Answered by:
dedicated backup target and shadow copy settings under disk management...
Question
-
I have noticed a few things that are concerning to me, but before applying changes I was hoping to get an answer as to the reason why they are configured as such.
My backup (Windows Server Backup), is configured to utilize a dedicated device as the target with VSS Full Backup. The device shows up in Disk Manager ,everything seems fine. However, when I examine the Shadow Copies property for my volumes, I see that this device (listed only by its' GUID), has had VSS enabled on it, with "no limits" applied.
Is this normal?
Is Windows Server Backup using that VSS space on the dedicated drive to store incremental versions of my backup policy or of the drive itself?
If I put limits on VSS policy for the dedicated drive, will this affect the total number of historical archives of the backup schedule or just the changes to the drive itself? If it only affects the backup incremental, how do I calculate how many?
Also, since the default VSS copy schedule is applied, "if" the schedule for it's VSS process conflicts with the backup schedule.. I may see problems?
Answers
-
Hi,
We can configure Shadow Copies for Backup and Shared Folders. Windows Server Backup stores backup versions in volume shadow copies. After the data write is complete, Windows Server Backup creates a shadow copy of the volume where the backup is stored using Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).
Shadow Copies for Shared Folders uses copy-on-write shadow copies to create snapshots of data volumes that can be accessed by the Previous Versions Client for the purpose of restoring files to a previous condition. You can configure a schedule to create shadow copies of a volume.
If you put limits on VSS policy for the dedicated drive, it will affect the total number of the backup versions and the shadow copies of the dedicated drive. The size of the storage area that you choose will determine how many versions of changed files you can store. As new shadow copies are taken, old shadow copies are deleted when the storage limit is reached, when you run out of disk space, or when the number of shadow copies reaches 64, whichever occurs first.
For more detailed information about Shadow Copies, you could refer to the articles below:
Volume Shadow Copy Service
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee923636(v=ws.10).aspx
Rapid Recovery with the Volume Shadow Copy Service
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2006.01.rapidrecovery.aspx
You can use vssadmin list shadows to list all existing shadow copies of a specified volume.
Vssadmin list shadows
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc788116.aspx
If the schedule for creating shadow copies of a volume and the backup schedule happen at the same time, an error message prompts and indicates that another shadow copy creation is already in progress.
Best Regards,
Mandy- Marked as answer by tsw Tuesday, November 4, 2014 1:52 PM
All replies
-
Hi,
We can configure Shadow Copies for Backup and Shared Folders. Windows Server Backup stores backup versions in volume shadow copies. After the data write is complete, Windows Server Backup creates a shadow copy of the volume where the backup is stored using Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS).
Shadow Copies for Shared Folders uses copy-on-write shadow copies to create snapshots of data volumes that can be accessed by the Previous Versions Client for the purpose of restoring files to a previous condition. You can configure a schedule to create shadow copies of a volume.
If you put limits on VSS policy for the dedicated drive, it will affect the total number of the backup versions and the shadow copies of the dedicated drive. The size of the storage area that you choose will determine how many versions of changed files you can store. As new shadow copies are taken, old shadow copies are deleted when the storage limit is reached, when you run out of disk space, or when the number of shadow copies reaches 64, whichever occurs first.
For more detailed information about Shadow Copies, you could refer to the articles below:
Volume Shadow Copy Service
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee923636(v=ws.10).aspx
Rapid Recovery with the Volume Shadow Copy Service
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2006.01.rapidrecovery.aspx
You can use vssadmin list shadows to list all existing shadow copies of a specified volume.
Vssadmin list shadows
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc788116.aspx
If the schedule for creating shadow copies of a volume and the backup schedule happen at the same time, an error message prompts and indicates that another shadow copy creation is already in progress.
Best Regards,
Mandy- Marked as answer by tsw Tuesday, November 4, 2014 1:52 PM
-