ACE Troubleshooting, Performance Optimization & Support 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: An Acronis backup plan with the 'always incremental (single-file)' scheme is growing unexpectedly large. Which operation in Acronis should be reviewed to ensure old data is being purged?
- Archive validation rules
- Retention rules configured in the backup plan (Correct answer)
- Deduplication ratio settings on the storage node
- Compression level settings in the backup options
Correct answer: Retention rules configured in the backup plan
Retention rules define when old backup versions are deleted or consolidated; misconfigured or absent retention rules allow the archive to grow indefinitely.
Question 2: After a storage node crashes and is rebuilt, technicians find that archived backups are listed but cannot be opened. What is the correct remediation?
- Delete and re-run all backup plans to create fresh archives
- Re-synchronize the storage node with the management server to rebuild catalog metadata (Correct answer)
- Reinstall the Acronis Management Server and import backup plans
- Run 'Export archive' to move backups to a new location before accessing them
Correct answer: Re-synchronize the storage node with the management server to rebuild catalog metadata
After a storage node rebuild, the catalog metadata must be re-synchronized so the management server can correctly index and access the existing backup archives.
Question 3: A customer reports that Acronis Active Protection is generating too many false positives on a database server, flagging legitimate SQL writes as ransomware activity. What is the recommended configuration change?
- Disable Active Protection entirely on database servers
- Add the SQL Server process to the Active Protection trusted processes list (Correct answer)
- Switch Active Protection from 'block and roll back' to 'notify only' mode
- Increase the sensitivity threshold for heuristic detection in Active Protection settings
Correct answer: Add the SQL Server process to the Active Protection trusted processes list
Adding SQL Server (and other trusted database processes) to the Active Protection trusted processes list prevents legitimate high-volume write operations from triggering ransomware detection.
Question 4: An Acronis backup of a Hyper-V virtual machine fails with 'virtual machine is in a saved state.' What must be done before the backup can proceed?
- Migrate the VM to another Hyper-V host before running backup
- Resume the VM to a running or powered-off state, as saved state prevents VSS snapshots (Correct answer)
- Enable application-aware processing in the backup plan options
- Install the Acronis Agent for Hyper-V on the guest OS
Correct answer: Resume the VM to a running or powered-off state, as saved state prevents VSS snapshots
Hyper-V VMs in a saved state cannot have VSS snapshots taken; the VM must be running or powered off for Acronis to complete the backup successfully.
Question 5: During performance tuning, a technician wants to limit how much network bandwidth Acronis backup jobs consume during business hours. Where is this setting configured?
- In the backup plan's 'Conditions' tab under network availability
- In the machine's backup options under 'Network connection speed' (Correct answer)
- In the Acronis Management Server's global policies for bandwidth throttling
- In the Windows Quality of Service (QoS) packet scheduler, not in Acronis
Correct answer: In the machine's backup options under 'Network connection speed'
Acronis backup options include a 'Network connection speed' setting that lets you throttle the maximum bandwidth used per backup job during specified time windows.
Question 6: A technician must recover a single file from an Acronis backup archive stored on a remote location without the management server being available. Which standalone tool allows direct archive browsing?
- Acronis Bootable Media Builder
- Acronis Universal Restore tool
- Acronis Backup Reader (standalone explorer) (Correct answer)
- Acronis True Image for Home
Correct answer: Acronis Backup Reader (standalone explorer)
The Acronis Backup Reader (or Archive Explorer) is a standalone utility that can mount and browse .tibx/.tib archives directly without requiring a management server connection.
Question 7: An administrator observes that backup CPU usage spikes to 100% on production servers during backup windows. Which two Acronis settings should be adjusted to reduce CPU impact? (Choose the primary single setting)
- Increase the number of concurrent backup streams
- Lower the compression level from 'Maximum' to 'Normal' or 'None' (Correct answer)
- Switch from incremental to differential backup scheme
- Enable application-aware processing for all backup plans
Correct answer: Lower the compression level from 'Maximum' to 'Normal' or 'None'
Maximum compression is CPU-intensive; reducing compression to Normal or None significantly lowers CPU consumption during backup at the cost of slightly larger archive sizes.
ACE Troubleshooting, Performance Optimization & Support 3
An Acronis backup plan with the 'always incremental (single-file)' scheme is growing unexpectedly large.
Which operation in Acronis should be reviewed to ensure old data is being purged?