Where is vss data stored

In addition to backing up application data and system state information, shadow copies can be used for a number of purposes, including the following:. This is a fast-recovery scheme that allows an application administrator to restore data from a shadow copy to the original LUN or to a new LUN.

The shadow copy can be a full clone or a differential shadow copy. In either case, at the end of the resync operation, the destination LUN will have the same contents as the shadow copy LUN. During the resync operation, the array performs a block-level copy from the shadow copy to the destination LUN. While the resync operation is in progress, read requests are redirected to the shadow copy LUN, and write requests to the destination LUN. This allows arrays to recover very large data sets and resume normal operations in several seconds.

In a LUN swap, the shadow copy is imported and then converted into a read-write volume. In LUN resynchronization, the shadow copy is not altered, so it can be used several times. In LUN swapping, the shadow copy can be used only once for a recovery. For the most safety-conscious administrators, this is important. When LUN resynchronization is used, the requester can retry the entire restore operation if something goes wrong the first time.

For this reason, the shadow copy LUN must use the same quality of storage as the original production LUN to ensure that performance is not impacted after the recovery operation. If LUN resynchronization is used instead, the hardware provider can maintain the shadow copy on storage that is less expensive than production-quality storage. All of the operations listed are LUN-level operations.

If you attempt to recover a specific volume by using LUN resynchronization, you are unwittingly going to revert all the other volumes that are sharing the LUN. Shadow Copies for Shared Folders uses the Volume Shadow Copy Service to provide point-in-time copies of files that are located on a shared network resource, such as a file server. With Shadow Copies for Shared Folders, users can quickly recover deleted or changed files that are stored on the network.

Because they can do so without administrator assistance, Shadow Copies for Shared Folders can increase productivity and reduce administrative costs. With a hardware provider that is designed for use with the Volume Shadow Copy Service, you can create transportable shadow copies that can be imported onto servers within the same subsystem for example, a SAN. These shadow copies can be used to seed a production or test installation with read-only data for data mining.

With the Volume Shadow Copy Service and a storage array with a hardware provider that is designed for use with the Volume Shadow Copy Service, it is possible to create a shadow copy of the source data volume on one server, and then import the shadow copy onto another server or back to the same server.

This process is accomplished in a few minutes, regardless of the size of the data. The transport process is accomplished through a series of steps that use a shadow copy requester a storage-management application that supports transportable shadow copies. Import the shadow copy to a server that is connected to the SAN you can import to a different server or the same server. A transportable shadow copy that is created on Windows Server cannot be imported onto a server that is running Windows Server or Windows Server R2.

A transportable shadow copy that was created on Windows Server or Windows Server R2 cannot be imported onto a server that is running Windows Server However, a shadow copy that is created on Windows Server can be imported onto a server that is running Windows Server R2 and vice versa.

Shadow copies are read-only. It works only if there is a hardware provider on the storage array. Shadow copy transport can be used for a number of purposes, including tape backups, data mining, and testing.

In the case of a hard disk drive backup, the shadow copy created is also the backup. Data can be copied off the shadow copy for a restore or the shadow copy can be used for a fast recovery scenario—for example, LUN resynchronization or LUN swapping. When data is copied from the shadow copy to tape or other removable media, the content that is stored on the media constitutes the backup.

The shadow copy itself can be deleted after the data is copied from it. It depends on the backup software that you used.

Most backup programs support this scenario for data but not for system state backups. It depends on the backup software you used. If you create a shadow copy on Windows Server , you cannot use it on Windows Server Also, if you create a shadow copy on Windows Server , you cannot restore it on Windows Server However, you should not do this. VSS is designed to create shadow copies of entire volumes. Temporary files, such as paging files, are automatically omitted from shadow copies to save space.

To exclude specific files from shadow copies, use the following registry key: FilesNotToSnapshot. The FilesNotToSnapshot registry key is intended to be used only by applications.

Users who attempt to use it will encounter limitations such as the following:. Check the product support section of the Web site of the company that created the backup program.

There may be a product update that you can download and install to fix the problem. If not, contact the company's product support department. The shadow copy storage area or "diff area" is the location where the data for the shadow copy that is created by the system software provider is stored. The diff area can be located on any local volume. However, it must be located on an NTFS volume that has enough space to store it. If there is a preconfigured manual association between the original volume and the shadow copy volume location, then that location is used.

If the previous two criteria do not provide a location, the shadow copy service chooses a location based on available free space. If more than one volume is being shadow copied, the shadow copy service creates a list of possible snapshot locations based on the size of free space, in descending order. The number of locations provided is equal to the number of volumes being shadow copied. If the volume being shadow copied is one of the possible locations, then a local association is created.

You should see an option called "Restore previous versions". Once you click on that you should see the available Shadow Copies snapshots , click on the one you want to view. This will allow you to see what is being captured by VSS. Be sure to delete any snapshots you created manually, and it is a good practice to clear out all snapshots if there is no current backup running or the Shadow Copy service is not being used natively for other purposes outside of CDP.

There are more options than deleting 'all', type 'vssadmin delete shadows' to see those options. Quick Search. Page restrictions apply Added by Internal , last edited by Internal on Mar 20, view change Comment:.

Shadow Copies are "differential, block-level backups", meaning they only capture the changed bits of each file and so do not require a lot of storage space. They are also fast and easy to recover directly from Windows. These snapshots are created directly in your Google Cloud project using the VM snapshot functionality in GCE are useful for recovering servers after a critical failure such as disk corruption or a failed Windows update. However, recovering individual files or folders from these snapshots is difficult and time-consuming.

Shadow Copies are useful for recovering user files that were accidentally deleted or modified and should be used in conjunction with CAS Snapshots to provide a comprehensive data protection solution. You can enable Shadow Copies on all disks on your servers, but Shadow Copies are most useful for volumes that store user data, such as the data disks on a Windows file server that store user profile disks and network drives.

On each server you wish to protect using VSS, create an additional disk to hold the Shadow Copies, as per Microsoft's best practice to avoid performance issues. Select Configure Shadow Copies