A couple of weeks ago, my colleague and endpoint protection guru Greg White blogged about the free CommVault Edge software trial we launched in response to requests for a way to gain a better understanding of the end-user experience of endpoint data protection and anywhere access to your information. You can read more about the free software trial in Greg’s blog.
Given the amount of interest the free trial has generated and to help ensure you get the most out of it when you sign up, I wanted to give you my list of the top 5 cool things you should try out with step-by-step instructions.
No.1: First things first – Kicking off a backup
The Backup Monitor runs on the laptop or desktop you are protecting with the CommVault Edge client. You can get details on recent and upcoming backup jobs, manually kick off a backup and open the Web Console where you can get more detailed information and restore files. The first backup will occur per the set schedule, or you can start an unscheduled backup at any time.
- Windows OS: Click on the CommVault Edge Backup Monitor icon in the system tray and select “Backup Now”.
- Mac OS: Click on “Backup Now” on the Backup Monitor application located within Applications Directory on your computer.
No.2: Browse Versions and Restore Files Natively in Microsoft Windows Explorer
If you are on Windows 7 or 8, you can enable integration of CommVault Edge with Windows Explorer so that you can see the protection status of your files, view available versions for restore and restore a file directly, without having to go through the Web Console. Follow the steps given below to enable the Windows Explorer Plug-In for your client:
- Click the Start button on the Windows task bar and then click All Programs.
- Select CommVault from the Programs menu and click Process Manager.
- Click the Plugin tab and select Enable Plugin.
- Click Refresh to refresh the Client Page Cache on the client. (For Refresh operation to complete successfully, ensure that you are connected to the internet)
Restore Individual files
- Open Windows Explorer.
- Right-click the backed up file that needs to be restored.
- Select Edge and click View All Versions.
- Select the version you want to restore
View the demo for the Windows Explorer integration and other capabilities.
No.3: Restore files through the Web Console
- You can access the Web Console on your protected PC through the Backup Monitor as well as through any device with internet access by going here and entering your login credentials. Once you select “Restore Files” and browse or search for the file you want to recover, you will have the option to download or restore the file to whatever location you prefer, and you can even view all the protected versions of the file in case you want to go back to a version that isn’t the most recent one on your hard drive or that has been overwritten.
- Check out a demo of the Web Console and other capabilities.
No.4: Access Your Data On-the-Go from All Your Mobile Devices
- Download the mobile app by searching for “CommVault Edge” in the app store for your Android, iOS and Windows 8 devices. Instructions for setting up the app and additional download locations can be found here.
- Check out a demo of the mobile app to learn more about securely accessing your protected data from virtually anywhere.
No.5: Automatically Sync Files Across Multiple PCs for Rapid Access No Matter Where They Were Created
- You can set up automatic sync of files across multiple PCs in the web console. First, you will need to install CommVault Edge on your 2nd system following the same instructions from your initial setup. Once that is complete, you can click on “My Data” in the upper left corner of the web console screen then on “Add Sync Folder” at the bottom.
- Select the CommVault_Trial folder and 2-way or 1-way sync and turn it on. Now files in that folder will be synchronized between your protected PCs and available through the mobile app.
- Check out a demo for sync and other capabilities.
Hopefully these tips gave you an idea of what you can experience during your CommVault Edge free software trial. For more end-user operations information on Edge, visit our Books Online.
If you haven’t signed up yet, go here to check it out – Enjoy!
Steven Luong is senior manager of product marketing for Edge solutions at CommVault. This post was originally published at CommVault Blog.
