Frequently Asked Questions

Cloud Manage

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General

Cloud Replication and Storage

Cloud Virtualization

Two-factor Authentication

Can I access my IDrive BMR devices from an external network?

Yes, you can access all the IDrive BMR devices registered under your account from any external / internal network via Cloud Manage.

To connect to your IDrive BMR device,

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console. The 'BMR Devices' tab displays all the devices linked to your account.
   If any device appears offline, click to update the status.
   Note: The refresh option is displayed only for IDrive BMR version 8.4.0 and above.
2. Click 'Connect' corresponding to the required device.
   
   
   A browser-based access to the device web interface is launched via a new tab.

   From here, you can perform local backups, create restore points, view logs, and also monitor the health of the devices on the device. For more information, refer to the Local Backup FAQs.

   Note: In the case of IDrive BMR devices with firmware version 8.3.0 or older, access to the device web interface is established via a remote access window.

3. Click 'Cloud Replication' to view the cloud replication statuses and manage the cloud backup recovery points of individual physical and VMware machines on the IDrive BMR device. Click 'Cloud Virtualization' to access and create cloud virtual instances associated with the IDrive BMR device.

Can I edit the IDrive BMR device name?

Yes, you can change the IDrive BMR device name.

To update the device name,

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console.
2. The 'BMR Devices' tab is displayed. Click corresponding to the required IDrive BMR device.
3. Enter a new name for the device in the pop-up and click 'Update'.
   

   Note: The device name should be between 4 - 30 characters and can contain letters (a-z), numbers (0-9), hyphen (-), and underscore (_).

Where can I view device information?

You can view the backup and storage information associated with a device in the 'Device Information' section.

To view these details,

1. Sign in to your IDrive BMR web console.
2. Click corresponding to the required IDrive BMR device and select 'Device Information'. This will open a new screen.
   
3. The 'Physical Machine' tab will display the local backup details of all the computers backed up to the IDrive BMR device. The local and cloud storage with respect to computer backups will be displayed at the top.
   
   
   Similarly, you can view the VMware backup information in the respective tab.

How do I manage my IDrive BMR account online?

Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console. The IDrive BMR web console is divided into the following sections:

• BMR Devices - Connect to your IDrive BMR devices via any network from this tab. You can also view the device details, edit the device name, monitor the last 10 local and cloud backups of a device, and manage the cloud replication recovery points.
• File Backup - Secure Linux, Macs, PCs, and mobile devices using the available cloud space.
• IDrive BMR Express™ - Fill out a shipment form to place an order for the IDrive BMR Express device.
• Web Logs - View web activity logs of your account on this tab.
• View Tickets - View and track the support tickets for your account.
• My Account - This section lets you view and update profile information and your credit card details. Here, you can also enable or disable two-factor authentication for your account.
• Cloud Retention Policy - Manage your cloud data retention by specifying the duration for retaining the full and incremental image backups.

Where can I view the web activity logs of my account?

You can view the web activity logs of your account from the 'Web Logs' tab. Information such as activities performed, the date and time of the activity, and the IP address of the computer will be displayed.

To view the web activity logs,

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console.
2. Click 'Web Logs' displayed on the left navigation bar. The activities performed in the current month will be displayed by default.

3. Set a ‘Start Date’ and ‘End Date’ in the filter and click 'View Report' to view the logs for a specific period.

Where can I view the support tickets for my account?

You can view the support tickets for your account in the 'View Tickets' tab of the IDrive BMR web console.

To view the support tickets,

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console.
2. Navigate to the 'View Tickets' tab. All support tickets associated with your account are displayed here with information such as the ticket ID, subject, last updated time, and status.
   
3. Enter the ticket ID in the search bar to view a specific ticket.
   
4. Click on the ticket ID for more details.
   

You can also filter the tickets based on their status.

I subscribed to IDrive BMR via a Partner. Can I disable my Partner's access to my IDrive BMR device?

Yes, you can disable your Partner's access to your IDrive BMR device. Navigate to 'Settings' > 'Control Panel' > 'Partner Manage' and move the slider toggle to read 'Disabled'.

How do I add and manage users in my IDrive BMR Account?

Add users to your IDrive BMR account by sending email invites. All the newly added user accounts will be linked to the main account.

To add users,

1. Sign in to IDrive BMR web console.
2. Go to the 'Users' tab and click 'Add Users'. The 'Add Users' slider will open.
3. Enter the email address(es) for the invite. You can add up to 20 email addresses.
4. Select 'Make as Admin' if you want to allow the user unrestricted access to manage all the devices and users in the account. To allow the user manage all or specific devices, select 'Make as User' and then select the desired device access permission.
   
5. Click 'Invite'.

   The users will receive an invitation link on their email address to create an account. Once the invited users create an account their details will be displayed under the 'Users' tab.

You can reset the assigned user roles by clicking next to a user. Also, you can update the email address of a user who is yet to accept the invite. Enter the new email address and click 'Save'.

To delete a user invite, click corresponding to the invite and click ‘Delete’ in the confirmation popup. The user will not be able to create an account with the link shared over email.

To delete a user added to your account, click corresponding to the user, and click 'Delete' in the confirmation popup. The user will be permanently deleted and they will not be able to sign in to their account.

How do I view the cloud replication status of my clients?

You can view the cloud replication status of all your clients from 'BMR Devices' > 'Cloud Replication'. Information such as the client name, size of the data transferred to the cloud, drives selected for backup, integrity status, and date and time of the last backup will be displayed in this section.

To view client-wise status, click against the required client name. Type of backup (whether full or incremental), recovery point, and other information will be displayed.

How do I delete a client machine?

You can delete both physical machines and VMware machines from the web console.

To delete a physical machine,

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console.
2. Navigate to the required device in the 'BMR Devices' tab, and click the 'Cloud Replication' button.
3. Go to the 'Physical Machines' / 'VMware' tab. You will see the list of machines on your IDrive BMR device. Click corresponding to the client machine you want to remove.
4. Click 'Confirm' to remove the client.

How does cloud retention policy help me?

The cloud retention policy helps you optimize your cloud storage space by allowing you to choose how long your backups should be retained on the cloud. Users can choose to define this value in days, months, years, or continue retaining cloud backups as long as needed. If you select ‘Retained Forever’, IDrive will continue retaining all backups on the cloud until they are manually removed by the user. Users can assign different values for incremental and full backups to further control the backups stored on the cloud. IDrive will continue retaining all backups on the cloud until they are manually removed by the user.

Note: The cloud retention policy will be applied at account level.

How do I manage my cloud backups on the IDrive BMR web console?

The IDrive BMR cloud retention policy allows you to retain data that you need for a time period specified by you, and thereby avoid storing data that is no longer needed.

To manage your backups,

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console.
2. Hover over the 'Cloud Retention Policy' button and click 'Manage Policy Settings'.

3. In the pop-up that appears, use the dropdown to choose the retention time for your incremental backup and full image backup.
4. Click 'Apply'.

Note: Old data will be deleted based on what you have specified in the backup retention settings.

Can I modify cloud retention settings for all devices?

The cloud retention settings specified by you will be applied at account level. You cannot specify the retention time for individual IDrive BMR devices or protected machines.

How do I view logs of deleted physical machines and VMware servers?

To view deletion logs,

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console.
2. Hover over the 'Cloud Retention Policy' button and click 'View Logs'.

Under the ‘Physical Machines’ tab, you can view all the logs of all your physical machines that have been deleted.

Under the ‘VMware’ tab, you can view logs of all your VMware servers that have been deleted.

How do I backup data to my cloud account with IDrive BMR Express?

Fill in the hard drive shipment form available at www.idrive.com. Once you receive the Express device refer to the 'I have received the IDrive BMR Express device. How can I transfer data from the IDrive BMR device to the Express device?' FAQ to initiate backups.

How do I request an Express restore?

IDrive BMR Express™ helps you to restore data backups from your cloud account via physical shipment of a temporary storage device on request.

To request Express restore,

1. Sign in to your IDrive BMR web console.
2. Click corresponding to the required IDrive BMR device and select 'Express Restore'. The Express Restore screen is displayed for the selected device.

3. Under the 'Choose what to restore', select the backups of the computers and virtual machines for restore.

4. Provide the contact information and shipping address in the respective sections.
5. Check the 'I agree to the terms of the Hard Drive Shipment agreement.' checkbox, and click 'Submit Request'.

Note: Temporary hard drive will be selected depending on the amount of data requested.

Can I backup individual files to my IDrive BMR cloud account?

Yes, in addition to image backups, you can also backup individual files from PCs, Macs, Linux, and mobile devices to your IDrive BMR cloud account. However, you need to first enable file backup from the web console.

To enable file backup,

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console.
2. Click 'File Backup' displayed on the left navigation bar.
3. Click 'Enable File Backup'.

Once enabled, you can start backing up data to the IDrive BMR cloud account using the IDrive desktop application.

To perform data backup, refer to the following FAQs:

• Backup from PCs
• Backup your Macs
• Linux Backup
• Mobile Device Backup

Can I create and access my cloud virtual instances from my IDrive BMR web console?

Yes, you can create and access cloud virtual instances associated with your IDrive BMR device from your IDrive BMR cloud account. You can create up to 4 virtual instances on the cloud, counting the virtual instances of both physical and VMware machines, taking into account the memory available for cloud virtualization.

How does IDrive BMR optimize cloud storage for virtualization?

The IDrive BMR cloud infrastructure employs storage devices with NVMe accelerated caching and computing resources, delivering optimized storage and performance of the virtual instances.

How do I create a cloud virtual instance from my IDrive BMR web console?

To create a cloud virtual instance from the web console,

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console. The 'BMR Devices' tab displays all the devices linked to your account.
2. Click 'Cloud Virtualization' corresponding to the required device. The new screen will display any cloud instance associated with the device.
3. Click 'Create a Virtual Machine' to create a cloud virtual instance in the cloud storage associated with the device. A new popup will appear.
   
   
   
   
4. The 'Physical Machines' tab is shown by default. To create a virtual instance of a VMware machine, switch to the 'VMware' tab.
5. Choose the required VMware server and machine/ physical machine and select a recovery point.
6. Select the number of processors for the virtual machine.
7. Allocate required memory for the virtual machine in the 'RAM' field, taking into account the memory available for cloud virtualization.
8. Select a network source and a suitable network model.
   

   Note:

   • Disconnected and NAT (Firewalled) network sources are available for cloud virtualization.
   • Disconnected, NAT (Firewalled), and Bridged network sources are available only for local virtualization. To create or access local virtual instances, connect to the local device interface.

   Read about the type of network sources.

9. Choose the required storage controller for the virtual machine.
   

   Note: SATA is recommended for virtualizing physical machine backups. LsiLogicSAS is recommended for creating virtual instances of VMware machines.

10. Select a graphics option from the dropdown.
11. Click 'Build Virtual Machine'.
    A virtual instance of this machine will be created. You can now connect to it and continue working.

Note on virtual instances of physical machines: When a machine with dynamic disks is virtualized, the created virtual instance will have basic disks with randomly assigned drive letters. You may have to sign in to the virtual instance and change the drive letter associations as necessary.

To connect to a virtual instance,

1. Navigate to the virtual instance and click the 'Copy VNC Password' button on the right-hand side.
   
2. Click 'Connect' against the virtual instance.
3. In the new window that appears, paste the password. Click 'Send Password'. Remote connection to the virtual machine will be established.

How do I set up two-factor authentication for my IDrive BMR account?

The two-factor authentication process enhances the security of your account and prevents access by unauthorized parties. Once two-factor authentication is enabled for you and user accounts. In addition to the password, you and your users will need to enter a verification code received on the registered email address, phone number, or Time-based OTP authenticator app, while signing in to your IDrive BMR account.

To enable two-factor authentication,

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console.
2. Click your username at the top-right of the screen and select 'Two-factor Authentication'.
3. Click 'Enable'.
   
4. Select 'Email Address' or 'Phone Number' or 'Time-based OTP authentication' as your preferred method of receiving the one-time verification code and click 'Confirm'. If you have chosen 'Phone Number', enter the same and click 'Send Code'. Click here to know how to set up via a Time-based OTP Authentication method.
   
5. Enter the verification code sent to your registered email address or phone number and click 'Verify & Enable'. A message is displayed to indicate two-factor authentication is successfully enabled.

To sign in after two-factor authentication is enabled with email address or phone number,

1. On the sign-in screen, enter your username and password and click 'Sign in'. You will be prompted to enter a verification code sent to your registered email address or phone number.
2. Enter the code and click 'Verify'.
   

How do I configure two-factor authentication for my IDrive BMR account with Time-based OTP authentication?

To configure two-factor authentication for your IDrive BMR account with the Time-based OTP authentication method, you will need to enter a verification code generated by a Time-based OTP authenticator app installed on your mobile device, while signing in to IDrive BMR.

Follow the below steps to configure two-factor authentication with the Time-based OTP authenticator app:

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console.
2. Click your username at the top-right of the screen and select 'Two-factor Authentication'.
3. Click 'Enable'.
4. Select 'Time-based OTP authentication' as your preferred method of receiving the one-time verification code and click 'Confirm'. See supported TOTP apps.
5. Install and launch any Time-based OTP authenticator app on your mobile device and scan the QR code displayed on your computer screen. Alternatively, you can also view the key by clicking on 'enter key manually' and type it manually on your mobile device and click 'Next'.
   
6. Copy and save the recovery code displayed on your computer screen securely or click 'Download' to download and save as a .txt file. Click 'Continue'.
   

   Note: You will require the recovery code to deactivate two-factor authentication for your account, in case you lose access to your mobile device where the Time-based OTP Authenticator app is installed.

7. Enter the one-time code generated by the Time-based OTP Authenticator app in your mobile device and click 'Activate'.
   

To sign in after two-factor authentication is enabled with Time-based OTP Authenticator,

1. On the sign-in screen, enter your username and password, and click 'Sign in'.
2. You will be prompted to enter the one-time code generated by the Time-based OTP Authenticator app in your mobile device.
3. Enter the code and click 'Submit Code'.

Which Time-based OTP authenticator apps are supported by IDrive BMR?

IDrive BMR supports the following Time-based OTP authenticator apps:

1. Google Authenticator (Android/iPhone/BlackBerry)
2. Duo Mobile (Android/iPhone)
3. Microsoft Authenticator (Android/iPhone/Windows Phone 7)
4. Okta Verify (Android/iPhone)
5. Any other authentication app that supports time-based one-time protocol or is compatible with Google Authenticator

Can I disable two-factor authentication for my IDrive BMR account with Time-based OTP authentication, in case I lose access to my mobile device?

Yes, you can disable two-factor authentication for your IDrive BMR account with Time-based OTP authentication. To disable,

1. Navigate to www.idrive.com, enter your IDrive BMR cloud account credentials, and click 'Sign in'.
2. In the verification code screen that appears, click the link 'I can't access my code'.
3. In the 'Recovery Code' field, enter the recovery code received while configuring two-factor authentication for your IDrive BMR account.
4. Click 'Deactivate'.

The two-factor authentication will be disabled for your IDrive BMR account.

I am unable to receive the SMS containing OTP for two-factor authentication. What should I do?

During the two-factor authentication process, if you are unable to receive the SMS containing the OTP, you can choose to receive the verification code via email address.

Click 'Receive verification code via email address' in the two-factor authentication page.

A code will be sent to the registered email address. You can use this code to complete the verification process.

How do I disable two-factor authentication for my IDrive BMR account?

To disable two-factor authentication for your account,

1. Sign in to the IDrive BMR web console.
2. Click your username at the top-right of the screen, and select 'Two-factor Authentication'.
3. Click 'Disable'.
   
   
   You will be prompted to enter a verification code sent to your registered email address or your phone number / TOTP app.
4. Enter the OTP and click 'Disable'. Two-factor authentication will be disabled for your account.