Windows

You can add new Windows computers to Active Backup for Business, create backup tasks for the computers, restore backup data, and manage these computers on this page. You need to install Active Backup for Business Agent on your computers to perform backups for them.

Create Backup Tasks

Before you create a backup task, install Active Backup for Business Agent on your computer and connect the computer to your Synology NAS via the agent. Your computer will be listed at Personal Computer > Windows, where you can manage it.

To add a Windows computer to the device list:

Install Active Backup for Business Agent on the computer you want to protect. Go to the Download Center, select your product model, and download the Active Backup for Business Agent 32-bit or 64-bit installer for the computer.

Note:

To create a backup task:

Once the agent is installed on the computer that is connected to Synology NAS, a backup task will be created according to the matched template. You can also create more than one backup task for each device.

  1. Do either of the following to start the backup creation wizard:
  2. Select Target Device:

    This step only appears if no device is selected before you click Create. A list of computers already connected to the server will be displayed in this step.

  3. Configure Task Settings:
  4. Backup Destination:

    Select a shared folder in Btrfs file system as the backup destination. During the package installation, the Btrfs shared folder "ActiveBackupforBusiness" will be created automatically.

  5. Backup Destination Settings: When creating the first task in a backup destination, you can configure compression and encryption settings of the backup destination in this step.

    Note:

    • If you have also configured traffic throttling on the Settings page, the actual data transmission rate will depend on distributed bandwidth.
    • If your device is Modern Standby-capable, Active Backup for Business cannot wake the device from sleep to perform backups due to the operating system's limitations.
    • The compression and encryption settings of a backup destination are not changeable after the first backup task is created. If you wish to use different settings for future tasks, please create a task in a new destination.
    • Backup verification is not supported when compression or encryption at backup destination is enabled.
    • Instant Restore to Microsoft Hyper-V or Synology Virtual Machine Manager is not supported when compression or encryption at backup destination is enabled.
  6. Schedule Backup Task:
  7. Select Retention Policy:

    In this step, you can choose either one of the following retention policy to apply to the created task:

  8. Backup now:

    The wizard allows an immediate backup regardless of the schedule.

Note:

Restore Personal Computers

You can restore individual files and folders as well as the entire device after the computers are backed up.

To restore individual files and folders:

Personal computer backup supports granular (file- and folder-level) restore through Active Backup for Business Portal. Package managers are able to delegate the restore permission to each end user through DSM Control Panel. For more information, please refer to the help article: Active Backup for Business Portal.

To restore the entire device:

Entire device restore is available with a recovery media. To restore the entire device or the backed-up volume, please create a recovery media in advance. You can refer this creation guide to learn how to use Synology Active Backup for Business Recovery Media Creator to create a media automatically or create a customized media. You can download Synology Active Backup for Business Recovery Media Creator in Download Center. For more information on restoring the entire device, please refer to this article.

Note:

Manage Devices

To delete a device:

  1. On Personal Computer > Windows, select the device you want to delete and click Delete.
  2. Keep in mind that the selected computer's backups will also be deleted. Click Confirm Deletion to remove the computer from the device list.

To update the agent on the computer:

When there is a newer version of the agent, you can update the agents on source computers by installing the new version. Package managers can update the agents on multiple computers at once from the admin console. They can also update the agents with Microsoft Windows Active Directory Domain Services.

To back up a personal computer as a physical server:

The available restoration methods between personal computers and physical servers are different. If you want to instantly restore your personal computer as a virtual machine, or restore the computer to a virtual platform, you can change the device type into a physical server.

  1. Select a device and click More.
  2. Click Change device type.

After that, the same device will be moved to the device list on the Physical Server page.