This option defines whether backups start as scheduled or with a delay, and how many virtual machines are backed up simultaneously.
The preset is: Distribute backup start times within a time window. Maximum delay: 30 minutes.
You can select one of the following:
Backups of physical machines will start exactly as scheduled. Virtual machines will be backed up one by one.
Backups of physical machines will start with a delay from the scheduled time. The delay value for each machine is selected randomly and ranges from zero to the maximum value you specify. You may want to use this setting when backing up multiple machines to a network location, to avoid excessive network load. The delay value for each machine is determined when the protection plan is applied to the machine and remains the same until you edit the protection plan and change the maximum delay value.
Virtual machines will be backed up one by one.
This option is available only when a protection plan is applied to multiple virtual machines. This option defines how many virtual machines an agent can back up simultaneously when executing the given protection plan.
If, according to the protection plan, an agent has to start backing up multiple machines at once, it will choose two machines. (To optimize the backup performance, the agent tries to match machines stored on different storages.) Once any of the two backups is completed, the agent chooses the third machine and so on.
You can change the number of virtual machines for an agent to simultaneously back up. The maximum value is 10. However, if the agent executes multiple protection plans that overlap in time, the numbers specified in their options are added up. You can limit the total number of virtual machines that an agent can back up simultaneously, no matter how many protection plans are running.
Backups of physical machines will start exactly as scheduled.