a password, and despite entering the correct credentials, still refused to connect to the DiskStation.

At first, I looked into the Acronis Knowledge Base. There I found article 15080 applying to ‘All Acronis Backup software’ claiming succinctly that ‘This is a Synology DSM 3.0 issue’. A solution would be ‘Please contact Synology support’. In other words, Acronis claims it’s a pure Synology issue, and sends users to Synology. You can find the skimpy article here:
15080: Backups to Synology DSM 3.0 NAS Fail
http://kb.acronis.com/content/15080

Then I checked Synology Forum. The Acronis Backup software is very common, and the issue seems to be well-known. I found several posts describing the aforementioned issue, e.g. the recent post ‘DS211j not visible to Acronis TI 2012’:
http://forum.synology.com/enu/viewtopic.php?f=159&t=40627&p=160191

Unfortunately, all posts I found describe the issue, but no one provides a real solution for DSM 3.x and Acronis backup software.

What’s interesting: I tried Microsoft SyncToy 2.1 and it’s able to mirror my folders to destinations on the same mapped Network Drives. SyncToy 2.1 seems to work with my DiskStation as expected, but of course it doesn’t create hard drive partition images.

Has anyone found a solution for Synology DSM 3.2 and Acronis True Image Home 2012?

What backup software do you use, and could confidently recommend to me?

I wonder if Synology has issued an official statement, especially when Acronis claims that this is a Synology DMS 3.0 specific issue. If the companies cannot resolve it, I would expect Synology to remove the statement regarding the compatibility of DiskStation with Acronis True Image software. This would save hours of installing, configuring and troubleshooting, not to mention the financial costs of buying these products.

Thank you in advance for your advice and sharing your own experiences.

Darek

P.S.: My setup:
- Synology DiskStation DS-411+II (a 4 bays NAS);
- DMS 3.2 (currently the most recent version);
- Typical standalone PC with MS Windows 7 64-bit SP1;
- Trial version of Acronis True Image Home 2012.

[sjeph8je]

Hi,

Im using DSM 3.2 and True Image home 2011. I have no problems backing up to the diskstation using this version.

[maxmillian]

I installed Acronis True Image Home 2012 recently and it does indeed behave "funny".

I got DS1511+ with 3.2 DSM and when I browse for the backup destination, then only way was to go through Network locations and even that did not find the Synology sometimes.

What I did is I simply put the \\<networkname>\<shared folder>\<directory> there manually and it eventually found the path and is currently able to backup there for last couple days. I had to enter username/password there as well, but that worked ok.

But what surprised me was that I couldn't use IP address, but I just had to use the name I gave the Synology box, you also need to make sure it responds when you try "ping <synology-box-name>".

[Alphaville]

I'm also experiencing problems backing up using Acronis True Image Home (12) to a shared folder I've created on a DS211j. Whenever I try to run the backup I receive a message saying that "Access to the file is denied". I am then directed by to contact Synology support.

This "access to the file is denied" issue would appear to be specific to the Acronis backup product. I have installed a trial of Genie Backup Manager Pro. This programme is currently backing up to Drive S without problems.

I would very much like to be able to use (the popular) Acronis backup products to backup to the DS211j. Could someone point me in the direction of a solution to this problem.

Many thanks.

Alphaville

[maxmillian]

Read more about that here:

Code: Select all

http://forum.acronis.com/forum/24769


Quoting (post from Wed, 2011-09-14 11:30):
From a private message conversation with Acronis support: "You are right, there are some issues with NAS devices in ATIH2012 however our Testing team is closely monitoring those NAS issues threads and we are planning to release an update very soon."

---

Just btw, since it works for me, I dont really want to play with the settings now, but what if you connect the shared folder as a drive and try to backup to that drive?

Like below ... and just try to backup to X: drive. If this would work, then you can simply create a PRE backup script with the following and you're all set.

Code: Select all

net use x: \\<synology>\<shared-folder>


[Claude]

I used to be an Acronis user but became dissatisfied with the product's recent releases. Currently I'm using ShadowProtect 4 and I like it a lot. (They have 30 day trial periods). At work we have ShadowProtect SBS Edition backing up SBS2003 to a DS1010+ (DSM 3.2). It's fast and very light on system resources.

[peter_k]

I bought a copy of Acronis 2012 without any search for Acronis/Synology problems and then spent 2 hours getting it to work. The only way I got it to work was to map to the destination directory using Synology Assistant this generated a mapped drive using the format \\<IP>\..... as opposed to W7's \\<diskstation>\..
I had no joy attempting to key the drive mapping directly into Acronis. It would happily make a test connection but then fail when the backup started. Is the issue that Acronis doesn't retain user/password data?

[peter_k]

Acronis have issued an update to True Image Home 2012. The release notes say "Backup to a Synology NAS fails with the error "Access is denied" " has been fixed.

[marc h]

Acronis True Image Home 2012 (build 6154) works without problems with my DS411+II Synology having DSM 3.2 - 1955 installed.

I can perform "Disk and partition backup" as well as " File Backup", "E-mail" and "non-stop backup".

On my PC I am running the Windows 7 - 64 bit Ultimate edition with different users (full authorisation as admin, resticted authorisations for regular users).

The tricky thing is to establish the connection with the NAS. Make sure you are able to map a drive under windows to proof the connection with your NAS works.

Once you initiate the creation of a backup at the Acronis True Image menu, you have to select a "destination". Here you must select the down arrow on the right and then "browse". At the next screen click on "NAS-connections" however this does not result in popping-up any familiar text regarding your Synology NAS. At "file name" you should supply the IP address of your NAS at your internal network like "\\192.168.1.100\" and press <Enter>. Do not forget to enter the appropriate credentials by "edit credentials" in the middle. Next the index of your NAS will show up and you can select the location for your backup.

This is how it works at my location!

[Kzoom]

1) Using Acronis 8, DS212 on DSM 3.2...problem, what problem? Scheduled incremental runs each night on two XPs and a Win7, and weekly it does full images.
2) Already own Acronis 11, had a network problem on one PC with that upgrade, so backed off, but am retiring that box soon.
3) Glad to see the posting (above) that the Acronis 12 bug versus DSM 3.2 has been fixed. How about against DSM 4.0?

[xed]

DSM 3.2 works fine with Acronis True Image Home 2012.

When you are setting up the Backup process, and you have the file browser window opened to specify the destination location for your backup files, there is a less than obvious hotlink at the top of this window when you browse down to the DiskStation share. In here, you must specify the login credentials to connect to your NAS volume.

I am not using any fancy workarounds such as mapping drives.

[stevech]

and now it's 1 June 2012.
I finally got TruImage 2012 to work with DSM4 on my Synology DS212.

I downloaded the May update to True Image. Installed in my Win 7 PC.

I tried to run my normal/usual partition backup to the NAS, as I had done with True Image versions prior to 2012. No go.
Firstly, I was entering the wrong username/password to True Image trying to authenticate to a user account on the NAS. I fixed that. That user has R/W access to the share I'm trying to write to.
I tried using a mapped driver letter. No go... after entering password, there's a 2 minute delay then True Image says "cannot create file".
I tried using a UNC path. No go, same error as above.

One thing I did which may be irrelevant: I entered the NAS user login credentials into True Image for the specific backup task.

I tried this and that, and finally, the UNC path method started working. 34MB/s without requesting an encrypted backup. Then I ran a "verify".. 43MB/sec. However, there were NAS-internal backups running concurrently, drive-to-drive.



I dunno.

[Fridorick]

I confirm the solution of "marc h" with the same configuration.
Thank you to him.