How to Backup Physical Machines with AOMEI Cyber Backup
The backup of physical machines is equally important, and setting a scheduled backup of disks is an effective method to ensure data security. Because when a disaster occurs, you can quickly recover data by restoring these backups, which is very time-saving and worry-free.
In this article, we will introduce how to create backups of physical machines with AOMEI Cyber Backup. AOMEI Cyber Backup provides a convenient and reliable solution for centralized backup management of all Windows operating systems. With the program, you can backup all devices to a local or network location and easily restore them to the original state when necessary.
How to Create Backups of Physical Machines
Prerequisites for Windows Backup:
- Computer with AOMEI Cyber Backup installed
- Computer with AOMEI Cyber Backup Agent installed
- Local disk or network share to store backup files
Windows Backup provides System Backup, Disk Backup and Partition Backup. System Backup is mainly used for OS backup, while Disk Backup is used to backup the entire disk data, which can include both the operating system and regular data disk. Partition Backup is for backing up a certain data partition. Here we take Disk Backup as an example. For the usage environment supported by AOMEI Cyber Backup, please refer to here.
Step 1: Initiate Backup
Click "Backup Task" on the left menu bar, select "Backup Task". Click "Create New Task" to open the task creation page.
Step 2: Select Backup Type
Select "Backup Type": Disk Backup, Partition Backup, System Backup or File Backup. This article takes disk backup as an example.
- Disk Backup: Back up the whole disk, including all partitions of the selected disk.
- Partition Backup: Back up single data partition.
- System Backup: Back up system partitions only.
- File Backup: Back up files/folders, please refer to here.
Step 3: Select Windows Device
1. Select "Device Name". All Windows devices with AOMEI Cyber Backup Agent installed will be listed here.
2. Then you can select one Windows device for backup.
Step 4: Select Backup Content
1. Select "Backup content". All disks on this selected Windows device will be listed.
2. Then, you can select one or multiple disks for backup.
Tips: If you select the System Backup in Step 2, then this step 5 is not necessary, the program will automatically choose the system partitions to be backed up.
Step 5: Select Destination
1. Select "Target" to save backups.
2. You can select a local or network path:
Added storage: It will list all added backup targets. You can select the backup target without adding it again.
Add a new local storage: It will list the local directory of this computer with AOMEI Cyber Backup installed, then you can select a location as backup target.
Add a new network storage: You can type into a network path (such as: 192.168.1.1\data), then fill in the username and password of the network path to add. After that, you can continue to select a folder on the network path as the backup target.
Archiving backup versions to Amazon S3: You can add an Amazon S3 to save a copy of backups.
Tips: You can also add and manage target locations in Target Storage.
Step 6: Set Schedule Backup
Schedule Backup helps you backup your virtual machines automatically and regularly. After activating this option, you can let AOMEI Cyber Backup automatically run backups without worrying about a certain day's backup not being performed.
Generally, the schedule setting is enabled by default. You can change the schedule on your needs, or disable it. For more details about this function, please check Schedule Backup.
Step 7: Set Backup Cleanup
Backup Cleanup helps you automatically remove history backup versions based on a rule to save storage space. After activating this option, you can let AOMEI Cyber Backup clean up automatically without worrying about backup failure due to disk space being full.
Generally, the backup cleanup is enabled by default. You can change the backup cleanup based on your needs or disable it. For more details about this function, please check Backup Cleanup.
Step 8: Email Notification
You can enable "Email Notification" to receive email notifications when the task is abnormal or successful. Click "Go Now" to set or modify the notification settings. Currently, Gmail Server, Hotmail Server and Custom SMTP Server are supported. Please note SMTP server authentication is required and cannot be empty. For more details about this function, please check Email Notification.
Step 9: Advanced Settings
You can also choose compression level (None, Normal, High) and backup mode (Backup Used Sectors, Sector-by-sector backup) in "Advanced Settings".
Step 10: Start Backup
1. Click "Start Backup" to create the backup task and perform backup.
2. Once you enable schedule, you can also select "Add the backup and start backup now" or "Add the schedule only".
- Add the backup and start backup now: the backup will be added, and the backup task will start immediately.
- Add the schedule only: the backup task will be created with a schedule and will wait to start at the scheduled time point.
Step 11: Monitor/Complete Backup
1. The backup is running. You can click on the ellipsis button to see backup details and backup progress. Please wait patiently for the backup to complete.
2. After the backup is completed, a *.adi file will be created in the destination location. The folders are named as follows: \AOMEI Cyber Backup\DiskPart\task name_backup time and type
Summary
Now that we've covered the Windows Disk Backup process, the same goes for System Backup and Partition Backup.
You can see the backup details in Backup Tasks, and you can continue to do full backups, incremental backups or differential backups. You can also manage backup tasks here, like edit or delete the tasks.
If the Windows device is abnormal, you can restore it to the previous state.