20 Copyright © Acronis, Inc., 2000-2010 on a network share on a Storage Area Network (SAN) on a Network Attached Storage (NAS) on a tape library locally attached to the storage node.The management operations are as follows.Storage node-side cleanup and validationArchives, stored in unmanaged vaults, are maintained by the agents (p. 360) that create the archives.This means that each agent not only backs up data to the archive, but also executes service tasks thatapply to the archive, the retention rules and validation rules specified by the backup plan (p. 362). Torelieve the managed machines of unnecessary CPU load, execution of the service tasks can bedelegated to the storage node. Since the tasks' schedule exists on the machine the agent resides on,and therefore uses that machine’s time and events, the agent has to initiate the storage node-sidecleanup (p. 371) and the storage node-side validation (p. 372) according to the schedule. To do so,the agent must be online. Further processing is performed by the storage node.This functionality cannot be disabled in a managed vault. The next two operations are optional.DeduplicationA managed vault can be configured as a deduplicating vault. This means that identical data will bebacked up to this vault only once to minimize the network usage during backup and storage spacetaken by the archives. For more information, please see the "Deduplication (p. 69)" section in theUser Guide.EncryptionA managed vault can be configured so that anything written to it is encrypted and anything readfrom it is decrypted transparently by the storage node, using a vault-specific encryption key storedon the node server. In case the storage medium is stolen or accessed by an unauthorized person, themalefactor will not be able to decrypt the vault contents without access to this specific storage node.If the archive is already encrypted by the agent, the storage node-side encryption is applied over theencryption performed by the agent.1.3.3.3 PXE ServerAcronis PXE Server allows for booting machines into Acronis bootable components through thenetwork.The network booting: Eliminates the need to have a technician onsite to install the bootable media (p. 363) into thesystem that has to be booted During group operations, reduces the time required for booting multiple machines as comparedto using physical bootable media.1.3.3.4 License ServerThe server enables you to manage licenses of Acronis products and install the components thatrequire licenses.For more information about Acronis License Server please see "Using Acronis License Server".
