Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)

The Agent for Open Files now includes support for Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). The following issues relating to Microsoft VSS are known to exist:

• In Windows Server 2008, DFS Replication is part of the system state. Therefore, if you wish to backup DFS Replication in Windows Server 2008, you must backup the system state.
• If the event log shows a "VSS_E_WRITER_STATUS_NOT_AVAILABLE" error, this indicates that a writer may have reached the maximum number of available backup and restore sessions. Retrying may work when the system is less busy. For more details, see the Microsoft documentation:
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384995(VS.85).aspx
• VSS backups using the SQL Server writer fail when the following Arcserve Backup VSS backup options are enabled:
  • Use Transportable snapshot
  • Retain Shadow Copy after Backup
• The solution to this problem is to offline the shadow copy destination disk before you submit the backup. After the backup is complete, return the shadow copy destination disk to an online status.
• To prevent Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) issues, it is recommended not to submit a multistreaming backup job when the "Enable physical disk\volume backup & restore" option is selected from the Arcserve Backup Agent Admin screen.
• VSS backup fails for the second level VHD (Nested VHD) volume because Microsoft cannot backup the nested VHD volume.
• For more information, see https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa382650(v=vs.85).aspx.