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Backup Manager Volume Shadow Copy Service Options

You can specify global options for using the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). These options affect all Writers for VSS backups, but they do not apply to transportable VSS backups.

Note: For more information on VSS, see the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service Guide.

On the Volume Shadow Copy Service tab, the File System Backup group box lets you specify how you want Arcserve Backup to handle open files during file system backups. These options do not affect Writers and Components.

• Use VSS--Directs Arcserve Backup to use VSS to handle the backup of open files.

  If this check box is not selected, VSS support is not used and the Arcserve Backup Agent for Open Files (if available) is used to handle open files. If the Arcserve Backup Agent for Open Files is not available and Use VSS is not selected, a traditional backup is performed. However, the backup will be incomplete if there are any open files that cannot be backed up.

• Revert to traditional backup if VSS fails--Lets Arcserve Backup execute a traditional backup if an attempt to create a VSS backup fails.

  Note: This option requires you to install and license the Arcserve Backup Agent for Open Files on the source computer.

  Be aware of the following behavior:

  • If the Agent for Open Files is installed and licensed on the source computer, Arcserve Backup uses the agent to handle open files when this option is specified and the VSS backup fails.
  • If the Agent for Open Files is not installed or not licensed on the source computer, Arcserve Backup processes VSS backups as traditional backups, regardless of whether this option is specified.

The Writers and Components group box lets you specify how you want Arcserve Backup to treat Writers and Components. These global options affect all Writers, except for those with Writer-specific options in place. For more information about setting Writer-specific options, see the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service Guide.

• Files included by a writer will be excluded from file system backups--Prevents files that belong to a Component from being backed up by a traditional file system backup. This option offers the following advantages:
  • Avoids backing up files that have already been backed up by VSS.
  • By excluding files from traditional backups, fewer files are processed, and traditional backups take less time to complete.
  • Helps achieve successful backups by eliminating certain problems associated with files that must be processed as a group; for example, files associated with a Writer or database application. In a traditional backup, there is no mechanism to ensure that the files are processed together.
• Files excluded by a writer will be excluded from file system backups--Prevents files that have been excluded from being backed up by a Component from being backed up by a traditional file system backup.

  There may be files associated with an application that should never be backed up (for example, the Windows page file). Each Writer is aware of whether its associated application maintains any such files. Selecting this option allows Arcserve Backup to use this information when performing traditional backups.

• If a component file fails to backup the writer, the backup will terminate--Cancels the backup of a Writer if the backup of any of the Components fail. The backup of a Component fails if one or more of its files cannot be successfully backed up.

  Selecting this option ensures that any backup is consistent and that all of the files associated with a Writer are backed up before the backup is considered successful, regardless of how many components are associated with the Writer.