DPM & VSS

DPM’s data protection is facilitated by the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS). Therefore VSS is the secret sauce. VSS is in OS’s and Microsoft applications such as Exchange, SharePoint, and Hyper-V have their own VSS writers. Yes this may be old news as the VSS technology  has been around for some time but many IT Professionals still do not have a good understanding of VSS itself.

It is important for anyone working with DPM and even many other backup products out there to get a good understanding of VSS to know how the data protection is working underneath the hood. Microsoft has some  really good sites that explain VSS well. As a data protection protection pro it is important to go through these and become familiar with how VSS works:

  • Basic VSS Concepts

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa381504%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

  • Common Volume Backup Issues

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa381508%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

  • Troubleshooting VSS Applications

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa384626%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

  • Volume Shadow Copy Glossary

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/aa384647%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

  • Volume Shadow Copy Service Overview

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee923636%28WS.10%29.aspx

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