# Site Manager Update

With a new release of Site Manager comes a variety of new features. Today we will be discussing some of these in more detail, so that you can get the most out of this new update.

#### Scheduled Activity

The new ‘Scheduled Activity’ tab in Site Manager allows for all activity (backups and remote syncs) to be scheduled in one convenient location, with a new UI that makes it easy to see the information that matters most.

In this tab, you will be able to view all the repositories that you have configured. Below the repository, you will see all backups that are scheduled to use that repository as a destination, these scheduled backups can appear as four colours:

**Green** — This indicates that is are no fails or warnings for this scheduled backup.  
**Yellow** — This indicates that there is at least one warning for the scheduled backup, but no failures.  
**Red** — This indicates that there is at least one failed backup for the scheduled backup.  
**Grey** — This indicates that the scheduled backup has been disabled. This is done with the toggle switch next to ‘Run Now’.



Below the scheduled backups, you have the ‘Schedule Backup’ option. This allows you to schedule a backup for the repository you selected this under. In the wizard that opens, you can select the ‘Definition’ and ‘Schedule’ that you want to use for this backup schedule.

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

For more information on scheduling a backup using Site Manager, please see the following blog post:

[How to schedule a backup using Site Manager](/blog/how-to-schedule-a-backup-using-site-manager-f3148a608bb5)

Under the ‘Schedule Backup’ option, is the remote sync. If you have configured a sync for the repository, then you will see detailed statistics for the sync.

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

If you have not configured a sync, then it will show ‘No Remote Sync’, selecting this will present the ‘Configure Synchronization’ button, selecting this will open the ‘Schedule Activity’ wizard, allowing you to easily configure a sync. Once a remote sync has been configured, it will be displayed as one of three colours:

**Green** — the last performed sync was successful  
**Red** — the last performed sync failed (includes cancelled).  
**Grey** — the sync is not set up.

#### Repository Page

With the scheduling of backups being moved to the ‘Scheduled Activity’ page, the Repository page has been redesigned to focus on repository status and browsing.

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

#### File and Folder Backups

A feature that has often been requested is the ability to perform File and Folder backups from the Site Manager.

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

To schedule a File and Folder backup using Site Manager, navigate to the ‘Definitions’ tab and select ‘New Definition’. Once you have selected ‘Files and Folders’ you can then create a name and description.

On the ‘Computers’ page of the wizard, select the computers that you want to be included in the scheduled backup.

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

On the next page of the wizard, select ‘Add Folder’ and add the UNC path. You then have extra options that allows you to define ‘Files to include’, ‘Files to exclude’ and ‘Folders to exclude’.

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

Once you are finished, the rules that you have defined will be shown in the wizard.

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

On the final page of the wizard, you can select additional options for the backup:

**Compression** — This applies a level of compression to your backup.  
**Encryption** — This allows you to specify which level of AES encryption and password you want to apply to your backup file (if any).  
**Verification** — When verification is enabled the entire backup will be checked to ensure the integrity of the data inside.  
**Comment** — This allows you to add an additional comment to any backup file that is created by this definition.

More information about these options can be found in the knowledgebase article linked below:

[Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/MSM/Setup+-+Backup+Definitions#Setup-BackupDefinitions-Step3-Options)

Once the backup definition has been created, navigate to the ‘Scheduled Activity’ tab, then select ‘Schedule Backup’ under the repository you want to use as a destination. You can then select this definition and a schedule for how often the backup should be performed.

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

You have now scheduled a file and folder backup. Once you have created a file and folder backup it can be opened and verified in the same way as a disk image and will appear in the same interface when browsing a repository.

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

Note: File and Folder backups cannot be restored using Site Manager and can only be restored using the Agent.

#### Multiple File and Folder downloads

When browsing image files, it is now possible to download multiple files and folders as a single ZIP file. This can be done by selecting the ‘Repositories’ page in Site Manager and then selecting the repository that contains the backup you want to browse. Once you have selected the repository, select ‘Browse’ and then select the relevant image file.

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

Once you have selected ‘Open Image’, you will be presented with the ‘Image Browser’. This will allow you to select a partition that is included in the image. You can then select multiple files to download and select ‘Download’.

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

This will download all the select files as a ZIP file.

#### Backups During Remote Synchronisation

When configuring or editing a sync, you now have the option to ‘Allow Backup During Remote Synchronisation’.

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

The process for performing a backup during the remote sync is shown below:

1) The remote sync can only start when no backups are running — this is so that there is a consistent, point in time view of which backups exist.  
2) The sync process will find changes and data to upload and sort them by computer.  
3) Changes are uploaded for the computer with the smallest amount of data to upload.  
4) The computer from step 3 is ‘unlocked’ and backups for this computer may now start, this will only occur once all the data has been transferred for this computer.  
5) Steps 3 and 4 are repeated until all data is uploaded.  
6) The change is committed in the remote location. Before this step, if the sync fails, the changes can be rolled back to the previous repository state.

#### Quiet Install

The ability to perform a ‘Quiet Install’ has now been added when manually installing Macrium Agent. This is useful when you are unable to perform a remote install of Macrium Remote Agent, but still want it installed without the desktop and start menu shortcuts. More information about performing a manual install can be found at the knowledgebase article below:

[https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/MSM/Agent+Manual+Install](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/MSM/Agent+Manual+Install)

![](/no-image-to-display.jpg)

For more detailed information about these changes, and information about fixes and changes to existing features, please view the Macrium Site Manager Knowledgebase shown below:  
[https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/MSM/](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/MSM/)

Contact us [for more information](/contact), for a demonstration,  
or [download a trial of Site Manager.](/site-manager)

20200825-macrium-site-manager-v7-2-5161-whats-new-f2925d09d686.jpeg

With a new release of Site Manager comes a variety of new features. Today we

Site Manager Update

# Revised Backup Trends — August 2019

Macrium looks at the changing trends in the backup market.

#### 1\. “What are the big issues you’re seeing in the data backup world right now?”

The rapid pace of change and the proliferation of solutions is confusing customers.

#### 2\. “Ransomware is still probably the top issue corporate America is facing in terms of security. How do your products help customers combat ransomware?:

We added an extra layer of protection with Macrium Image Guardian ([MIG](/mig)). Backup is part of the whole security picture so Macrium Reflect includes MIG which protects backup files against ransomware attacks. Moreover, it prevents _any_ unauthorised modification of any Macrium image backup files on local and USB volumes. Unlike other antivirus software products, MIG is focused on the single task of protecting Macrium files. The lightweight and robust agent also has a small footprint to ensure that the performance of the protected computers does not suffer. [Read more about MIG](/blog/how-a-backup-strategy-can-protect-your-data-from-a-malware-or-ransomware-attack-44e9d828c360).

#### 3\. “Macrium is in a very competitive space in the realm of backup software. What separates Macrium from the pack?”

Reliability and ease of use. There are many very complex solutions available to customers; we focus on the needs of the people managing backup; IT Administrators.

The questions you need to answer when you are choosing a backup solution are:

*   Is the tool easy to use? The software should be easy and quick.
*   Is the learning curve steep? Is it intuitive?
*   Does the software have a KnowledgeBase or manual?
*   Is there a forum for users?
*   Is technical support included?

One of the things that customers say about Macrium Reflect is that it is very easy to use. In addition to email and/or telephone [support](https://www.macrium.com/support), Macrium has a complete [KnowledgeBase](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/), regular [webinars](/resources/events) and a customer support [forum](https://forum.macrium.com/).

#### 4\. “What are common mistakes you see customers make in regards to setting up a backup strategy?”

The biggest mistake is thinking that backup is too expensive until disaster strikes. Unfortunately, too many people only come to appreciate the value of their data (and their time!) when it is too late. A core concept for your customer to think about is their “Recovery Time Objective”. What is the true value of your data? What is the value of your time? What other issues does data-loss create?

Another mistake is not having multiple copies of your backups for extra security. [How many backups are needed to secure business continuity and data availability?](/blog/how-many-backups-are-needed-to-secure-business-continuity-and-data-availability-268d23ce8bea) Creating multiple copies protects your business from losing any critical data. The 3–2–1 backup rule is an effective strategy that instantly removes any single point of failure.

#### 5\. “One of the most popular aspects of the Macrium product lines in the past year is metered billing for MSPs. What you can say about Macrium’s MSP program.”

With [**Metered Billing for Managed Service Providers**](/msp), you will be able to manage licenses by usage, rather than purchasing a license per PC. Now you be able to create and download Metered License Keys.

A Metered License Key can then be added to Macrium Site Manager 7 — only one Metered Key _per site_ is needed. Once the Metered License key is added, it is then registered with the Macrium Licensing database and you only pay as you use the license. This includes the Deployed Agents Report service provided by our distribution partners.

If you aren’t already a Macrium partner, please contact us to join the Macrium Valued Partner Programme [here](/partners).

techie-tuesday-macrium-image-guardian.jpg

Revised Backup Trends — August 2019Macrium looks at the changing trends in the

Revised Backup Trends — August 2019

<figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><h3>What is Site Manager?</h3><p>Macrium Site Manager is a powerful tool that lets you monitor and schedule backups for computers across your network. Once a computer has been added to Site Manager and the Agent has been installed, you can start creating your backup definitions and schedules.</p><h3>How to schedule a backup?</h3><p>When scheduling a backup using Site Manager there are several steps that you must consider. These steps break down the backup process into several sections:</p><h4>Definitions</h4><p>The backup definition outlines what will be included in the backup. By selecting one of the pre-made rules you can flexibly decide what will be included in the image.</p><p>In the ‘Definitions’ tab of Site Manager, select ‘New Definition’. Here you can select the relevant computers that will be included in this definition. There is no limit to the number of definitions that you can create. This means that you can create backup definitions to include any combination of computers. For example, I can create one backup definition to include all my servers and another backup definition to include my workstations.</p><figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><p>You can then select the rule that dictates what will be included in the backup. These rules cover a wide array of combinations of partitions and disks, from ‘All Disks’ to ‘Partitions with specified drive letters’.</p><figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><p>You can then select additional options that will be applied to this definition.</p><figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><p>Compression — This applies a level of compression to your backups. The higher the compression, the smaller the resultant backup file will be, however, it will also increase the amount of time the backup takes. Medium is recommended, as it strikes a balance between space and speed.</p><p>Encryption — This allows you to specify which level of AES encryption and password you want to apply to your backup file (if any). This will prevent anyone from browsing or restoring the image file until the password is supplied.</p><p>Verification — When verification is enabled the entire backup will be checked to ensure the integrity of the data inside. When the backup is created, an MD5 hash digest is created and stored in the index of the image file. When verification takes place, a new MD5 hash is calculated and then compared to the MD5 hash that is stored in the index. This ensures that the data contained within the image is the same as when it was written. Any differences between these hash values indicates that the image is corrupt, and the verification will fail.</p><p>Comment — This allows you to add an additional comment to any backup file that is created by this definition. This can make identifying your image files easier in the future.</p><figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><p>Your new definition will then be added to the list of available backup definitions.</p><h4>Schedules</h4><p>The schedule is where you decide how often these backups will be performed. You can either select a pre-made schedule or your own, to create a schedule that meets your backup needs.</p><p>In the ‘Schedules’ tab of Site Manager, select ‘New Schedule’. The first page of the wizard allows you to ‘Add Triggers’ for when the schedules will take place. You can specify several options to customize how regularly backups will trigger.</p><p>Each trigger specifies whether it will perform a Full, Differential or Incremental backup when it happens. Different triggers with different levels of backup can be mixed to produce a complex backup schedule. If two triggers occur at the same time, the one with the highest level of backup is performed. For example, if a schedule is configured to perform a full backup every Saturday at 11pm and incremental backups every day at 11pm, the schedule will perform an incremental every night except on Saturday when a full will happen instead.</p><figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><p>The next page of the wizard is where you will define your retention rules. This enforces how many (or how long) backups will be stored in the repository at one time. By configuring these, you can ensure that there is always enough space in the repository for your newest backups.</p><figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><p>Create Synthetic Full Backup if possible — If this option is checked, Instead of deleting Incremental backup files once they have reached the limit of retention, they are merged into the Full backup they are based on, creating a new Full backup containing all the data up to the merge point.</p><p>Run the purge before backup — This option applies retention rules and deletes any files according to retention rules before the backup starts.</p><p>On the next page of the wizard you can then select additional options that will be applied to this backup schedule:</p><figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><p>Defer backups until computer is online — If this option is selected, scheduled backups which cannot be performed because a computer is offline will be performed when the computer comes back online. If the option is unchecked, scheduled backups will fail if the computer is offline.</p><p>Send Wake On LAN message before a backup — If this option is selected, Site Manager will attempt to use Wake On LAN to wake offline computers before starting a backup. If Wake On LAN attempts fail, it will behave as the “Fail backups for offline computers” option.</p><p>Fail backups for offline computers — If this option is selected, backups will be failed if the computer is offline and the computer will not perform a backup until the next trigger time or next retry time as set below.</p><p>Retry backups which fail — If a backup attempt fails, it can be retried up to the number of times specified here.</p><p>Allow X minutes between attempts of failed backups — The time between each attempt which Site Manager will wait. May be set to between 2 and 120 minutes. Backups of other computers may occur between the retries.</p><h4>Repository</h4><p>The repository page of Site Manager is where you define a storage area that will be used for your backups. You can then pair your definition and schedule created previously, to begin taking backups of your agent computers.</p><figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><p>There are several types of repository that you can configure.</p><figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><p>The article linked below contains details on configuring the above repositories:</p><p><a href="https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/MSM/Setup+-+Repositories">https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/MSM/Setup+-+Repositories</a></p><p>Once the repository has been configured select ‘Schedule Backup’.</p><figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><p>You can then select the definition and schedule that you configured earlier. The backups that will then take place to this repository will appear in the ‘Forecast’, from here you can monitor all the scheduled backups that will take place to this repository.</p><p>The forecast will also show scheduled synchronization to remote servers, pending backups, retries due to backup failures and other backup activity.</p><p>Contact us <a href="https://www.macrium.com/contact?x-cb=blog">for more information</a>, for a demonstration, <br>or <a href="https://www.macrium.com/site-manager?x-cb=blog">download a trial of Site Manager.</a></p>

What is Site Manager?Macrium Site Manager is a powerful tool that lets you

How to schedule a backup using Site Manager

# Virtualization with Macrium Reflect — Part 4


In the previous blog post in this series ([Virtualization with Macrium Reflect — Part 3](/blog/virtualization-with-macrium-reflect-part-3-adbc94676361)), we outlined the necessary steps to take when migrating servers into a Citrix Xen environment and how this can be easily achieved with Macrium Reflect. This article will detail the steps to take when migrating a physical server into a Proxmox Virtual Environment.

The steps below will detail how to convert a physical server to a virtual server using Proxmox Virtual Environment 6.0–4 and Macrium Reflect.

Proxmox Hypervisor is an open-source virtualisation environment that allows the creation of virtual machines and containers. Proxmox includes a web interface, making the management and deployment of virtual machines extremely easy from anywhere on your network. Promox uses Kernel-based Virtual Machine (KVM) virtualization, essentially turning the Linux installation into a hypervisor, acting closer to a Type 1 Hypervisor (bare-metal) than a Type 2 Hypervisor. This comes with several advantages:

Security — Type 1 Hypervisors are more secure. The security concerns that are endemic to

Operating systems are missing from Type 1 Hypervisors, reducing the attack vector that can be used to compromise a system and the virtual machines it contains.

Efficiency — Type 1 Hypervisors are also more efficient. When using a machine for strictly virtualization, a host OS becomes unnecessary, consuming system resources that could otherwise be available to the virtual machines. A Type 2 Hypervisor (e.g. Virtual Box) must be installed on top of an operating system, by removing the need for the operating system, you free up more resources for the virtual machines you want to create.

However, at the time of writing Proxmox hypervisor does not fully support UEFI booting. To run ‘Fix Windows Boot Problems’, the Rescue Media must be run in the correct mode for your disk. If the disk is GPT the Rescue Media must be UEFI booted, if the disk is MBR the Rescue Media must be Legacy MBR booted. This means that it is not possible to boot the Rescue Media in the correct mode to run Fix Windows Boot Problems on a GPT disk. Therefore, it is advised that the steps outlined in this article are only used when migrating a server, that has an MBR boot disk, to a virtualised server.

Alternatively, you can restore your UEFI/GPT system image to a legacy MBR disk. This will allow you to legacy boot the restored image. More information on this can be found at the article below, these steps should be followed when restoring the image from inside the Rescue Media ISO:

[https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=7734460](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=7734460)

If you have not already configured Proxmox, a detailed Admin Guide is available on their website that details how to configure Proxmox up to the point where a Virtual Machine can be created for us to restore our image to:

[https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads](https://www.proxmox.com/en/downloads)

To convert our physical servers to virtual servers, you will only need two things. The first thing you need is the Macrium Reflect Rescue Environment ISO (a bootable environment we can use to restore images. The article linked below contains detailed steps on how to create your Rescue Media ISO:

[The Macrium Rescue Environment](/blog/the-macrium-rescue-environment-cca57a4ebc61)

The second thing we need is an image of the physical server we are converting to a virtual server. It is advised that this image is stored in a network share accessible to the Proxmox host, as this will make accessing the image from inside the Rescue Media easier.

The first step to take is adding our Rescue Media ISO to the local storage on the Proxmox host. To do this, select ‘Local (node name)’ under the relevant node you want the ISO to be stored on. In our example the node is called ‘pve’.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-2.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_2_454c7f4795.jpg)

Next, select ‘ISO Image’ next to storage and then ‘Select File…’. You can then navigate to where your Rescue Media is located and select ‘Upload’. This will add your Rescue Media ISO to the local storage of the Proxmox host.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-3.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_3_4f799bd686.jpg)

Once the ISO has been added to the local storage, you are ready to create your virtual machine. To do this, select ‘Create VM’, this will open the ‘Create: Virtual Machine’ wizard, allowing you to configure the settings for your virtualized server.

Below is a brief overview of the different options available in the wizard:

General — This page of the wizard allows you to configure the general settings for your virtual machine. These include the virtual machine’s display name, the ID and the node that which host the virtual machine (in the case of multiple nodes being configured).

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-4.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_4_791aa3007d.jpg)

OS — The next page of the wizard allows you to choose an ISO file that the virtual machine will use to boot initially. Select ‘Local’ from the ‘Storage’ dropdown menu and select your Rescue Media ISO. This will boot the virtual machine into the Rescue Environment when it is turned on, allowing us to restore our image. You can also define the ‘Guest OS’, since our image is of a Windows Server 2016 OS, we will pick these options. Select the options most relevant to the Server that you imaged.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-5.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_5_159db7be2a.jpg)

System — In this page you can select the virtual graphics card and SCSI controller that your virtual machine will use. We will be leaving these as default.

Hard Disk — On the ‘Hard Disk’ page of the wizard, you can select settings for the disk that your virtual machine will be booting from. Select the settings that are most relevant for the server that you imaged. Since our server used SATA drives, we will select SATA as the Bus/Device and a disk size of 50 GiB.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-6.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_6_0d10fa1862.jpg)

CPU — You can now select the settings for your virtual CPU. Your choices here will depend on the hardware that is available to the node you select, and the role your server will be performing.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-7.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_7_7aa74fe01e.jpg)

Memory (MiB) — You can now specify how much virtual memory will available to your server. Your choice here will again depend on the role the server will perform and the memory available to the node. You will not be able to virtualize hardware with more memory than the system has available.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-8.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_8_6a77fffdf2.jpg)

Network — Next, select the network settings for your virtual server, including the virtualised network adapter. Since our image is stored on a network share, we will add a network adapter.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-9.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_9_640bd362f3.jpg)

Confirm — The final page of the wizard will give you a detailed overview of the virtual machine that you are about to create. Once all the settings have been double-checked, select ‘Finish’ to create the virtual machine.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-10.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_10_6bca6ffca8.jpg)

Now that your virtual machine has been created, you can select it from the list of available virtual machines under the node you selected.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-11.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_11_9616375f8a.jpg)

Select ‘Start and the virtual machine will automatically boot into the rescue environment. Select ‘Console’ to open the display and begin interacting with the virtual machine.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-12.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_12_8a0ad38fdb.jpg)

You can now begin the process of restoring the image of your physical server to your virtual server. This can be done by navigating to the ‘Restore’ tab and selecting ‘Browse for an image file…’. You will then be able to ‘Map Network Drive’ of where the image is stored.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-13.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_13_fe310bfd16.jpg)

Once the credentials have been entered, select ‘Ok’, open the drive and select your image. Your image will then be shown in the ‘Restore’ tab, with details about the image and the partitions it includes. You can now restore this image to your virtual hard disk.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-14.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_14_990f240ad5.jpg)

Once you have selected the ‘Restore Image’ option, you are presented with the restore wizard. You can then select ‘Copy selected partitions’ or manually drag the partitions from the source to the destination. Once the partitions are on the destination disk, you can select ‘Restored Partitions Properties’ to change the size and drive letter assignment for the partition.

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-15.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_15_a06cc6baae.jpg)

Once you have finished editing your partitions, select ‘Next’. You will then be presented with a detailed ‘Restore Summary’ which shows the operations that will be undertaken when restoring your image. Once you have reviewed the summary, select ‘Finish’ to start your restore!

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-16.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_16_2a4718c818.jpg)

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-17.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_17_f40cf08f7d.jpg)

Once the restore has completed, you now need to run Macrium ReDeploy. ReDeploy detects changes to critical system features, locates relevant drivers and injects them into your Windows operating system, allowing it to boot. For more information about Macrium ReDeploy, please see the article linked below:

[https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Re-deploying+Windows+to+new+hardware+using+Macrium+ReDeploy](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Re-deploying+Windows+to+new+hardware+using+Macrium+ReDeploy)

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-18.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_18_366049034c.jpg)

Once ReDeploy has been run, you can eject the Rescue Media ISO and boot into your restored Server Operating System.

If you experience any issues booting into your Restored Server Operating System, boot back into the Rescue Media, and run ‘Fix Windows boot problems’, which will fix common issues that can prevent a restored image from booting. For more information about ‘Fix Windows boot problems’ and how to use it, please see the article linked below:

[https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Fixing+Windows+boot+problems](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Fixing+Windows+boot+problems)

![virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4-19.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/virtualization_with_macrium_reflectpart_4_19_161ca0dc47.jpg)

You now have a virtualized server!

You can download a 30-Day Trial of Macrium Reflect [Home](/products/home), [Workstation](/products/business/standalone/workstation), [Server](/products/business/standalone/server), [Server Plus](/products/business/standalone/server-plus), or [Site Manager](/site-manager).


virtualization-with-macrium-reflectpart-4.jpg

Virtualization with Macrium Reflect — Part 4In the previous blog post in this

Virtualization with Macrium Reflect — Part 4

<figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><p>Macrium Reflect offers you flexibility tools to create backups that meet your needs. Today we will be discussing some of the more advanced options available.</p><h4>Incremental Imaging</h4><p>Incremental images work by only backing up the changes that have occurred since the previous backup. This keeps the backup files created small, and the time required to create them low. Together, compared with only creating full images, this enables you to create many more backup points using the same resources.</p><p>The entire incremental backup set must be present for a restore to take place, if the chain is broken you will be unable to restore an incremental backup after this break.</p><p>There are two common misconceptions regarding incremental imaging.</p><ol><li>They will take more time to restore, as the full image is restored, followed by the incremental images.<br>In actuality, the restore is completed in a single pass being no slower than restoring a single full image.</li><li>An incremental backup set is more susceptible to corruption.<br>The image data used for a restore is stored once on the disk (either in one full image file or also dispersed across several incremental image files) so is as equally likely to encounter a non-correctable surface error and therefore equally robust. You could argue that an incremental backup set is more vulnerable to an accidental deletion of a file in the set.</li></ol><h4>Differential Images</h4><p>Differential images are special case incremental images. Instead of referencing the previous incremental, these always reference the full image. As changes accumulate over time since the full image, the size and time required since differential images will consequently increase. The advantage, however, is that the backup chain will only consist of the full and a single differential image. This can make management of off-site or archive storage easier as older differential backup files can be deleted without invalidating the backup chain. For this reason, it is used as the second level of the GFS scheme (<a href="https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW7/Retention+and+consolidation?source=post_page---------------------------">https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW7/Retention+and+consolidation</a>).</p><h3>Advanced Backup Options:</h3><h4>Macrium Change Block Tracker (CBT)</h4><p>Incremental and differential backups are fast because Reflect uses the filesytem index to identify changes since the last backup to be appended to. Though Reflect can rapidly identify which files have changed, the changes within a file can only be located with a bytewise comparison; for large files this can be slow.</p><p>Macrium CBT vastly accelerates the change identification phase of incremental (and differential) backups. It is implemented as a kernel mode driver, logging each block that is modified by the filesystem. This provides huge improvements in backup performance.</p><p>More information about CBT can be found here:</p><p><a href="/blog/techie-tuesday-macrium-changed-block-tracker-1ec3f27e7694">Macrium Reflect Changed Block Tracker</a></p><h4>Delta indexes</h4><p>Each Macrium backup file has two parts; an index and the data. Standard backup files all contain a full index containing the location of any data block independent of the file in which it is located. This improves the performance of mounted backups. However, it makes the backup files larger and somewhat slower to create.</p><p>In the case where backups are frequent, or it is important to minimise the size of incremental / differential backups, you can enable delta indexes. A delta index only references data in the that file. The reduction in size and backup creation time comes at a cost of slightly slower mounted images.</p><p><a href="https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW/Delta+Indexes+for+Incremental+Backups?source=post_page---------------------------">https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW/Delta+Indexes+for+Incremental+Backups</a></p><h4>Retention and Consolidation</h4><p>Once you have decided on the type of backups you want to perform, you can then define your retention rules to further manage your storage space. Retention rules allow you to specify how many or how long backups are retained for. By doing this you can ensure that you’re your destination always has sufficient storage for the most recent backup images. The logic applied for retention depends on the type of backup and how the retention rules are configured. For a detailed breakdown of how retention rules are applied to your backups, please see this KnowledgeBase article:</p><p><a href="https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Retention+and+consolidation?source=post_page---------------------------">https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Retention+and+consolidation</a></p><p>Simple retention involves rules based deletion of backup files. Consolidation enables more sophisticated retention rules.</p><p>In particular consolidation overcomes a significant limitation of incremental backup chains; with a continuous incremental backup chain you cannot retain the latest n backups by deleting the older incremental backups as that would invalidate the chain. Consolidation achieves retention of the latest n backups by copying the data from the older / to be discarded backups into the full or first incremental backup. This scheme is known as ‘Incrementals forever’.</p><p>Note that care has to be taken when maintaining a remote copy of a backup set when using consolidation. Unlike a standard backup set, consolidation will update previously created files in the set.</p><p>Read about ‘Incrementals forever’ and other consolidation modes here.</p><p><a href="https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW/Retention+and+consolidation">Retention and consolidation - KnowledgeBase - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase</a></p><p>You can download a 30-Day Trial of Macrium Reflect <a href="https://www.macrium.com/products/home?x-ca=blog&amp;source=post_page---------------------------">Home</a>, <a href="https://www.macrium.com/products/business/standalone/workstation?x-ca=blog&amp;source=post_page---------------------------">Workstation</a>, <a href="https://www.macrium.com/products/business/standalone/server?x-ca=blog&amp;source=post_page---------------------------">Server</a>, <a href="https://www.macrium.com/products/business/standalone/server-plus?x-ca=blog&amp;source=post_page---------------------------">Server Plus</a>, or <a href="https://www.macrium.com/site-manager?x-ca=blog&amp;source=post_page---------------------------">Site Manager</a>.</p>

Macrium Reflect offers you flexibility tools to create backups that meet your

Advanced Backup Techniques

<figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><h4>What are partitions?</h4><p>To enable multiple volumes to exist on one storage device, it is divided into partitions. The partitioning scheme chosen also defines the boot mechanism. Partitions typically contain filesystems.</p><p>There are many schemes to partition a disk, however MBR and GPT are the two found on hardware platforms running Windows.</p><h4>Master Boot Record</h4><p>The older of the two partitioning schemes is Master Boot Record (MBR). MBR refers directly to a special boot sector located at the very beginning of a mass storage device. This sector contains the partition table and executable code used to bootstrap the loading of the Operating System. Each table entry contains the location of the partition and the partition (filesystem) type. There is also a flag to indicate which partition contains the files required to continue the boot process.</p><p>The MBR scheme can only address 2TB of storage and supports a maximum of 4 bootable partitions.</p><p>The associated booting scheme is known as BIOS (also known as legacy by EFI firmware). It is intimately associated with the real mode x86 instruction set. If you install 64Bit Windows on a BIOS booting system, the first stage of the boot process will require the CPU to operate in an 8086 compatible mode (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_mode">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real_mode</a>). This and the sector at a time disk i/o results in a very slow first stage boot process. BIOS is only compatible with x86 compatible CPUs.</p><h4>GUID Partition Table</h4><p>When the ill fated Itanium was introduced, Intel needed a new boot scheme (due to the limitations of BIOS mentioned above). This led to GUID Partition Table (GPT) was introduced as part of the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) standard, for use with UEFI-based systems.</p><p>Features include support for 9.4 ZB disks, 128 partitions, checksum protection with a backup table maintained at the back of the disk in case of a checksum failure of the primary table. The G in GPT references the two GUIDs used to uniquely identify each partition and its type. A type is reserved for a FAT32 formatted (EFI system partition). This partition will be mounted as part of the EFI boot process; it will contain EFI boot code and configuration data specific for the installed OS and CPU ISA.</p><p>The GPT starts on sector 1. Sector 0, by convention, contains a (protective) MBR configured with a single partition spanning the entire disk. This prevents applications that may not be ‘GPT aware’ (created before the EFI standard) from accidentally overwriting the GPT partitions.</p><p>UEFI enables Microsoft to include signed boot loader checks. This is known as Secure Boot and provides protection from an entire class of malware.</p><h4>GPT disks</h4><p>Windows XP (64 bit only), Windows Vista (32 &amp; 64 bit) and Windows 2k3 SP1 and later support GPT (non-boot disks only).</p><p>Limited UEFI boot support was included with Win7. Windows 8 and later fully support UEFI boot.</p><h4>MBR vs GPT</h4><p>This leads to the questions of which partitioning scheme has more advantages and which you should be using for your disks.</p><p>Firstly, if your motherboard or operating system does not support GPT/UEFI, then your only choice is MBR.</p><p>If your mobo and OS support GPT/UEFI even if your boot disk is smaller than 2TB, this is the recommended option due to speed, security and flexibility.<br>Unless your are installing your own operating system, your system builder will have made the choice for you. Note that once Windows has booted, there is no (user visible) the advantages of a GPT configured system cease.</p><h4>MBR, GPT and Macrium Reflect</h4><p>Macrium Reflect supports both MBR and GPT. It does not support LVM systems (except for Microsoft Dynamic disks).</p><p>If you want to do an in place conversion from MBR to GPT, you can use the following Windows 10 tool. Ensure your motherboard supports it first. MBR2GPT can be found on Windows PE version 1703 or later.</p><p><a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/deployment/mbr-to-gpt">MBR2GPT</a></p><p>Read the following, if you wish to restore an MBR backup to a GPT configured disk.</p><p><a href="https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=23396929">Restoring an MBR System image to UEFI/GPT - KnowledgeBase v7.2 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase</a></p><p>In some situations, it may be necessary to restore from a GPT disk to an MBR disk for use with a BIOS-only system. For more information on doing this, please see the article linked below:</p><p><a href="https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=23396933">Restoring a UEFI/GPT System image to MBR - KnowledgeBase v7.2 - Macrium Reflect Knowledgebase</a></p><h4>Other useful links:</h4><p>Windows and GPT FAQ</p><p><a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/windows-and-gpt-faq">Windows and GPT FAQ</a></p><p>Macrium KB on Windows Partitions found on MBR and GPT systems.</p><p><a href="https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW7/Windows+Partitions">https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW7/Windows+Partitions</a></p>

What are partitions?To enable multiple volumes to exist on one storage device,

MBR and GPT

One of the questions we see most at Macrium Software is: what type of storage should I be using? This may seem like an easy question on the surface, however, the more you investigate this question, the more difficult it becomes. Every storage media has its advantages and drawbacks, by weighing these up, you can decide what type of storage is best for your needs. Today we will be looking into some of the more common storage media.

## Backups and Archives

One thing to consider when deciding the storage media, you are going to use, is whether it is for archiving or backups. A backup is a copy of data (typically stored in an alternate location) that can be used to recover in the event of disaster. An archive can be seen as a collection of long-term records designed to archive data usually to cover a possible future requirement for historical data Typically, archives will be stored for longer than 5 years, whilst backups are updated over time and will not usually be kept for this long.

## Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

Hard Disk Drives are everywhere. You will find these inside your servers, home computers, laptops and gaming consoles. But how do HDDs work and why are they still so popular? HDDs work by using two or more magnetic heads, attached to a moving arm, which reads the data from one or more rigid rotating disks coated with a magnetic material. These magnetic disks are very popular for several reasons. HDDs are relatively cheap when compared to other storage media, pairing this with their high capacity makes them perfect for storing large amounts of data when very high-speed random access is not required, e.g. performing backups and general home use. HDDs also have a long lifetime, making them an all-round reliable media. However, the moving parts will eventually lead to them degrading and can be damaged if the disk receives a shock.

## Solid State Drive (SSD)

Solid State Drives are rapidly becoming the preferred local storage device. SSDs work by storing persistent data on micro-chips (Flash Storage). Unlike HDDs, SSDs do not have any moving parts and do not contain any physical disk. Since SSDs do not need to wait for a reading arm to physically access data, there are vast performance improvements over HDDs. However, this performance increase comes at a greater cost and lower amount of storage for your money. This makes SSDs ideal for running an operating system off and storing ‘hot data’ (smaller amounts of data, accessed more regularly, e.g. work documents). SSDs were first introduced with a SATA interface, this being the standard for magnetic disks. This enables an SSD to be a drop-in replacement for magnetic disks but being designed around a data stream from a small number of magnetic heads, it doesn’t fully expose an SSDs higher bandwidth and parallelism. To correct this, NVMe was developed to better match SSD’s performance characteristics. The physical layer is PCIe with either a U.2 (which to date has gained little traction) or more commonly M.2\. Alternatively, an NVMe storage device can be integrated directly onto a PCIe expansion card.

There have been questions regarding the longevity of flash storage, specifically due to the charge carriers (electrons or holes) being lost (detrapping) through the tunnel oxide. It appears to be is due a misreading of the JEDEC spec that appears to specify surprisingly short retention times. However, this is only in the vanishingly unlikely circumstance where the data is written while the device is at an unlikely cold temperature and then the device is stored at an unlikely hot temperature. In normal usage conditions, the power off retention times of SSDs is measured in years.

[https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~omutlu/pub/flash-memory-data-retention_hpca15.pdf](https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~omutlu/pub/flash-memory-data-retention_hpca15.pdf)

[https://www.anandtech.com/show/9248/the-truth-about-ssd-data-retention](https://www.anandtech.com/show/9248/the-truth-about-ssd-data-retention)

## Magnetic Tape

Magnetic tape is usually made of a thin, magnetised coating on a plastic film. Magnetic tape is less common than it used to be, although, new magnetic tape drives are still in production. The hardware required to write to and read from magnetic tape is expensive. Once this hardware has been purchased, the magnetic tape drives themselves (usually in the form of cartridges) are cheap. These cartridges can also hold massive amounts of data (up to 15TB). However, due to the linear nature of tape, the drives must move to the part of the tape where the data is stored to access it. This means that the sequential I/O of tape drives are extremely fast, while the random I/O is very slow. All these factors make magnetic tape the perfect media for archiving data at a reasonable price.

[Why the Future of Data Storage is (Still) Magnetic Tape](https://spectrum.ieee.org/computing/hardware/why-the-future-of-data-storage-is-still-magnetic-tape)

## Optical Media — Dye Based

A, now seldom-seen variation, of optical media is the magneto-optical drive. These devices contained a ferromagnetic material sealed inside a plastic casing. A laser is then used to read data from the magnetic disk based on the magneto-optic Kerr effect (an effect where light is reflected differently based on the magnetized state based on the surface of an object). Magneto Optical disks were hampered by a small maximum capacity (256MB to 9.2GB), making them inefficient for storing large amounts of data. The magneto-optical disks had a high longevity and were highly reliable, however, were superseded by cheaper optical media and flash memory devices.

## Cloud

A quickly growing storage media is Cloud Storage. This works by transferring your data over the internet to data centres that are owned and managed by the service provider you chose. Since data is being sent over the internet, this method of transfer is tied to your network speed and can often be slow. This also means that if you lose network connectivity, you also lose access to your files that are stored in the clouad. The plus side to this is that your data is safe from hardware failure. Redundant copies of your data will often be stored at that data centre (and potentially other data centres around the world), meaning that if one of the disks containing the data is damaged, no data is lost. Since the storage is managed by a service provider, you will often have to pay a subscription fee. This can add up over time, making cloud storage one of the more expensive storage options. This also means that your ability to store data in the cloud relies on the service provider, if they decide to shut the service down, then you will not be able to store your data with them. This makes it impossible to know the longevity of this storage medium. However, due to your storage being manager by a service provider, you have the option to select different products depending on your needs. An example of this is Amazon Glacier, which is designed for archiving ‘cold data’, whereas Amazon S3 is designed for data that is accessed more often. This is reflected in the prices where, Amazon Glacier is cheaper to store data per GB, but also incurs a retrieval fee.

You can download a 30-Day Trial of Macrium Reflect [Home](https://www.macrium.com/products/home?x-ca=blog), [Workstation](https://www.macrium.com/products/business/standalone/workstation), [Server](https://www.macrium.com/products/business/standalone/server), [Server Plus](https://www.macrium.com/products/business/standalone/server-plus), or [Site Manager](https://www.macrium.com/site-manager).

what-type-of-storage-media-should-i-be-using.jpg

One of the questions we see most at Macrium Software is: what type of storage

What type of Storage Media should I be using?

<figure><img alt="" src="/no-image-to-display.jpg" /></figure><p>What are the differences between RAID and a backup? Do I only need one of these? Are there any advantages to using both? Are RAID and backups the same? These are just a few questions you will often see when viewing a discussion about RAID and backups. This topic causes both confusion and debate. In this blog post we will attempt to answer some of these questions and help you ensure that your data protection needs are met.</p><h3>What is RAID?</h3><p>An important question we must first answer is: what is RAID? RAID stands for Redundant Array of Independent Disks. In the simplest terms possible, RAID is a mechanism for combining two or more drives into one logical drive. This can be done for several reasons: fault-tolerance (the ability to continue operation through disk failure, and ensure data is not lost), performance (data is read from several disks instead of one, increasing potential read speed) and storage (several disks can be combined into one logical volume, providing easier storage management).</p><p>Today we will be discussing the fault-tolerance provided by RAID as this is the most common cause of confusion between RAID and backups. Whilst it is true that both provide a certain amount of fault-tolerance (backup being geared more towards recovery), the way in which they do this, and what they offer are very different.</p><h3>How does RAID provide fault-tolerance?</h3><p>Two features offered by RAID is disk mirroring and parity. Disk mirroring is the real-time replication of data from one logical volume to another separate disk. The clearest example of this is RAID 1, which mirrors the data on two or more drives. This array of disks will continue to function if one of the member disks of the array is operational. Meaning if one disk breaks, the data will still be available from the other disks in the array. By using parity, the system can rebuild information on a failed disk by using parity information and information on the remaining disks. We will be focusing on disk mirroring due to this being the most common RAID implementation.</p><h3>What is a Backup?</h3><p>A backup is an archive file that contains data. This file can be used to restore the data to the same or different location. This allows for data migration and recovery. Macrium Reflect allows you to create a ‘File and Folder’ backup (allowing you to backup individual files and folders) or a ‘Disk Image’ (allowing you to backup whole disks and partitions). Backups allow for disaster recovery, meaning that when a system fails, all is not lost.</p><p>Now that we have defined what backups and RAID are, we must ask: what are the main differences?</p><h3>RAID is not a ‘Time Machine’:</h3><p>Using only RAID, you cannot revert your system to a previous state. Since all disks in the array are replicated in real-time, your data’s previous states are not maintained. However, when regular backups are taken, these can be used to restore your system to a point in time of your choosing. When using Macrium Reflect, you can use retention rules to specify how many backups are kept and how long for. This means that by using your retained backups, you can restore your system to a point in time of your choosing.</p><h3>RAID does not prevent against accidental deletion:</h3><p>When data is deleted, the real time replication will delete the file from all disks present in the array. If the file is too large to be stored in the recycling bin, then this data is permanently deleted. Backups will prevent this. When your file is accidentally deleted, you can restore the latest version of that file. Macrium Reflect offers the ability to perform ‘File and Folder backups’, allowing you to backup and restore individual files and folder. Using Macrium Reflect, you can also mount a disk image, navigate to the file in question, and drag that file out of the mounted image. This allows you to restore individual files and folders from a disk image in the event of accidental deletion, without having to restore the whole disk image.</p><h3>A fire in the server room:</h3><p>A common example you will see when discussing RAID is a ‘fire in the server room’. This is just one example of a situation that can completely destroy your array. Since all the disks in the array are destroyed, the data is lost. By having a copy of backups in an offsite location, you can ensure that even in a worst-case scenario, business critical data is safe and can be restored to new hardware in the future.</p><h3>RAID does not counter malware:</h3><p>Ransomware works by encrypting all the data on a disk and refusing access to the owner until a ransom is paid. RAID will not protect against this ransomware, as the data on other disks in the array will also be encrypted. When this ransomware encrypts the data on your disk, the easiest way to undo this is to just restore a backup of the disk over top, reverting your system to a state before the ransomware attack. Macrium Reflect goes beyond this. Macrium Image Guardian prevents any third-party modification your backup files. This ensures that you will always have a secure backup that can be restored.</p><h3>RAID provides rapid failover:</h3><p>All this is not to say that there are no advantages to having a RAID configuration. Depending on the type of RAID that has been configured you will have failover in case of disk failure. Failover means that you will not have any noticeable interruption when one of your disks fails. In the example of RAID 1 with two drives, when one drive fails, the second drive will instantly take its place to resume operation. The failed drive can then be replaced, and the array is rebuilt. Backups do not provide this rapid failover. When your disk fails, your backup must be restored to a replacement disk before operation can continue.</p><h3>What does this mean for me?</h3><p>As you can see, the differences between RAID and backup are extensive. These differences should be taken into consideration when choosing what data protection strategy is best for you. Due to RAIDs failover, it is best for when 100% uptime is required. This will most often be in a business environment.</p><p>However, we have seen that RAID is only fault-tolerant to a certain extent, and there are many situations where RAID alone is not enough to protect your data. In a business environment, it is advised that regular backups are taken in addition to having RAID configured. This will allow rapid failover when disk failure occurs and will also provide the benefits of a backup strategy that were discussed above.</p><p>For home use, a thorough backup strategy will most likely be enough to protect your data, as downtime will not have as much of an impact when waiting for an image to restore.</p><h3>Are RAID and backups the same thing?</h3><p>To answer the main question of this blog post, no. RAID will enable continuity of operation in case of hardware failure and backups will allow you to restore your system or a new system to a previous state. Although certain RAID configurations involve having a copy of your data on a separate disk, the purpose for doing so is different. It is advised that RAID is used in conjunction with a comprehensive backup strategy to ensure data security.</p><p>You can download a 30-Day Trial of Macrium Reflect <a href="https://www.macrium.com/products/home?x-ca=blog">Home</a>, <a href="https://www.macrium.com/products/business/standalone/workstation?x-ca=blog">Workstation</a>, <a href="https://www.macrium.com/products/business/standalone/server?x-ca=blog">Server</a>, <a href="https://www.macrium.com/products/business/standalone/server-plus?x-ca=blog">Server Plus</a>, or <a href="https://www.macrium.com/site-manager?x-ca=blog">Site Manager</a>.</p>

What are the differences between RAID and a backup? Do I only need one of

RAID is not Backup

# The Importance of Data Backups

Nick Sills, CEO of Macrium Software presents an interesting overview of the importance of backups and a summary of Macrium Reflect features. This blog post was originally written for our Reseller Partner Pinnacle, and published on their [blog](https://www.pinnacle-online.com/blog/2019/april/the-importance-of-backing-up-your-data-macrium-software).

_Lost data could be a terrible nightmare for companies. The impact of this could be the loss of money, clients, business agreements and could even close the business._

## What kind of data companies can lose?

Companies can lose crucial information, like Invoices, inventory records, contracts, status reports, employees’ records, databases of customers, a repository of knowledge, financial statements, product or services guides or brochures; etc. It could mean the loss of years of work.

## Why protect your data?

A backup has two purposes: recovering data from an earlier time, and recovering data after its loss.

The loss of information could happen for many reasons:

*   **Human error** — data deletion, modification or overwriting by accident or negligence.
*   **Location-related** — leaving a device on a train, theft, fire, flood, or earthquake.
*   **File corruption** — virus or ransomware infection or software error corrupts data
*   **Hardware failure** — hard drive, CPU or controller failure.

There are plenty of reasons to start protecting your data and begin creating backups for disaster recovery to ensure business continuity.

Backups are part of a **_disaster recovery plan_**, and the recommendation is to have more than one backup. The right idea is creating multiple copies protects your business from losing any critical data. The 3–2–1 backup rule is an effective strategy that instantly removes any single point of failure. The belts-and-braces approach ensures that you can overcome nearly any failure scenario without any drama.

_Keep at least three copies of your data, on two different storage types, one copy of your data offsite._

## How can I start to protect my data?

Data loss is usually prevented by implementing backup data solutions and adding strong data access controls and security mechanisms on data storage assets.

## Why choose Macrium?

Macrium Reflect allows you to create a backup in case you need to recover your files. This backup software has been on the market for over a decade, with more than 8 million downloads worldwide. It is a trusted endpoint backup solution for Businesses, used to protect documents, data and operating systems.

### Reliable backups:

Using advanced disk imaging technology your entire disk contents, including operating system and data, is securely saved in an easily recoverable backup file.

### Schedule:

With Macrium Reflect you can schedule when and how you want to protect your data. That help to the people that just forgot or procrastinate the chore.

### Ransomware protection:

Macrium Reflect comes with Macrium Image Guardian that protects your backup files from unauthorised modification, including ransomware.

### Rescue media:

If you lose your Windows operating system, you can start your PC using Macrium Reflect rescue media on a USB stick (or CD, or DVD). This makes creating rescue media the first thing you need to do with Macrium Reflect after installation. It contains a bootable, lightweight version of Windows and a full version of Macrium Reflect.

### Changing hardware:

From the rescue environment, you can launch Macrium ReDeploy to adapt the recovered Windows system to its new environment whether that is a virtual machine or a different computer. With Macrium Reflect ReDeploy, you can restore an image to a replacement computer or even create virtual hard drives to virtualise the machine.

### Control at a glance:

Macrium also offers the Macrium Site Manager, a central management console for endpoint backup of your site. Enables you to deploy large numbers of Macrium Reflect endpoint backup agents and manage these from a central location. In this customisable Dashboard, you can view your backup status at a glance, along with easy problem identification and resolution.

### Test your backups:

Macrium viBoot is another excellent tool in Reflect, and it enables you to instantly create, start and manage Microsoft Hyper-V virtual machines using one or more Macrium Reflect image files as the basis of the virtual machine storage sub-system.

At a minimum, viBoot enables you to boot into the images you have made using Macrium Reflect, for validation purposes. At an enterprise level, you could recover an entire network environment in minutes.

### Faster backups:

Macrium Reflect Changed Block Tracker (MRCBT) allows you to reduce the amount of time it takes to perform incremental and differential images by monitoring the changes to an NTFS formatted volume in real-time.

**Macrium Reflect** is available in Workstation, Server and Server Plus for Exchange and SQL. All versions offer the ability to image single or multiple partitions and clone disks, file and folder backup, GPT and Dynamic disk support as well as providing a ReDeploy function that allows images to be restored to dissimilar hardware.

You can download a 30-Day Trial of Macrium Reflect [Home](/products/home), [Workstation](/products/business/standalone/workstation), [Server](/products/business/standalone/server), [Server Plus](/products/business/standalone/server-plus), or [Site Manager](/site-manager).

the-importance-data-backups.jpg

The Importance of Data BackupsNick Sills, CEO of Macrium Software presents an

The Importance Data Backups

# Macrium Site Manager Updates

In March we discussed the Macrium Central Management Consoles. One of he consoles described in this blog post was Site Manager:

[The Macrium Central Management Consoles](/blog/the-macrium-central-management-consoles-d3418f2c736e)

The latest version of Site Manager introduces new features, let’s explore how these can help you manage your backups.

### Communication

Previously, Site Manager used MSMQ (Microsoft Message Queuing) to manage the messages that were being sent between Agents and Site Managers. This method required several steps to be taken by the user to ensure that communication could happen, such as configuring firewalls for incoming MSMQ traffic:

![site-manager-update-2.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/site_manager_update_2_29578633d9.jpg)

_The old Site Manager’s MSMQ based communications._

The latest update to Site Manager removes the reliance on MSMQ for communication. Site Manager now listens on an incoming TCP/IP port, each Agent then initiates a connection, once established, all communication will take place on this connection. This requires less interaction to configure, simplifying the steps required.

![site-manager-update-3.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/site_manager_update_3_5afec27f36.jpg)

_The latest Site Manager’s communications._

This change comes with several benefits:

Improved support for different network configurations — The highest source of support requests we received involved Agent and Site Manager communications over a network. The latest Site Manager only requires the server to be accessible by the agent. Site Manager will work more smoothly on a variety of network configurations, due to the simplicity of the new communication mechanisms.

Simplified network configuration for clients — Since all communication is now initiated from the Agent, there are no firewall rules to configure or special rules that need to be set up on the Agent. You can simply install the Agent, tell it which Site Manager to communicate with, and start managing your Agent.

Enabling Future Features — Since the new communication system is more flexible, we have greater control of its use for future development. This allows exciting projects that would not be possible using communication methods based on MSMQ.

### Agent Configuration Tool

This change in communication comes with a streamlined tool for your Agents to use when connecting to the Site Manager and troubleshooting any issues that might occur.

![site-manager-update-4.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/site_manager_update_4_9c0e5637b9.jpg)

This tool can test connections to a Site Manager server, enable remote installations of the Agent and even includes additional logging for troubleshooting purposes. This makes it easier to resolve any issues that may occur between your Agent and Site Manager.

### Active Directory Integration

Previously, to access Site Manager you must either be an administrator of the computer that Site Manager is installed on, or on the Active Directory domain that the computer is part of, this was for security purposes.

The latest Site Manager allows easy configuration of access rights for your Site Manager. With integration of Active Directory comes the ability to specify individual users or groups to access Site Manager, without having to give them domain/local administrator privileges.

![site-manager-update-5.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/site_manager_update_5_24ce26c7ae.jpg)

_These specified users will be able to access Site Manager, even without Administrator rights._

![site-manager-update-6.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/site_manager_update_6_d7e9f45ae6.jpg)

_The process of authorising users to access Site Manager has been made easy, with a simple tree view._

This also enables users to set permissions for accounts on different domains to the one Site Manager server is a part of. These Active Directory integration updates make it easy to manage exactly who you want to be able to access Site Manager.

#### Minor Changes:

*   Added options to control how Agents are automatically updated
*   Updated email sending to use TLS 1.1
*   Added CSV export to ‘Computers’ table
*   Reduced number of Windows Event Log Login audit events caused by repository access

Contact us [for more information](/contact), [for a demonstration](/multisite),  
or [download a trial of Site Manager](/site-manager).

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infosec

# What do we know about Windows 11’s security strategy?

_And more importantly, will it work?_

In previous posts [here](/blog/will-macrium-reflect-work-on-windows-11-63dc8e81b865) and [here](/blog/what-to-do-before-you-upgrade-to-windows-11-eab85153cf7a), we discussed how Macrium Reflect and Microsoft Windows 11 work together. In this article, we wanted to take a closer look at the new operating system itself, and what Microsoft’s choices indicate about their plans for what’s to come. But with many things, to get a clear picture of the future, one must briefly look at the past.

### Windows 10 Vulnerabilities

BeyondTrust, a company specializing in Privileged Access Management tools, recently released their annual Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report for 2020. The results were… not great.

> _“A total of 1,268 were reported, which marks a colossal 48% rise over the previous year (858). This is in fact the sharpest spike since the inception of the Microsoft Vulnerabilities Report, and means that, since 2016, total vulnerabilities have increased by 181%.” — [BeyondTrust](https://www.beyondtrust.com/blog/entry/microsoft-vulnerabilities-report "www.beyondtrust.com")_

In any system, in any structure, physical or digital, you’re only as strong as your weakest link. So what doesn’t come as a surprise in their report is how a large number of these exploits could be mitigated by simply removing certain administrative privileges. People — users — will always be the weakest point. BeyondTrust goes on to say:

> _“90% of Critical vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer would have been mitigated through the removal of admin rights_
> 
> _85% of Critical vulnerabilities in Microsoft Edge would have been mitigated through the removal of admin rights_
> 
> _100% of all Critical vulnerabilities in Microsoft Outlook products would have been mitigated by removing admin rights”_

It’s worth noting that these numbers have a double-edge. Microsoft products and services are the biggest in the market — over 1 billion people rely on Windows — making them obvious prime targets. At the same time, recognizing these exploits goes to show that the discovery and patching process is working exactly as it should. Shoring up the weakest link (users) seems to be a foundational pillar of Windows 11.

### Zero Trust

Up until now, Windows has largely operated on the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) when it comes to administrative access. Users are granted the least amount of access as is necessary for their job. For years, Microsoft encouraged users to shore up weaknesses in their security by actively using and maintaining admin rights. It’s fundamental to proper PoLP.

PoLP has been a foundation of computer security for decades. However, to work it needs constant care and vigilance from both software developers and users to be effective. Further, it makes the assumption that the platform (OS, firmware, hardware, storage, and network) upon which the application runs is itself secure. With the increasing value of data, threats to its security and increasing use of diverse computing resources, PoLP is proving insufficient to provide protection.

Zero Trust security is similar, but not exactly the same. The idea is to never trust anyone, anything, at any time. Or, [as Microsoft themselves say](https://www.microsoft.com/insidetrack/blog/microsofts-digital-security-team-answers-your-top-10-questions-on-zero-trust/ "www.microsoft.com"):

> _“Microsoft has adopted a modern approach to security called “Zero Trust,” which is based on the principle: never trust, always verify. This security approach protects our company and our customers by managing and granting access based on the continual verification of identities, devices and services.”_

But for various reasons, users mismanage or simply don’t bother with differentiating privileges, leaving entirely preventable gaps ready for exploitation. Like a parent enforcing stricter house rules for your own good, Microsoft has stepped in.

[Zero Trust policies](https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/zero-trust-architecture/introduction-to-zero-trust "www.ncsc.gov.uk") are a new approach to secure system design that promise to deliver where PoLP cannot. In the simplest terms, it enables confidence and trustworthiness in a system to be established dynamically and continuously via a series of user and hardware verification (attestation) steps.

To execute Zero Trust verification and authentication, the platform must support a range of [Trusted Computing](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trusted_Computing "en.wikipedia.org") principles to enable a verifiably secure computing, storage and networking environment. Microsoft’s approach is to utilize the same protections used to securely separate hypervisor virtual machines along with a TPM device to provide a secure host for credential storage and operations.

As an aside, DRM implementers face a challenge; they have to embed the decryption key in all devices that can play the protected content. The most celebrated attack was probably the public disclosure of the DVD encryption key. Since then, they have been an early adopter of many Trusted Computing principles. For an example, see the [Protected Media Path](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protected_Media_Path "en.wikipedia.org"). Trusted Computing does raise a number of ethical issues, championed notably by the [EFF](https://www.eff.org/issues/trusted-computing "www.eff.org").

The hardware features for VBS have set the controversially high minimum hardware threshold for Windows 11. Limiting the CPU generation also eliminates a range of ‘side channel’ exploits.

To use MS nomenclature, Virtualization Based Security (VBS) provides a secure pathway in Windows 11 to implement some of the following:

*   “Kernel Data Protection” enables protection from rogue kernel mode software (drivers) from compromising the Windows kernel.
*   “Application Guard” utilizes VBS to isolate untrusted websites and documents and “Credential Guard” uses VBS to similarly secure access to credentials.
*   “Windows Hello Enhanced Sign-In” uses VBS to create secure pathways to external components like the camera and TPM when used for authentication.

These principles extend to Microsoft’s Azure ecosystem providing remote attestation features for cloud storage and computing resources.

Microsoft is clearly making an aggressive push to set the baseline for a secure computing platform. However, it remains to be seen how quickly the industry will upgrade both its hardware and the vast base of current applications and systems to utilize modern zero trust principles and services. In the meantime threat actors will continue to target the weakest link, whether that be legacy systems, legacy applications running on modern hardware, or social engineering techniques such as BEC.

It should also be noted that bugs in hardware protections will continue to be discovered and exploited, Meltdown and Spectre being two recent examples (more about that below); it is typically more difficult or impossible to patch such issues.

### From chip to cloud

In 2019, Microsoft announced Secured-core PCs as a proactive solution to growing firmware attacks, which are notoriously difficult to detect and remove.

> _“Secured-core PCs combine identity, virtualization, operating system, hardware and firmware protection to add another layer of security underneath the operating system. Unlike software-only security solutions, Secured-core PCs are designed to prevent these kinds of attacks rather than simply detecting them.” — [Windows Blog](https://www.microsoft.com/security/blog/2019/10/21/microsoft-and-partners-design-new-device-security-requirements-to-protect-against-targeted-firmware-attacks/ "www.microsoft.com")_

The concept of Zero Trust is now firmly rooted deep within the hardware of your PC, not just in the software that sits on top of it.

### Windows 11 hardware requirements

Given all the above, the [hardware requirements Windows 11](https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/windows-11-specifications "www.microsoft.com") demands make more sense. These demands mostly likely come in no small part because of [Meltdown and Spectre](https://meltdownattack.com/ "meltdownattack.com"), two computer processor security bugs discovered in 2018.

Patrick Moorhead, president and principal analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy spoke about it in a recent article in The Verge.

> _“Microsoft’s CPU selections for Windows 11 don’t appear much at all to do with performance but look like security mitigations for side-channel attacks.”_

The scale of these vulnerabilities honestly can’t be overstated — nearly every single device created over the span of decades was at risk. Even more, the problems were OS agnostic, but clearly Microsoft learned valuable lessons.

### Welcome to the real world

Sure, Microsoft is building upon an established foundation for future security steps, but it’s almost as though they’ve ignored conditions in the real world. Some of these were unforeseen, like the pandemic and subsequent supply chain issues, but they’re huge issues to contend with nonetheless.

*   Over [55% of enterprise workstations](https://www.lansweeper.com/itam/is-your-business-ready-for-windows-11/ "www.lansweeper.com") do not meet the requirements for automatic upgrades.
*   Manufacturers across all industries are experiencing a [global semiconductor shortage](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58230388 "www.bbc.co.uk").
*   [Millions of perfectly good](https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/29/22555371/microsoft-windows-11-cpu-support-hardware-requirements-tpm-response "www.theverge.com"), new(ish) PCs are suddenly “obsolete,” creating untold costs and waste.
*   The post-pandemic economy [has not completely recovered](https://www.brookings.edu/research/october-2021-update-to-tiger-the-global-economic-recovery-is-in-danger-of-stalling/ "www.brookings.edu"), and many firms are still keeping a close eye on their bottom line.

### Big leap? More like a small step

Given all these problems, it’s not surprising that Microsoft has stepped back slightly and announced that users can technically manually install Windows 11 on older PCs. As long as you have a 64-bit 1GHz processor with two or more cores, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage — and you’re happy to do it — upgrading shouldn’t be a problem, even if you get some [scary warnings about possible “damage”](https://www.techradar.com/uk/news/windows-11-warning-mentions-possible-damage-to-unsupported-pcs "www.techradar.com") to unsupported systems. As it stands now, Microsoft will not offer updates or vital security patches to computers running Windows 11 that don’t meet the above CPU requirements.

 ![Windows 11 upgrade warning from The Verge.](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/20211013_what_do_we_know_about_windows_11s_security_fig_1_e06a8d4ccd.jpeg)

#### Windows 11 upgrade warning from [The Verge](https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/21/22686457/windows-11-health-check-compatible-supported-cpu-old-pc-waiver "www.theverge.com").

For the home and small business user who has a PC that ticks all the boxes, there is probably little practical security advantage in moving to Windows 11 at this time. The new features are either already available in Windows 10 (though not necessarily enabled by default or supported on all hardware) or only relevant in enterprise or highly secure environments. This stance may change if the Windows 11 enhanced kernel space protections prove resilient against a new class of exploit. The end of support date for Windows 10 may prove to be the biggest upgrade motivator for the security-conscious home and small business user.

What Microsoft is trying to achieve from a security perspective is commendable and certainly a move in the right direction. But considering the current issues of economic uncertainty, supply chain disruption, and the fact Windows 10 will be fully supported until 2025… it all sort of feels like much ado about nothing, for now.

And more importantly, will it work? In previous posts we discussed how Macrium Reflect and Microsoft Windows 11 work together. In this article, we wanted to take a closer look at the new operating system itself, and what Microsoft’s choices indicate about their plans for what’s to come. But with many things, to get a clear picture of the future, one must briefly look at the past.

What do we know about Windows 11’s security strategy?

product

backup

# BackupFAQ — If my support expired does it affect my software licence?

**In this thread of #BackupFAQ blog post you can find answer to common questions we receive from our customers, where we explain all you need to know about Macrium Software, our Products and the Backup industry. Leave a comment if you have suggestions for our next publication.**

This week we explain how support works and how its renewal may affect your licence.

### [Macrium Support & Maintenance](/support)

### What does Standard support include?

Macrium Reflect business editions (Workstation, Server, and Server Plus for Exchange and SQL), all include 12 months free **Standard Support & Maintenance** included in the purchase of each license, which is renewable for subsequent years. Standard Support includes access to support **via email**, our KnowledgeBase and our customer forum.

We also offer a **Premium Support** option which includes priority response and telephone support.

Both Standard and Premium Support include **Upgrade Protection**, so Minor updates (for example v7.1 to v7.2) and Major upgrades (for example v7 to v8) are free while the subscription is current.

### What does Home Essentials support include?

When you purchase Macrium Reflect Home Edition, Macrium Home Essentials Support is provided free for one year.

Macrium Home Essentials Support includes access to support **via email**, our KnowledgeBase and our customer forum. Many problems can be solved by finding solutions within the Forum, KnowledgeBase (KB) Tutorials, Help Tutorials and YouTube videos; these are instant solutions rather than having to wait for Macrium Support to respond (usually within 24 hours during weekdays).

After the year of Home Essentials ends you will still have full and permanent access to our active and helpful customer forum and KnowledgeBase.

### Does Home Essentials support include upgrades?

Minor updates (for example v7.1 to v7.2) are free. Major upgrades (for example v7 to v8) are chargeable but with an upgrade discount — usually around 40% to 50% off the price of a new license.

### What is the difference between the Macrium Reflect Home Essentials Support and Macrium Reflect Standard Support?

Workstation licenses include eligibility for support when using Reflect in a business environment, which is explicitly NOT supported for users of the Home edition.

Workstation licences have Standard Support and Maintenance that can be upgraded to Premium 24x7 Support, and is renewable as an optional fee each year. It also allows you to get Major updates for free.

With the Home Edition, Essentials support cannot be renewed after 12 months unless a new license is purchased.

NB: 30-Day Trial users (of any edition) receive email support and we will answer any questions while evaluating our software for the full 30 days of the trial.

### What are the big differences between standard and premium support?

Both offer access to the Support Forum, KnowledgeBase, Upgrade Protection and remote support via email. But Premium support offers benefits that can be key when a disaster strikes: It offers the option of receiving Telephone Support, having Case Priority, 24x7 coverage and a typical response time of 12 hours instead of 24 hours.

### Do you offer email and Forum support for the Free Edition?

The free edition is not supported although users do have access to view the Forum, KnowledgeBase and YouTube videos. We have over 6 million users of Macrium reflect Free worldwide and there is no way we could provide support for a free product. Of course we hope the Free Edition will demonstrate the value of Macrium Reflect and result in people who are willing to pay for additional value. But if you want to keep using the free version, you’re welcome to do so: it is not time limited in any way (unlike the 30-Day Trial).

### How does the support renewal process work?

The Business Support and Maintenance subscriptions are for 12 months and must be renewed to retain access to support and maintenance. All business edition licenses without a current support subscription are eligible for an upgrade with a discount of up to 50%.

Any business edition of Macrium Reflect (Workstation, Server, Server Plus, and Technicians Licenses) that have a current support subscription, are eligible for a free upgrade to the current version. If the support subscription for a license expired within the last 90 days it is still possible renew it, so the license will be eligible for a free upgrade.

Home Essentials Support is for 12 months only and cannot be renewed, unless a new license is purchased.

Please note: the upgrade discount only applies to previous purchased versions, it does not apply when upgrading from the free or 30-Day Trial to the latest full purchased version.

### Will my licence still work if my support has expired and I don’t renew it?

Yes, Macrium Reflect Home, Workstation, Server, and Server Plus licenses are perpetual and independent of the support subscription.

Each Macrium Reflect Workstation, Server, and Server Plus Editions license key is for one computer and it should be only transferred to another computer for legitimate upgrade/replacement purposes. When you purchase any of these editions you have the software licenses for life, there is no annual fee to pay, independently of having renewed your support or not.

The exception is when you upgrade an old version to a current version. Your old license key becomes invalidated and replaced by the new upgrade license key.

### What about the Technicians and Deployment Kit Licenses?

These two license types run alongside the other business editions. These license are ideal for IT technicians or service companies who might maintain a large number of PCs and may wish to back them up prior to carrying out work. Without the Technicians License, each PC requires separate licensed copy of Macrium Reflect, because the usual licensing arrangement is machine specific. Using a Technicians license allows the technician to backup or image each PC using a single license.

The Technicians Deployment Kit License allows up to 5 technicians to create “Master” or “Golden” images and deploy them to an unlimited number of workstations and servers. This enables internal IT departments and commercial IT specialists to set up PCs without having to purchase a separate license for each workstation or server providing the software is not installed on more than one PC at a time.

The Technicians and Deployment Kit licenses last for one year, after which they can be renewed. If the subscription is not renewed they will downgrade to a standalone Server Edition license and Portable Application Support\* will no longer function.

Macrium Support & Maintenance is included with Technicians and Deployment Licenses, while the license subscription is active.

### What is Portable Application Support?

Portable application support ships exclusively with Macrium Reflect Technicians Licenses. In addition to allowing you to create a bootable USB stick from which you can rescue your systems, you can also optionally add Portable Application support to your media. This will allow you to run Macrium Reflect on your licensed PCs directly from the USB stick, without needing to install Reflect on the workstation or server first. The base install of Macrium Reflect may only be installed on a single PC at a time. If you wish to move this install, you will have to uninstall and reinstall the software.

We hope you have enjoyed this post. We will come back soon with more #FAQs updates.

You can download a 30-day Trial of [Macrium Reflect Workstation](/products/business/standalone/workstation) or [Site Manager.](/site-manager) Technical support for Trial users evaluating our software is available via [email.](/support)

In this thread of #BackupFAQ blog post you can find answer to common questions

#BackupFAQ — If my support expired does it affect my software licence?

# 6 best ways to love your data

It’s been said and repeated countless times, but data is the most valuable resource in the world. Your data. Everyone’s data. Companies are still clamoring to learn everything and anything about you to sell on to the highest bidder, hackers are hoping to get a valuable nugget for ransom leverage, and others are just collecting… collecting and waiting for a time when it can be best used. 

Sounds more like a horror story than a romance, but you aren’t powerless! There are a few important ways to show your data some love, and what better time to do it than International Love Data Week? 

## Check out these International Love Data Week events

First of all, let’s have a little fun and schedule in some great online events that are going on! Here are a few that jumped out, but be sure to check out [the complete list here](https://www.icpsr.umich.edu/web/ICPSR/cms/4544 "www.icpsr.umich.edu"). There are plenty of online and in-person events to choose from. 

[**Falling in Love with Data**](https://villanova.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJElcOmorzksGNT1cyET8YgVcX2yAOAnRLbu "https://villanova.zoom.us") - This beginner workshop will provide an overview of ICPSR, an online data archive available to social science researchers.

[**Dating with Data: 50 Years of Romantic Relationships**](https://calendar.lib.vt.edu/event/10275825 "calendar.lib.vt.edu") - How have US attitudes toward inter-racial, inter-religious, and LGBTQ+ relationships changed over the past half century? Find out what surveys from 1972-2022 say while sharing some Valentine's Day treats as part of International Love Data Week!

[**Love Data Week - Data Privacy**](https://library.temple.edu/events/1389 "library.temple.edu") - Learn about data privacy from Dina Gayanova, a data privacy and cybersecurity attorney in Holland & Knight's Philadelphia office.

[**Data for Social Good**](https://uncw.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0lcuCurTgrHtfdskbF47WpbT4f5Gap_kHO#/registration "uncw.zoom.us") - Data can be used to bring about changes that matter. Hear from various researchers about how they have used data to make an impact on society. They will reflect upon how they first recognized what impact their data could have, and how they then worked towards turning that data into a form to be practically used beyond academia.

**[Love Data Week: Introduction to Data Visualization with Tableau](https://library.temple.edu/events/1436 "library.temple.edu")** - Do you like data? Do you like good looking graphs? Do you like presenting information in eye-catching ways? If you answered yes to any of those, you might be interested in learning more about data visualization.

## Choose a privacy-focused alternative search engine

Google isn’t the only kid on the block anymore. There are new alternatives every day, but if you’re looking for an option that keeps your privacy front and center, why not give these a spin? Ecosia even plants trees the more you search! 

[DuckDuckGo](https://duckduckgo.com/ "DuckDuckGo.com")

[Startpage](https://www.startpage.com/ "www.startpage.com")

[Ecosia](https://info.ecosia.org/privacy "info.ecosia.org")

Disclaimer (and minor rabbit hole for you to fall into)

[Global surveillance alliances are an important](https://www.techspot.com/article/2515-surveillance-intelligence-alliances/ "www.techspot.com"), and sometimes invisible, piece of the cyber security puzzle. It’s important to educate yourself on your country’s laws and alliances, as all the good intentions a company may have are still subject to the law.

## Regularly check your app security settings

You’ve heard the saying, “If you’re not paying for the product, you are the product.” Luckily, in most jurisdictions, the law has finally caught up with technology and we’re now able to choose what information we share. The apps we love to use have a tendency to love using us back, but it’s important that all parties involved are okay with that trade.

So keep an eye on [your security settings](https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-check-app-permissions-ios-android-macos-windows/ "www.wired.com"), actually [read your EULAs](https://measuringu.com/eula/ "measuringu.com") (or at least give it a good college try), and take a few moments to consider what you’re giving in exchange for that “free” product or service.

## Learn about the most common cyber security threats

[Cyber criminals are constantly changing and adapting their techniques](https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberaware/home "www.ncsc.gov.uk") for getting their hands on your info, but the absolute best protection against it: knowledge. Learn about the different ways your information can be accessed and stolen so it’s more obvious to you when you see it.

Even things as simple as keeping different passwords for different accounts, and turning on 2-factor authentication can go a long way.

## Best VPNs in 2023

This could be a blog post in itself (and probably will be soon) but we’d be remiss if it wasn’t included in this list. There are a variety of VPNs out there to suit your needs and price point, whether it’s just a browser extension or something for your whole household.

[TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/vpn/best-vpn "www.techradar.com") has done a really great review of all the major VPNs out there right now, so have a read for the most current info and get started. Most offer free 30 day trials!

## Protect your data with backup and recovery software

And of course, rely on Macrium Reflect to protect your home PCs. Whether your data is compromised by hackers, lost due to human error, or destroyed due to a natural event, a well-planned backup strategy will protect you when you need it most.

Running regular backups is like a good insurance policy, and routinely checking you can restore them is the easiest way to trust your data is in good hands. And with [Macrium Image Guardian (MIG)](/mig), you can rest easy knowing that even your backup files are safe from ransomware.

![macrium-software-adoption-certificate-lovedateweek23.png](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/macrium_software_adoption_certificate_lovedateweek23_84a3327e78.png)

It’s been said and repeated countless times, but data is the most valuable resource in the world. Your data. Everyone’s data. Companies are still clamoring to learn everything and anything about you to sell on to the highest bidder, hackers are hoping to get a valuable nugget for ransom leverage, and others are just collecting… collecting and waiting for a time when it can be best used. 

Sounds more like a horror story than a romance, but you aren’t powerless!

6 best ways to love your data

Similar to the [federal government](/the-federal-government-and-cybersecurity-risks "The Federal Government and Cybersecurity Risks"), state and local governments have cybersecurity threats. While the federal government is in charge of the U.S. as a whole, state and local governments manage cities, towns, tribals, and municipalities. This difference also leads to shifts in the way governments establish cybersecurity. On a state-to-state or city-to-city level, applications may change based on a number of factors. 

## What Does Cybersecurity Look Like on the State and Local Level?

State and local governments are vulnerable to cybercriminal activity as “they collect, process, store, and transmit vast amounts of sensitive data.” The wrong hands can weaponize and misuse data.

In 2020, hackers carried out 79 individual [ransomware attacks against U.S. government organizations](https://icma.org/blog-posts/practical-measures-local-government-avoid-ransomware "icma.org"). It cost downtime and recovery of nearly $18.88 billion. Clearly, ransomware is pervasive. The attack suspended “municipal operations, ultimately disrupting infrastructure services for 911 systems, utilities, and payment platforms with state and local governments.” 

[Cybercriminals target local governments](https://www.nlc.org/wp-contenthttps://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/2020/04/SML_2020Report_web-1.pdf "www.nlc.org"), which can “threaten to erode the trust that residents have in critical institutions.” The increasing reliance on IoT and automated systems may invite cyberattacks. They take advantage of gaps in security and the multiple entries of technology. Inadequate security measures and negligence within municipalities generate cyber risks.

![1406439_state-and-local-gov-graphic-3-2_071522.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/1406439_state_and_local_gov_graphic_3_2_071522_3fc6314d14.jpg)

From a [review of local government cybersecurity in 2020](https://icma.org/articles/pm-magazine/look-local-government-cybersecurity-2020 "icma.org"), local governments have three ways of cybersecurity structure: 

1.  **Centralized**: A single IT department is responsible for managing all the cybersecurity in a town or city. As a benefit, it ensures an extensive coverage of risks.
2.  **Decentralized**: Every department must run its own cybersecurity. Unlike centralized, a police department or building division in a town government must deal with IT matters individually.
3.  **Federated**: For local governments that operate with federated, it’s shared. The chief information security officer (CISO) assumes part of the authority for cyber protection. Local offices and departments take on the rest. The disadvantage of this model is that the CISO does not set the precedent for local government departments. A lot of breaches and cyberattacks can happen from a lack of education surrounding proper cybersecurity protocols. If a CISO is unable to totally control a local government’s cybersecurity, departments may be susceptible to hackers.

## Cybersecurity Preparedness

As with federal government agencies, local and state governments commonly take action post-attack. 

An example comes from the Riverside Ohio police and fire department in 2018\. The department servers suffered an unrecoverable data loss from 10 months of information. Unfortunately, it “effectively shut down the police department’s records management system.” Surprisingly, Riverside went through another data loss only a month after the initial shutdown. Since the first time, they ran daily backups in case it happened again, which it did. In March 2018 and May 2019, [two attacks occurred in the local government](https://icma.org/blog-posts/practical-measures-local-government-avoid-ransomware "icma.org") of the city of Baltimore as well. 

An [IBM news report](https://newsroom.ibm.com/2020-02-27-IBM-Survey-Only-38-of-State-and-Local-Government-Employees-Trained-on-Ransomware-Prevention "newsroom.ibm.com") examined the results from a poll. In it, U.S. city and state employees assessed their readiness for cyberattacks. Overwhelmingly, more than natural disasters and terrorist attacks, 73% of government employees feared “impending ransomware threats to cities across the country.” 

![1406447_stateandlocalgovgraphic1_071922.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/1406447_stateandlocalgovgraphic1_071922_969ebd5e0d.jpg)

Moreover, respondents revealed the prevalence of ransomware attacks. A poll showed that the departments of 1 in 6 employees had a ransomware attack. This evidence has not stimulated proactive prevention. Only 38% of employees received “general ransomware prevention training.” 

Along with cybersecurity structure in local government, there are obstacles to achieving uniform and effective cybersecurity across states, towns, and cities.

## Problems in Governments that Cause Cyber Risks 

Other factors contribute to the flaws in cybersecurity at this level of government. [IoT emerges as a feature in buildings](https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5356053/global-smart-buildings-market-by-technology-ai "researchandmarkets.com") that will only continue, according to Smart Buildings Market for 2021-2026\. The research estimates that “over 78% of new construction will involve at least one facet of IoT and/or related smart buildings market-related technologies over the course of the next five years.”

More state and local governments will incorporate these types of technologies into their offices. "[T]hese internet-connected devices and systems greatly increase exposure to cybersecurity risks.” IMCA reviewed the [consideration for IoT safety in municipalities](https://icma.org/blog-posts/cybersecurity-considerations-implement-iot "icma.org"). They go in hand with the accessibility and streamlined application that IoT offers. Technology is not dangerous but a lack of cybersecurity resources is.

![1406375_stateandlocalgovgraphic1_071422.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/1406375_stateandlocalgovgraphic1_071422_91111930fa.jpg)

Risks for administering IoT devices:

*   Weak or hard-coded passwords
*   Old and unpatched embedded operating systems and software
*   Insecure data transfer and storage
*   Lack of secure updates

![1406389_state-and-local-gov-graphic-2-2_071822.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/1406389_state_and_local_gov_graphic_2_2_071822_43e47181bc.jpg)

The Center for Digital Government (CDG) surveyed 103 state and local officials to [determine why governments lacked an effective security strateg](https://www.govtech.com/sponsored/how-state-and-local-governments-can-make-their-security-operations-ready-for-the-future "govtech.com")y:

*   46% said lack of cybersecurity skills among their workforce
*   40% said issues with integrating security tools
*   36% said the inability to rapidly respond to threats

The following security and compliance challenges include: 

*   Legacy 
*   Unpatched and non-supported networks increasing exposure
*   Excessive manual processes 
*   Limited enterprise visibility around the endpoints connected to networks

From the survey, 66% of participants acknowledged that “their data-sharing practices are only somewhat mature or not mature at all."

Governments experience challenges with data accessibility and sharing. They have difficulty transforming data into actionable intelligence. It's a result of different data formats and storage environments. “At the same time, governments must deal with an ever-evolving regulatory environment and an increasingly privacy-focused landscape that makes it safer for them to limit data sharing rather than expose themselves to added risks.”

Data analytic challenges from a CDG survey:

*   41% said security
*   38% said privacy concerns
*   35% said data quality
*   34% said data silos

The article poses a few solutions:

*   Governments need to better align their data with people, technologies, and processes for the connection to be seamless.
*   Storing and indexing data calls for reconfiguration for security. 
*   Muncipilatites must leverage modern technologies to support data sharing across departments.
*   Cybersecurity is a necessity and data contains confidential information that demands protection. 

On top of this, 52% of state and local government IT/Security professionals agreed their budget hasn’t improved. This could hinder [training on ransomware prevention](https://newsroom.ibm.com/2020-02-27-IBM-Survey-Only-38-of-State-and-Local-Government-Employees-Trained-on-Ransomware-Prevention "newsroom.ibm.com/").

## What Regulations Constitute State and Local Cybersecurity? 

The EU implements the [General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)](https://gdpr.eu/what-is-gdpr/ "gdpr.eu"), a data privacy and security law that provides regulations for organizations worldwide to control cybersecurity. Some states have begun implementing cybersecurity mandates on their own. Following this, the U.S. is starting to catch up with statewide mandates such as the [California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)](https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa "oag.ca.gov"). The act provides guidance for California businesses and organizations, mostly to protect consumers and let them have greater control over their personal information and what businesses can take advantage of. 

Additionally, the [2018 California Civil Code on Security of Connected Devices](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB327 "leginfo.legislature.ca.gov") places a new requirement on manufacturers. On January 1, 2020, manufacturers began following these guidelines. IoT devices are now sold with the right security features to protect data and privileged information. The code will reduce "unauthorized access, use, adaption, disclosure, or destruction."

The New York City chief technology officer issued the New York City Internet of Things. It defines IoT safety and security practices. The new order creates processes to evaluate city technology. ICMA's “Cybersecurity Considerations to Implement IoT,” also gives recommendations for improvement.’”

The Committee on Homeland Security wants to introduce [The State and Local Cybersecurity Improvement Act](https://homeland.house.gov/imo/media/doc/State%20and%20Local%20Cyber%20Act%20Fact%20Sheet.pdf "homeland.house.gov"). The proposal stems from fears that the federal government is slow to cybersecurity. Stretched state and local budgets and current defenses cannot stand against foreign hackers.

The act develops "a new Department of Homeland Security (DHS) grant program." Advocates plan to tackle cybersecurity risks for state and local governments.

A National League of Cities report, “[State and Local Partnerships for Cybersecurity](https://www.nlc.org/wp-contenthttps://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/2020/04/SML_2020Report_web-1.pdf "www.nlc.org"),” believes in a collaborative approach. Cities and states can strengthen national cybersecurity infrastructure together. 

Currently, “Delaware is the only state that offers voluntary statewide cybersecurity training for state non-executive and local government employees.” Out of the 50 U.S. states, only 16 mandate cybersecurity training. Nine states lack cybersecurity training programs completely. 

Organizations are fighting to unify and structure the inconsistencies among states.

## How to Secure Critical Local and Government Data 

Beyond firewalls and antivirus software, a simple and inexpensive (compared to ransomware costs) solution is keeping backup images and copies of data. In this way, governments will have another layer of protection in case of ineffective cybersecurity. 

Security is central to software design at Macrium. Our applications give you complete control over where your data is stored and will operate fully offline for the most secure, air-tight networks.

Macrium Software provides extensive backup imaging for this reason. Check out our website to learn about installing effective backups to prevent data loss at [Macrium.com](https://www.macrium.com/ "macrium.com").


State and local governments are vulnerable to cybercriminal activity as “they collect, process, store, and transmit vast amounts of sensitive data.” The wrong hands can weaponize and misuse data. In 2020, hackers carried out 79 individual ransomware attacks against U.S. government organizations. It cost downtime and recovery of nearly $18.88 billion. Clearly, ransomware is pervasive. The attack suspended “municipal operations, ultimately disrupting infrastructure services for 911 systems, utilities, and payment platforms with state and local governments.” 

State and Local Government Cybersecurity Risks

Here in the northern hemisphere, summer has rolled round again, bringing record temperatures across Europe and North America with it. While a cold shower or an icecream might be enough to cool us down, things aren’t so simple for the devices that we trust to store our data. Have you ever wondered why data centres are so cold? The answer is slightly more complex than “to keep the IT people cool”.

We all know that excess heat is bad for our devices. You may have even seen pictures or videos of competitive overclockers using liquid nitrogen to stop their CPUs overheating, and if you haven’t: [tomshardware has got you covered](https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/how-to-competitive-overclocking-overclocker-tips,5636.html "tomshardware.com"). However, proper cooling isn’t just important for CPUs, it is also important for storage devices.

First, it can be beneficial to define what is a good temperature for a storage device. Although the exact numbers will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, some basic outlines are

Solid State Drive (SSD) - 0 °C to 60°C (32°F to 140°F)

Hard Disk Drive (HDD) - 0ºC up to 70ºC (32ºF to 158ºF)

For more information you should read the manufacturer’s specification. This example is from a [Samsung 870 EVO](https://www.samsung.com/uk/memory-storage/sata-ssd/870-evo-1tb-sata-3-2-5-ssd-mz-77e1t0b-eu/ "samsung.com"):

![20220725-why-you-should-keep-your-data-cool-this-summer.png](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/20220725_why_you_should_keep_your_data_cool_this_summer_1f814025b5.png)

What happens if the temperature of the drives rise above this? Well, basically, nothing good. Many modern devices are smart enough to monitor their own temperature via their firmware. If temperatures reach a certain level, they may throttle their own performance to prevent further overheating. Whilst this is good as it prevents the drive from further overheating and potentially damaging components, this may also lead to reduced performance including reduced I/O performance. This [large-scale case study](https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~omutlu/pub/flash-memory-failures-in-the-field-at-facebook_sigmetrics15.pdf "users.ece.cmu.edu") of flash memory failure in the field at Facebook’s datacentres notes:

_“Higher temperatures lead to increased failure rates, but do so most noticeably for SSDs that do not employ throttling techniques.”_

Not only have they noticed a correlation between shorter flash storage lifespan with higher temperature, but drives that don’t implement performance throttling at higher temperatures had noticeably shorter lifespans than their counterparts that do.

In [this whitepaper](https://aiot.innodisk.com/wp-contenthttps://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/2020/07/Achieving-Extensive-Data-Retention-in-High-Temperature-AIoT-Applications-1.pdf "aiot.innodisk.com"), innodisk also draw a correlation between temperature and a decrease in data retention. 

_“Data retention decreases in higher temperatures and with increasing program/erase (P/E) cycles as both these factors induce a higher rate of charge leakage.”_

Charge leakage occurs when the dielectric barrier designed to trap a charge in the flash cell degrades, if the dielectric degrades too much, the cell can no longer hold a charge and thus can’t be programmed. For more information about the structure of NAND flash cells, I recommend reading [this blog post](/how-do-ssds-work#:~:text=SSDs%20are%20fundamentally%20made%20up,SSD%20and%20the%20host%20interface. "macrium.com"). Higher temperatures mean that charged particles in the flash cell move more, further eroding the dielectric layer. 

As for HDDs, [in this article by Backblaze](https://www.backblaze.com/blog/hard-drive-temperature-does-it-matter/ "backblaze.com") they indicate that in their datacentre there was no significant correlation between drive temperature and drive failure rate. In their ‘Hard Drive Temperature Takeaways’ they state:

_“As long as you run drives well within their allowed range of operating temperatures, keeping them cooler doesn’t matter.”_

However, this leaves a lot of room for speculation if the HDD exceeds the operating temperature, something that might not be that difficult as temperatures spike globally, and the average user does not have datacentre cooling to rely on.

The good news, however, is that there are steps we can take to help our storage devices out. Most methods to keep data cool may seem like common sense: from keeping devices away from direct sunlight, placing the device in an area with good air circulation, to avoiding heavy workloads in high temperatures and turning the device off when not in use; there are a lot of things we can do to reduce the temperature of our devices.

On the very hottest days, if you can’t keep your storage cool, just turn it off; that’s what Google and Oracle do.

[https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-62202125](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-62202125 "bbc.com")

Keeping devices as cool as possible will not only prevent potential damage from overheating but many also improve data retention.


Here in the northern hemisphere, summer has rolled round again, bringing record temperatures across Europe and North America with it. While a cold shower or an icecream might be enough to cool us down, things aren’t so simple for the devices that we trust to store our data. Have you ever wondered why data centres are so cold? The answer is slightly more complex than “to keep the IT people cool”.

Why you should keep your data cool this summer

company

# Macrium Software one of UK’s Best Workplaces in Tech™

[Manchester, UK] The 2023 UK’s Best Workplaces in Tech™ list has been launched by Great Place To Work® UK, recognising Macrium Software among the list of organisations in the Small and Medium category.

Macrium Software’s employees anonymously reported that innovation and collaboration within the business make the company a great place to work.

> “The company culture is extremely friendly, I always feel comfortable going to my colleagues for help. Hard work is definitely recognised and management appreciates the extra effort that's made. I have felt extremely welcomed when working with different departments and have always been given help and resources when needed. It's a really nice feeling to enjoy working and knowing that I can ask for help if it is needed!”

An employee survey comment

## Great Place To Work® UK - Best Workplaces in Tech™️ list 

Now in its sixth year, the Best Workplaces in Tech™️ list celebrates companies adept at developing dynamic, collaborative cultures that serve as a catalyst for innovation and personal growth for all.
Great Place To Work® UK administered its research-backed Trust Index© employee survey and analysed the responses of UK-based tech employees to determine the Best Workplaces™ list.  

The surveys asked employees to comment on how their company supports their work-life balance, sense of fulfilment, job satisfaction, psychological safety and financial security. 

Evaluations also included an assessment of how well the organisation was able to deliver consistency of employee experience across all departments and seniority levels. 

Macrium Software is one of just five businesses in the North West to make the 2023 list in the category. The business also received Great Place to Work’s certification and featured on its .. lists earlier in 2023. 

## People are “Our Greatest Asset”

Macrium Software’s CEO, Nick Sills, said:

> “At Macrium Software, we recognise that our people are our greatest asset. We take great pride in fostering a supportive and positive working environment, where each individual can thrive and reach their full potential. We believe that by investing in our employees' professional and personal development, we can achieve the highest levels of success and innovation as a company. As a team, we are dedicated to creating a culture that values collaboration, creativity and mutual respect and we are committed to providing our employees with the resources they need to excel both in and outside of the workplace.”

## Keeping People “At the Heart of the Business”

Benedict Gautrey, Managing Director of Great Place To Work® UK said:

> “The Best Workplaces in Tech™️ list is created using the anonymous feedback collected from employees within the technology industry about their workplace experience. In one of the country’s fastest-growing industries, it’s fantastic to see these Tech organisations putting their people strategy at the heart of the business and implementing policies, practices and programmes that sustain an impactful and consistently great employee experience for all. A huge congratulations to Macrium Software for making one of our most prestigious lists.”

---ENDS---

### About Macrium Software 

Macrium Software is the industry leader in image-based backup and recovery software. We’re a vital part of digital security and business continuity plans for enterprise businesses, SMBs, and IT professionals across all industries and sectors. In a world where data is the most valuable resource, we've made it our business to protect yours. 

[www.macrium.com](https://www.macrium.com/)

Follow Macrium Software online: [Twitter](https://twitter.com/macrium), [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/paramount-software-uk-limited), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/macrium/), and [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/macrium/)

© 2023. Paramount Software UK Limited. Macrium Reflect® is a registered trademark of Paramount Software UK Limited. 

### About Great Place To Work®

Great Place To Work® is the global authority on workplace culture, on a mission to make every company a great workplace for all. Every year, they receive direct feedback from over 10 million workers around the world telling us how they really feel about their employer. 

Their survey is completely confidential and anonymous, so people can feel comfortable to be honest about their workplace, and companies can gain detailed insights into how they can better serve their people.

Only those employers who have the highest levels of trust, job satisfaction, and who empower ALL their employees to thrive both in and outside of work are awarded official Best Workplaces™ recognition.

For more information, visit [www.greatplacetowork.co.uk](https://www.greatplacetowork.co.uk/)

Macrium Software has been named as one of the UK's Best Workplaces in Tech™ by Great Place To Work®, the global authority on workplace culture.

Macrium Software one of UK’s Best Workplaces in Tech™

cybersecurity

windows-backup

macrium

disaster-recovery

# Introducing Macrium Site Manager 8.1

We’re pleased to announce that we’ve made a series of improvements to Macrium Site Manager. The latest version, Site Manager 8.1, will be available for you to use from Wednesday 14th June 2023. This update improves the user experience and includes integrations for seamless use alongside other products.

## How do I Upgrade to Macrium Site Manager 8.1?
You’ll be able to update Site Manager from Wednesday 14th June 2023. When you log in, you’ll see a notice explaining some steps you need to take before doing so. Please note - The change is not automatic. You will need to actively opt into the update by clicking the button presented to you after login.

## What’s New With Macrium Site Manager 8.1?
Here is a breakdown of the improvements we’ve made since version 8.0.

### Speed Improvements
Macrium Site Manager 8.1 includes all Reflect 8.1 changes, including speed improvements.

### Macrium Boot Media Agent
- There’s now an automatic connection to the Macrium Site Manager server. This allows server-initiated restores and full monitoring and control of all rescue media-based operations.
- You can now restrict access to rescue media to specific users or groups using the permission management systems in Macrium Site Manager, including full active directory integration.
- Auto-repository mapping reduces time to manually restore backups using Macrium Site Manager rescue media. This removes the need for the user to manually map a repository and provide server paths, username and password (for logged-in users).
### Macrium SiteDeploy Integration
- Add license keys and start trials from the improved first-run wizard for both Macrium Site Manager and Macrium SiteDeploy.
### Simplify Disaster Recovery
- For disaster recovery from rescue media, computers can automatically be identified and backups for that computer can be listed directly in the Macrium Reflect restore interface, with no manual steps required.
### Improved Interface
- Improved computers page which gives you better visibility of repository usage and easier access to backups.
- Improved intuitive rules for partition selection makes partition selection easier than ever.
- The Macrium Site Manager initiated restore wizard has been updated to make the process of restoring a computer simpler and faster.
### Post-Backup Power-Saving Options
- Better management of out-of-hours backups, with added ability to shut down, reboot or suspend computers after backup completion. This is especially the case when combined with the existing Wake-on-Lan features in Site Manager.
Find out more about the upgrades in Macrium Site Manager 8.1 in our [video demonstration](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQRHp36T4fQ) and access the [release notes here](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/MSM8/Release+Notes). 

We hope you enjoy exploring the benefits Site Manager 8.1 has to offer and encourage you to [share your thoughts](https://www.macrium.com/contact) and feedback to assist with our continual improvement programme.

The latest version of our sitewide backup system, Macrium Site Manager 8.1, is now available for you to use. Here's the improvements we've made.

Introducing Macrium Site Manager 8.1

# Data disaster stories that'll keep you up at night

Data disasters come in all shapes and sizes, from personal to global. From fires and floods to theft and old fashioned human error, it can feel like they lurk in the shadows waiting to pounce.

It’s that time of year where it’s perfectly acceptable to gather loved ones in a dark place, hold a flashlight to your chin, and tell terrifying stories all in the name of fun. So if your old ghost, ghoul, and vampire stories are getting more eye rolls than goosebumps nowadays, these tales of data loss are sure to scare the bits and bytes out of them. 

## Rattling Blockchains

In 2013, James Howells made a mistake that will probably haunt him for the rest of his life. He threw out an old, unused hard drive that’d been sitting in a drawer for years, forgetting the drive held 7,500 bitcoins. He’s tried several times to get permission from his local government to excavate the landfill where the drive most likely ended up, offering a reward of [25% of the total value if they allow him to dig](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-55658942 "www.bbc.co.uk"). 

At the time of writing, the price of bitcoin (BTC) is just over $62,000, making the lost fortune approximately $465,755,250. What a nightmare!

## Bump in the Night 

Imagine you’re a busy data analyst working for the Department of Veterans Affairs. Perhaps it was a dark and stormy night, but you had some work you needed to finish. As you’d done for years, you bring your unencrypted laptop home, complete your work, and head off to bed. But in the dead of night, a burglar [ransacks your home and steals the laptop](https://epic.org/privacy/vatheft/  "epic.org"). 

That laptop contained the personal information of 26.5 million veterans, information including Social Security numbers, birthdates, names, and even disability status. It also held the same information for over 2 million additional active duty military members. 

This is exactly what happened in 2006. The laptop was recovered and the VA says none of the information was accessed, but the consequences of what could have been are enough to send shivers down your spine. 

## Invasion of the Data Snatchers

1.1 billion. That’s how many people were potentially affected by one of the [world’s largest data leaks](https://www.zdnet.com/article/another-data-leak-hits-india-aadhaar-biometric-database/ "www.zdnet.com"). Aadhaar is India’s national ID database, and it holds a variety of incredibly sensitive data about nearly every citizen in the country. Biometric information like fingerprints and eye scans, what government services they use, even financial and commercial data is all attached to a 12-digit code. In 2017, a data leak from a state-operated utility company led to the exposure of all this info, some of it even ending up for sale on Whatsapp!

### The Library of Alexandria Massacre

In some context or another, you’ve most likely heard of the [fire that destroyed the Library of Alexandria](https://time.com/5912689/library-of-alexandria-burning/ "time.com"). For centuries we’ve lamented the loss of countless historical documents, wondered at the golden knowledge we could have built upon if it hadn’t been for such wanton destruction. 

Experts now say that the story, as we know it, is largely a combination of multiple historical events. The end result is an allegory that’s been used to teach many lessons throughout time, one of which is the importance of protecting knowledge and information we value most. The mere idea of its loss has been told as a scary story for hundreds of years. 

## 28 Days Later...

And for a data disaster that’s still unfolding, look no further than major broadcaster [Channel 4 in the UK](https://www.channel4.com/press/news/whats-happened-access-services-channel-4 "www.channel4.com"). A month ago, their broadcast center’s fire suppression system went off. Many British TV channels were temporarily affected, but because of an issue with C4’s data recovery, they lost the ability to offer access services like subtitles, audio descriptions, and sign language support. They had backups but their backups failed. It’s a frightening, and very public, reminder to practice the industry standard 3-2-1 backup strategy no matter how big or small you may be. 

## To be continued

If some of these scary tales chilled you to the bone, rest assured - they were all entirely preventable with the right data recovery plan in place. Now might be a good time to double check your backups, ensure you know what to do in case the worst happens, and get true peace of mind. It’s like turning on the lights and enjoying some Halloween candy after a good horror film!

And of course, if you’d like to chat with one of our experts to make sure you’re doing all that you can, [we’d be happy to help](/contact "Contact us").

Data disasters come in all shapes and sizes, from personal to global. From fires and floods to theft and old fashioned human error, it can feel like they lurk in the shadows waiting to pounce.

Data disaster stories that'll keep you up at night

# 2023 Data Disaster Horror Stories

This Friday the 13th, we’re taking a look at some of the biggest and scariest data disasters of 2023. But don’t let these tales cost you sleep at night! We’re also offering 20% off on Macrium Reflect Home Annual plans until Halloween. (And what’s the spooky season without some scary movies? How many references can you spot?)

## [3CX attacked in all new way](https://www.wired.com/story/3cx-supply-chain-attack-times-two "wired.com")

It's enough to make you Scream. State-sponsored attacks aren’t a new threat, but when a group associated with North Korea attacked VoIP company 3CX, they made history. Over half a million 3CX customers were affected thanks to a single employee’s PC being infected with a previously infected app. 

“This is the first time we've ever found concrete evidence of a software-supply-chain attack leading to another software-supply-chain attack,” says Mandiant Consulting's chief technology officer Charles Carmakal. “So this is very big, and very significant to us.”

Don’t Look Now, but this may be the first of many such events. 

## MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment

They’re heeeerrreee… Nope, it wasn’t a poltergeist in the slot machine, or a ghost in the elevator. Many sources point to ALPHV and Scattered Spider as the hacking groups who spun webs around two of the biggest casino resorts in the world, marking one of the biggest ransomware attacks in years. Not only were daily operations disrupted for days, the hackers were able to access personal information of many loyalty card members, including Social Security numbers. The MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment attacks have cybersecurity experts around the world doubling down on warnings about social engineering.

“[The hackers](https://fortune.com/2023/09/13/mgm-caesars-hacked-ransomware/ "fortune.com") first breached an outside IT vendor before gaining access to the company’s network…” 

Indeed, one of the most complex issues security pros face isn’t technical at all; it’s the end user. Technology like encryption and remote monitoring and management (RMM) has gotten so good, it’s becoming easier for hackers to target people themselves. Social engineering and phishing scams have always been consistent money makers for cyber criminals, but for a few days they made Las Vegas the Village of the Damned. 

## [UK Electoral Register](https://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/privacy-policy/public-notification-cyber-attack-electoral-commission-systems "electoralcommission.org.uk")

Get Out the Vote! While this one technically happened a few years ago, the public is only just finding out now. The United Kingdom's electoral registers fell victim to a “complex cyber-attack” which resulted in 40 million people’s personal information being compromised. Information like full names, email addresses, home addresses, and telephone numbers might not be critical info in of themselves, but if they were to be joined with other personal information gleaned in other ways, it certainly adds a few important pieces to the jigsaw puzzle that is our personal lives.  

## [Is AI already a hacking threat?](https://www.grantthornton.com/insights/articles/advisory/2023/anticipate-cybersecurity-and-privacy-risks-in-ai "grantthornton.com")

If 2023 tech had to be summed up all we’d need is two little letters: AI. A tsunami of hype and fear and speculation seemed to wash over all corners of the planet as ChatGPT and other AI platforms filled the social conversation. It really did seem like it was everywhere all at once. 

It’s not that an AI itself could start posing a direct threat (yet), but that its ease of use has made scamming so much easier for hackers around the world. Not only can they use AI to scale their schemes faster, but the software’s abilities help make the language they use in phishing emails sound native and natural. This means that even the most suspicious of us could fall victim, and parts of the world that have largely been ignored due to difficult language barriers are at greater risk. 

And all that’s not even touching on the Frankenstein’s Monster of Deepfake video and audio that looms in the future. 

## Natural disasters in the US

Beware The Fog and The Mist aren’t exactly threatening, but it’s important to note that not all data disasters are malicious. Natural disasters like fires, floods, earthquakes and hurricanes can have devastating consequences on life and property. But if data systems aren’t properly protected, that destruction may be even further reaching. 

From January 2023 to date, the United States alone has experienced over [23 separate billion dollar disasters](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/12/climate/billion-dollar-disasters.html "nytimes.com"). That’s over [$57 billion in damages](https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/11/2023-severe-weather-57-billion-in-damage-and-253-people-dead-so-far.html "cnbc.com"), with a few months of the year left to go. As our climate changes and weather becomes more severe, it’s important to prepare for the unpredictable. 

## Avoid the Nightmare

If you’re ready to Let the Right One In and join millions of others who trust Macrium with their data, now is a great time to get started with our [Reflect Home Annual plan](/halloween). From now until October 31st, you can get your subscription for 20% off. That means you’ll get access to exclusive support, a free setup call with one of our team, all updates and fixes, plus entry to our customer forum and knowledgebase. 

And if you can’t get enough of the scary stories, be sure to check out our [previous posts](/blog?tag=halloween "macrium.com/blog")!

This Friday the 13th, we’re taking a look at some of the biggest and scariest data disasters of 2023. But don’t let these tales cost you sleep at night! We’re also offering 20% off on Macrium Reflect Home Annual plans until Halloween. (And what’s the spooky season without some scary movies? How many references can you spot?)

2023 Data Disaster Horror Stories

# How to avoid backup nightmares this Halloween

From accidental deletion to hardware failure, theft and malware, there are many ways to lose your valuable data aside from ghoulish foul play.

We have put together a few things to think about to help you setup your backup.

Remember, any backup is better than no backup; start off simple and optimise later but _do it today_.

## What should I backup?

You have two options. They have different attributes. Depending on what you want to protect choose either one or both for the following.

*   **Image** This will contain everything on your hard disk. If your disk fails or your computer is lost, you can use this to restore everything to new, booting hardware.  
    You can mount or open this backup file as a virtual drive and open or copy out file.  
    If you are using a compatible windows version, you can [instantly boot](/viboot) a backup as a virtual machine.
*   **File and Folder** This enables selective backup of folders or specific file types. For example, you may want to just backup your documents folder.  
    A file and folder backup is roughly analogous to a very high performance zip archive with the same Macrium backup features as for image backups.

## Where should I save my backups?

*   [**USB disk**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_enclosure) This is quick and cost effective solution. You can also [rotate](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Alternative+Locations+For+Backups) two or more devices, keeping one in a separate location.
*   [**USB memory stick**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive) These devices are fine for your bootable rescue environment, but are typically too small and too slow for efficient backup file storage.
*   [**NAS**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network-attached_storage) This is more expensive than a USB disk but is more convenient; you have nothing to plug it, and you can share it between multiple computers.
*   [**Cloud**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_storage) Hosted remote storage removes the risk of hardware failure, fire, flood or theft. However, it is slower and can be prohibitively expensive for large files such as image backups.

You may want to consider a hybrid, storing large image backups on a USB disk and keeping a copy of your, smaller, file and folder backups of your documents in the cloud.

## When should I backup

Automate your backups with a [backup plan](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Scheduling+backups). A backup plan is a combination of a schedule, sequencing and maintenance of the backup chain (purging or consolidating the oldest backup points).

To simplify the process, Macrium Reflect Home includes predefined plans. Read more [here](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Scheduling+backups).

## How to keep your backups safe

*   **Fire and theft**: Rotate your backups, storing one device in an alternate location
*   **Malware**: Use [**MIG**](https://www.macrium.com/mig) and apply all security updates
*   **Corruption**: [**Verify**](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW7/Verifying+image+and+backup+files) your backups and make a 2nd copy
*   **Encyption**: Use AES to prevent anybody else accessing your data

## What to do when things go wrong

This is why we backup, and yet is often overlooked. There are three basic scenarios:

*   **Recover a deleted or corrupted file**: [Choose](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Browsing+Macrium+Reflect+images+and+backups+in+Windows+Explorer) a backup, [mount](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Browsing+Macrium+Reflect+images+and+backups+in+Windows+Explorer) it and copy out the file.
*   **My computer boots but something is broken** : [Choose](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Restoring+a+system+image) a backup, and select restore.
*   **My computer won’t boot :** In this case, don’t panic, you can [boot](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Restoring+an+image+from+within+the+Rescue+Media) your rescue media. This contains a number of tools to directly [fix booting issues](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Fixing+Windows+boot+problems) and restore an image backup to the same, or [new hardware](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Re-deploying+to+new+hardware).

It is important to test that you can boot your rescue media. Don’t forget to check that you can access your backups and your system volume (c:\\) from the rescue media. You should also check that you can mount a backup.

## Summary

If you only do one thing today, setup your backup. And [build rescue media](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/Creating+rescue+media). OK, that is two things.

Please read the [KnowledgeBase](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW72/) including the [quick start guide](https://knowledgebase.macrium.com/display/KNOW7/Macrium+Reflect+Quick+Start). We also have a range of [videos](https://www.macrium.com/resources/videos) illustrating common usage of Macrium Reflect.

### Buy Macrium Reflect Home

For a fully featured backup, you should consider purchasing [Macrium Reflect Home](/products/home).

From accidental deletion to hardware failure, theft and malware, there are many

How to avoid backup nightmares this Halloween

The retail industry is not exempt from cyberattacks. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed shopping from in-store to online. However, our overall reliance on digital technology has transformed retail. Cyberattacks cost retailers millions of dollars in ransomware prices. With today’s digitally focused business environment, investing in cybersecurity is a top priority.

Let’s review the current state of cybersecurity in retail and how preparation can save this sector from corrupt hackers.  

## How Is Retail a Target for Cyberattacks?

A main driving force for why cyber attackers target the retail industry is customer information. Credit card payments and personal information are highly advantageous to cybercriminals. Storing online data to re-enter shopping accounts is risky if there is not proper cybersecurity established. 

![1406759_Retail-Graphic-1-1_080122.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/1406759_Retail_Graphic_1_1_080122_4cd6d06fba.jpg)

IT Pro published an article about [why retail is ranking in cyberattacks](https://www.itpro.com/security/cyber-security/360747/why-retailers-are-the-most-targeted-sector-for-cyber-attacks "itpro.com"). Criminals who have access to customer databases “can send phishing emails pretending to be a legitimate business.” At this time, they can “ask for personal details, send malicious links, or include malware that can wreak havoc on a customer’s PC.” 

The article also signifies this risk is not exclusive to online shopping. The Internet of Things (IoT) is practicable in today’s business environment. Physical objects integrate with technology to be more available and adaptable. IoT devices in the retail industry include point of sales (PoS) systems and security cameras. As they incorporate technology features, there is more access for hackers. Malware-infected PoS systems are a threat to the private information of businesses and customers.

Progressive technology gives cyber attackers multiple points of entry. The retail industry can avoid costly repairs and preserve the image of its business. For either online shopping or in-person, establishing basic cybersecurity protocols is a preventative defense. 

[The Consumer Goods Forum](https://www.theconsumergoodsforum.com/global-learning-mechanism-resources/cyber-attacks-the-increasing-risk-for-retail/ "theconsumergoodsforum.com") reports that “retail is more vulnerable to cyberattacks due to the nature of its online traffic and the design of its e-commerce websites.” Phones, stored customer data such as payments and personally-identifying information, and online shopping convenience make enforcing cybersecurity a challenge.

User-friendliness is a conflict. Retailers worry that “robust security measures can make the purchasing process seem time consuming and difficult, driving customers to abandon purchases.” If a customer-focused retail approach overshadows security measures, hackers will continue to plague retail industries. This is one obstacle the retail industry encounters when balancing between security and customer satisfaction. 

However, retailers who have not yet experienced cyberattacks or are unaware of current threats will soon realize that it’s not one of the other. Cybersecurity plays a considerable role in the authority, trustworthiness, and reliability of a company. In the worst cases, customers will leave a company when their personal security is at risk. 

![1406766_Retail-Graphic-2-1_080122.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/1406766_Retail_Graphic_2_1_080122_770d7c7acb.jpg)

## Aftermath of Ransomware on the Retail Industry

Beyond the first sting of a cyberattack hit, there are other consequences that ruin a business. [Retail Touchpoints](https://www.retailtouchpoints.com/blog/cybersecurity-data-privacy-and-esg-highlight-risk-trends-for-retail-and-consumer-markets "retailtouchpoints.com") lists five impacts regulations and investigations have on retail companies:

*   Financial exposure
*   Reputational risk
*   Limited options given the optics of litigating against the government
*   Time and resource-intensive
*   Business disruption

These impacts are critical for retail businesses to see that there are not only financial losses, “but also the potential for brand damage and loss of data.” The article shares two types of data: customer-related and intellectual property linked to confidential business operations. 

Online shopping opens the doors for us to purchase global goods and services. The U.S. economic regulations don’t always agree with those in Spain or the Netherlands. Cybersecurity practices from one country to another can lead to gaps in cyber safety across the marketplace. Along with the changing landscape of how technology is distributed and used in retail, it can be hard to keep up and maintain standardized cybersecurity. 

![1406779_Retail-Graphic-3-1_080222.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/1406779_Retail_Graphic_3_1_080222_efe22548db.jpg)

## What Are the Responses for Ransomware and Encryption in Retail?

[The Sophos’ State of Ransomware in Retail 2021](https://assets.sophos.com/X24WTUEQ/at/8c5hfmh8h8w3sh72b8v65hr/sophos-state-of-ransomware-retail-2021-wp.pdf "assets.sophos.com") (PDF) surveyed “5,400 IT managers across 30 countries [with] 435 respondents from [the] retail sector.” The key findings from the survey showed: 

*   Ransomware hit 44% of retail organizations in 2021
*   Cybercriminals encrypted 54% of organizations’ data after a ransomware attack
*   32% of businesses paid the ransom after their data was encrypted
*   On average, ransom payments cost US$147,811
*   Most often, only 67% of data is recovered when businesses pay the ransom
*   The average bill to resolve a ransomware attack is US$1.97 million for retailers who must factor in lost opportunity, downtime, network cost, device cost, ransom paid, and people time
*   For retailers who went through encryption, 56% use backups to restore data
*   Compared to the global average, the retail industry isn’t as equipped with encryption prevention: 34% vs 39%
*   The global average for cyberattack preparation is 82%, while the retail industry is only 78% 
*   50% of retail respondents who don’t believe they will be attacked are relying on strategies proven ineffective from ransomware
*   13% of participants do not have any concerns about ransomware

![1406785_Retail-Graphic-4-1_080222.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/1406785_Retail_Graphic_4_1_080222_d32fed45ed.jpg)

Among the recommendations Sophos provides the retail industry, they suggest making backups. In the line of defense, backup is a crucial aspect. They point to the downfall of losing data, regardless of paying the ransom. As there is rarely a full data recovery from cyberattacks, having backups is reassuring. 

Firewalls may fail and cybercriminals are becoming far more advanced than existing infrastructure security. Even with layers of cybersecurity protection, once a hack occurs, backups can redeem stolen data. They may eliminate the need to pay the ransomware.

The report also referenced the “3-2-1” backup plan. Companies should have three separate copies, two types of backups, and one offline and offsite copy that cyberattackers can’t reach.

Security is central to software design at Macrium. Our applications give you complete control over where your data is stored and will operate fully offline for the most secure, air-tight networks.

Macrium Software is a backup and image recovery solution. Along with other malware plans and protection software, backups are valuable ways to keep data despite malicious cyber activity. Check out our website to learn about installing effective backups to prevent data loss at [Macrium.com](https://www.macrium.com "macrium.com/8-home").

20220801-the-retail-industry-and-cybersecurity-risks.png

The retail industry is not exempt from cyberattacks. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed shopping from in-store to online. However, our overall reliance on digital technology has transformed retail. Cyberattacks cost retailers millions of dollars in ransomware prices. With today’s digitally focused business environment, investing in cybersecurity is a top priority.

The Retail Industry and Cybersecurity Risks

# Macrium Software Wins 'Small Business of the Year' at the Prolific North Tech Awards

Macrium Software, the industry leader in image-based backup and recovery software, has been awarded 'Small Business of the Year' at the 2023 [Prolific North Tech awards](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/awards/tech-awards/). 

Organised and hosted by Prolific North, the North's independent news and events publisher for the digital and creative sectors, the tech awards are now in their fifth year. They celebrate the innovation, achievements and success of businesses and entrepreneurs across the region. 

## The 2023 Awards Ceremony

The [awards ceremony](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/awards/tech-awards/tech-awards-2023-event-and-tickets/), which took place on Thursday 9th November at Manchester United Football Club’s stadium in Old Trafford, brought together industry leaders, entrepreneurs and innovators. 

Hosted by actor and presenter Tom Wells, the awards were sponsored by companies such as [Bruntwood SciTech](https://bruntwood.co.uk/scitech/), [FinTech North](https://www.fintechnorth.uk/) and [The Growth Company](https://www.gceducationandskills.ac.uk/). 

The panel of over [20 judges](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/news/meet-the-prolific-north-tech-awards-judges-2023/) hailed from a diverse range of organisations, including Booking.com, FatFace, Manchester Metropolitan University, UKBlackTech and SkyParlour. 

## About the Award

'Small Business of the Year' was sponsored by private equity investor [YFM Equity Partners ](https://yfmep.com/) in 2023. It aims to recognise small businesses demonstrating consistent growth, commitment to innovation and positive contributions to the industry and tech community in the North.

Macrium Software, which was nominated alongside seven other businesses, was commended by the judges for its drive to set and achieve ambitious targets, its determination to adapt to a rapidly evolving tech landscape and an unwavering commitment to providing the highest quality solutions and support to its clients.

## A Word From Our CEO

"We’re honoured to have been awarded 'Small Business of the Year' at the Prolific North Tech awards,” said Nick Sills, CEO of Macrium Software. 

“This achievement is testimony to the hard work, determination and successes of our team in 2023. We look forward to continuing this momentum in 2024 and beyond."

"Congratulations to all those nominated, thanks to the judges for giving their time and expertise and well done to Prolific North for hosting another successful ceremony and its continued efforts to celebrate the North.”

## A Defining Year for Macrium Software

In 2023, the business launched OS imaging and deployment solution [Macrium SiteDeploy®](https://www.macrium.com/products/business/technicians/sitedeploy-imaging-deployment-software), its first new product in six years. It also met increasing demand for more flexible payment options by introducing a subscription service. 

June saw the company [announce updates](https://www.macrium.com/blog/introducing-site-manager-8-1) to its product [Site Manager](https://www.macrium.com/site-manager), enhancing its capabilities according to client feedback, while improving user experience.  

Macrium also achieved three recognitions from [Great Place To Work®](https://www.greatplacetowork.co.uk/), the global authority on workplace culture, in 2023. These included [Best Workplaces in Tech™️](https://www.macrium.com/blog/uk-best-workplaces-tech-2023), counting itself among one of only five businesses in the North West to make the list in the category. 

## Further Info on the 2023 Prolific North Tech Awards

- View the full 2023 shortlist [here](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/awards/tech-awards/techawards-2023shortlist/)
- Access the 2023 winners list [here](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/tech-awards-2023-winners/)
- Browse the awards ceremony photo gallery [here](https://www.flickr.com/photos/193772232@N03/albums/72177720312564285)

### About Prolific North

Prolific North exists to celebrate, connect and inform the North’s creative and digital sectors. With a focus on providing insightful content and hosting industry events, Prolific North plays a pivotal role in fostering collaboration and recognising excellence in the regional business landscape. [https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/ ](https://www.prolificnorth.co.uk/)

### About Macrium Software

Macrium Software is the industry leader in image-based backup and recovery software. We’re a vital part of digital security and business continuity plans for enterprise businesses, SMBs and IT professionals across all industries and sectors. In a world where data is the most valuable resource, we’ve made it our business to protect yours. ©2023 Macrium®. Macrium Software is a trading name of Paramount Software UK Ltd. [https://www.macrium.com/](https://www.macrium.com/)






Macrium-Software-Small-Company-of-The-Year-Nov-Prolific-North-Awards-2023.png

Backup and recovery industry leader Macrium Software has been awarded 'Small Business of the Year' at the 2023 Prolific North Tech awards.

Macrium Software Wins 'Small Business of the Year' Award

# Macrium Software Announces Partnership with Aquion

Macrium Software, the industry leader in image-based backup, recovery and OS deployment solutions, has announced its partnership with value-added IT distributor Aquion. 

Covering Australasia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific (APAC), Aquion will assist Macrium Software in developing new relationships and supporting existing resellers and partners in the region. 

As Macrium Software continues to build its channel sales programme, Aquion will play a key role in bringing the business’ solutions, including [Macrium SiteDeploy®](https://www.macrium.com/products/business/technicians/sitedeploy-imaging-deployment-software), [Macrium Site Manager](https://www.macrium.com/site-manager) and flagship product [Macrium Reflect®](https://www.macrium.com/products/business/standalone/workstation) to resellers and end users in APAC. 

![A photograph of Sydney Harbour Bridge](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/Sydney_Adobe_Stock_325725372_93eb9a2dc8.jpeg)

Based in Sydney, Australia, [Aquion](https://www.aquion.com.au/) is a well-established value-added distributor with a broad portfolio of solutions and excellent sales support. 

Stephen Macpherson, Global Sales Director at Macrium Software, said: “We’re delighted to announce our partnership with Aquion. This will enable us to bring our software to the region at a time when quality data security, backup and deployment solutions are in more demand than ever. APAC is a key region and holds a lot of potential for growth. We look forward to a long and fruitful partnership with Aquion, forging new relationships and offering our APAC resellers a seamless changeover. “

"We're pleased to announce that Aquion will now distribute Macrium products in Australia and New Zealand. Macrium's reputation for fast, efficient backup and disk imaging solutions aligns with our dedication to offering dependable tools. Their proven track record in data protection is a clear indication of the value we aim to deliver to our customers through this partnership," stated Stephen Balicki, CEO of Aquion. 

--- ENDS ---

#### Contact
- Macrium Account Manager: Maytrik Thaker                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
- Email: mthaker@aquion.com.au                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      
- Phone: 1300 000 480 (within Australia) or +61 2 8036-8000 (from overseas)

#### About Macrium Software
Macrium Software is the industry leader in image-based backup and recovery software. We’re a vital part of digital security and business continuity plans for enterprise businesses, SMBs, and IT professionals across all industries and sectors. In a world where data is the most valuable resource, we've made it our business to protect yours. www.macrium.com

#### About Aquion 
At Aquion, we take pride in identifying and introducing innovative vendors to the market and developing strong revenue streams through our Enterprise channels in ANZ/APAC. We specialise in delivering tailored software distribution solutions, catering to specific needs rather than broad, mass-market volume. As a value-added software distributor, our expertise lies in market development, business development, customised sourcing, efficient software licensing management and the seamless management of renewals for our resellers. https://www.aquion.com.au/  

© 2023. Paramount Software UK Limited. Macrium Reflect® is a registered trademark of Paramount Software UK Limited.


Macrium-Software-Aquion-Partnership-Announcement-1200-600px.png

Macrium Software, the industry leader in image-based backup, recovery and OS deployment solutions, has announced a new partnership with Aquion.  

Macrium Software Announces New Partnership with Aquion

2023-data-disaster-horror-stories.png

Macrium Software Great Place To Work Tech Sept 2023

Macrium-Software-Great-Place-To-Work-Tech-Sept-2023-1200x630.jpg

# What is a Sysadmin? Celebrating the Quiet Heroes of IT

Today is system administrator (sysadmin) [appreciation day](https://sysadminday.com/). As a company operating in the tech industry, we want to stop and highlight the crucial, but often underappreciated, work of these professionals that keep our computers and servers alive, our people in communication and organisations around the world in business.

In this blog post, we will delve into the world of sysadmins, explore their roles and the traits that make them successful. For those curious about a career in this field, we’ll also provide insights into how to get ahead in the profession.

## What Does a Sysadmin Do?

Sysadmins are so ubiquitous and manage so many tasks that it’d be easier to ask, “what don’t they do?” But here are some of the responsibilities their roles may cover on a daily basis. 

![Macrium-Software-Sysadmin-Day-Graphic-LinkedIn-Twitter-1200x627-July-2023-01.jpg](https://strapistoragemacrium.blob.core.windows.net/strapi-uploads/uploads/Macrium_Software_Sysadmin_Day_Graphic_Linked_In_Twitter_1200x627_July_2023_01_60939b1463.jpg)

### Build Machines

A fundamental task of a sysadmin is building and configuring machines that meet their business’ specific needs. This includes setting up workstations, servers and other hardware components, ensuring they function optimally to support the company’s operations.

### Data Security

Data security is crucial in today's digital landscape. Sysadmins play a critical role in implementing and maintaining security measures to safeguard sensitive information from unauthorized access, data breaches and cyber threats.

### Virus Protection

Protecting systems from viruses and malware is an ongoing battle. Sysadmins are responsible for installing and managing antivirus software, conducting regular scans and promptly responding to any security threats that may arise.

### Write Code

Automation is key to improving efficiency. Sysadmins often write code or use scripting languages to automate repetitive tasks, manage configurations and streamline a business’ processes.

### Keep Users Connected

Sysadmins are the bridge between technology and end users. They provide technical support, troubleshoot issues and ensure that users can connect and collaborate seamlessly.

### Maintain Servers

Maintaining servers is a core responsibility of sysadmins. They monitor server performance, address hardware and software issues and ensure that critical systems operate smoothly.

### Configure Servers

Sysadmins also configure servers, which involves setting up user accounts, managing permissions and optimizing server performance.

### Update Servers

Keeping software and operating systems updated is vital to their security and performance. Sysadmins are responsible for applying patches and updates to servers and other systems to ensure they remain secure and efficient.

## What Traits Do You Need to Be a Successful Sysadmin?

Being a sysadmin requires a unique set of traits that go beyond technical skills. Successful sysadmins possess a combination of technical expertise and personal qualities that allow them to excel in their roles. Essential traits a sysadmin needs include the following. 

### Clear Communication

Effective communication is essential for sysadmins, as they often need to explain technical concepts to non-technical users. Clear and concise communication helps them provide instructions, troubleshoot issues and collaborate across teams.

### Responsiveness

In the fast-paced world of IT, being responsive to user requests and technical issues couldn’t be more important. A successful sysadmin promptly addresses problems and ensures minimal downtime to keep business operations running smoothly.

### Curiosity

Curiosity drives sysadmins to continuously learn and explore new technologies. Staying curious enables them to adapt to the ever-changing IT landscape and find innovative solutions to complex problems.

### Problem Solving

Sysadmins are natural problem solvers. They possess the ability to analyze issues, identify root causes and implement effective solutions to resolve technical challenges as quickly and painlessly as possible.

### Proactiveness

Being proactive is essential for Sysadmins. It allows them to anticipate potential problems and address them before they escalate. Proactive sysadmins implement preventive measures and monitor systems to prevent issues from occurring in the first place.

### Patience

Technical issues are frustrating and sysadmins often encounter complex problems that require patience and time to solve. Patience and persistence are essential traits for a sysadmin, equipping them to work through challenges methodically and solve problems - both for users and themselves.

## How Can I Become a Sysadmin?

If the role of a system administrator has your attention, there are various skills you can build and paths you can take to embark on a career in this much-demanded area.

- **Education and Training:** Pursue a degree or certification in computer science, IT or a related field. Formal education provides a strong foundation in IT principles and concepts.
- **Gain Technical Experience:** Obtain hands-on experience with computer systems, networks and operating systems. Internships, volunteer work, or personal projects can help you build practical skills.
- **Develop Problem-Solving Skills:** Nurture your problem-solving skills by tackling technical challenges and finding creative, independent solutions to common challenges.
- **Learn Scripting and Automation:** Automation is a key aspect of sysadmin work. Familiarize yourself with scripting languages like [Python](https://www.python.org/), [PowerShell](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PowerShell) or [Bash](https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/bash-scripting-tutorial-linux-shell-script-and-command-line-for-beginners/). 
- **Networking and Collaboration:** Join IT groups, network within communities, attend industry events and connect with professionals in the field to expand your network and learn from experienced sysadmins.
- **Certifications:** Consider completing industry recognized certifications like [CompTIA](https://www.comptia.org/) [Network+](https://www.comptia.org/certifications/network) etc. These certifications validate your skills, catch the attention of recruiters and ultimately, make you more attractive to employers.
- **Stay Updated:** Keep yourself informed about the latest trends and developments in IT by reading [tech blogs](https://techworldtimes.com/top-technology-blogs/), attending webinars, listening to [podcasts](https://explodingtopics.com/blog/tech-podcasts) and exploring online resources.

## Happy Sysadmin Day - Explore Our Open Roles

We hope this blog shows our appreciation for sysadmins everywhere - thank you for all you do! If you’re looking for a career in IT, we invite you to explore our open roles - take a look and apply [here](https://www.macrium.com/careers-and-culture). 

Macrium-Software-Sysadmin-Day-Blog-Hero-July-2023.jpg

Join us in celebrating sysadmin day as we highlight the quiet heroes of IT,  what it is they do and what it takes to become a successful sysadmin. 

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