--- title: "Disk backup - how to back up a disk — ZEBR.ai" description: "Disk backup Also known as a disk image, it is a file or several files containing an exact copy of the hard drive from which this backup was created, including…" url: "https://zebr.ai/en/knowledge-base/disk-backup" markdown_url: "https://zebr.ai/en/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" language: "en" alternates: cs: "https://zebr.ai/cs/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" sl: "https://zebr.ai/sl/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" sk: "https://zebr.ai/sk/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" hr: "https://zebr.ai/hr/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" sr-Latn: "https://zebr.ai/sr-latn/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" bs: "https://zebr.ai/bs/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" sq: "https://zebr.ai/sq/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" fr: "https://zebr.ai/fr/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" es: "https://zebr.ai/es/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" de: "https://zebr.ai/de/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" pt-BR: "https://zebr.ai/pt-br/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" pl: "https://zebr.ai/pl/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" it: "https://zebr.ai/it/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" nl: "https://zebr.ai/nl/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" hu: "https://zebr.ai/hu/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" ro: "https://zebr.ai/ro/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" tr: "https://zebr.ai/tr/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" id: "https://zebr.ai/id/knowledge-base/disk-backup.md" --- [Home](https://zebr.ai/en/) [Knowledge base](https://zebr.ai/en/knowledge-base) Disk backup - how to back up a disk # Disk backup - how to back up a disk **Disk backup**\ Also known as a disk image, it is a file or several files containing an exact copy of the hard drive from which this backup was created, including a working operating system (if one was present on the disk from which the backup originated), installed programs, user settings and data. Other commonly used terms for a disk backup are: disk image, disk image file, disk image. **Disk partition backup**\ Also known as a disk partition image, it is a file or several files containing an exact copy of the disk partition from which this backup was created, including a working operating system (if one was present on the disk partition from which the image originated), installed programs, user settings and data. **Which software should I use?** To create a disk backup, it is best to use software designed for this purpose. A disk backup is usually stored as a file or several files. Different disk backup software uses different disk backup formats. A disk backup created by Acronis True Image has the extension \*.tib or \*.tibx. A disk backup is not created by storing individual files in the backup file; instead, occupied blocks on the disk are stored. **Why do I need a disk backup?**\ A disk backup allows you to return the contents of a disk to its original state (the state it was in when this backup was created). If you have a working backup of the system disk, you can restore it to the original disk when needed and get, for example, a crashed system running again. For creating disk backups, we recommend using software that supports bare metal restore, such as Acronis True Image. Some disk backup creation and recovery tools allow you to restore a backup only if you have working Windows with the relevant disk backup creation and recovery software installed. This is very unfortunate when the system crashes and you need to get it up and running as quickly as possible. You would first have to install Windows, then the recovery software, and then perform the restore. Acronis True Image allows you to restore a disk backup using Acronis bootable media even when the operating system has crashed, there is no system on the disk, or the disk is completely empty (without data). The disk may even be formatted; nevertheless, you can restore the system within minutes using Acronis bootable media. - Features · Software - [Acronis True Image](https://www.acronis.cz/produkt/true-image/) · [Acronis Backup](https://www.acronis.cz/produkt/acronis-backup/) · [Acronis Disk Director](https://www.acronis.cz/produkt/acronis-disk-director/) · [Acronis Disk Director (Workstation, Server, Technician licence)](https://www.acronis.cz/produkt/acronis-disk-director-advanced/) - Which environments is the product suitable for - For households · Yes · Yes - For organizations of all sizes · Yes · Yes - Which machine types are supported - Computers with Windows OS (Windows 7, 8, 10) · Yes · Yes · Yes · Yes - Computers with Mac OS (Apple computers) · Yes · Yes - Physical Windows and Linux servers · Yes · Yes - Virtual machines (VMware, Hyper-V, RHEV, Citrix, KVM) · Yes · Yes - Cloud machines (Azure, Amazon EC2) · Yes · Yes - Mobile devices based on iOS and Android · Yes · Yes - What can be backed up - Backups of entire machines (disk, volume and partition images) · Yes · Yes - Data backups (files and directories) · Yes · Yes - Database backups (Exchange, SQL, SharePoint, AD, Oracle) · Yes - How backups are managed - Backups are managed directly from the backed-up machine · Yes - Backup and recovery are managed centrally, from one location · Yes - Remote installation of agents on backed-up machines · Yes - Backup can be started manually at any time · Yes · Yes - Backup can be scheduled to run automatically · Yes · Yes - Backed-up machines can be divided into groups · Yes - Backup can be managed by subordinate administrators · Yes - Option to set up backup email notifications · Yes - Backup options - Full, incremental and differential backups · Yes · Yes - Always incremental scheme, GFS scheme, custom scheme · Yes · Yes - Backups can be encrypted with a custom password (AES 256 standard) · Yes · Yes - Backups are compressed automatically · Yes · Yes - Backups can be deduplicated · Yes - Backups can be stored in multiple repositories at once · Yes - Where backups can be stored - Local disks, external disks, USB drives · Yes · Yes - Network storage including NAS · Yes · Yes - Tape drives and tape libraries · Yes - FTP servers · Yes - SFTP servers · Yes - Acronis cloud storage (for an additional fee) · Yes · Yes - How backup recovery can be performed - From the operating system – if the machine is working · Yes · Yes - From bootable media that can be created (CD/DVD, USB) · Yes · Yes - A machine without a working OS can also be restored · Yes · Yes - Recovery can be performed to hardware-dissimilar machine · Yes · Yes - Recovery can be started remotely from central management · Yes - Recovery can also be performed to a larger or smaller disk · Yes · Yes - Partition sizes can be changed during recovery · Yes · Yes - Recovery can be performed from HDD to SSD and vice versa · Yes · Yes - What can be recovered from a backup - Entire disk, volume, partition · Yes · Yes - Required data (files and directories) from both data and image backups · Yes · Yes - Entire databases or individual database parts · Yes - Virtual environment backup - Machines can be replicated to a standby ESXi host · Yes - Backups can be automatically converted into ready-to-use virtual machines · Yes - Backups can be started as virtual machines · Yes - Backups can be restored as ready-to-use virtual machines · Yes - Backups can be restored into virtual machines · Yes - Virtual machines can be backed up without an agent inside (Hyper-V and VMware) · Yes - Virtual machines can be backed up with agents inside virtual machines · Yes - Support for granular recovery of virtual machines · Yes - Hard disk operations - Support for both HDD and SSD drives · Yes · Yes · Yes · Yes - MBR disks can be cloned using the Disk to Disk method · Yes · Yes - MBR and GPT disks can be cloned using the Disk to Backup to Disk method · Yes · Yes - Option to create new disk partitions · Yes · Yes - Option to delete a disk partition · Yes · Yes - Option to enlarge or reduce a disk partition without data loss · Yes · Yes - Option to format disk partitions · Yes · Yes - Option to merge disk partitions without data loss · Yes · Yes --- - Source: - Site overview for AI agents: