Snapshot Manager: selecting a snapshot manager for open file backups

 

Accessing snapshot manager selection settings

To access the Snapshot manager selection settings shown above:

  1. Click Jobs in the navigation bar
  2. Select the job to be edited and click Edit at the bottom of the window.
  3. Click Open files on the left menu.
  4. Click Snapshot manager selection to expand the section.
Selecting a snapshot manager

BackupAssist currently offers two snapshot manager options to perform point-in-time snapshots of data: Microsoft® Volume Shadow Copy or VSS (Windows XP / 2003 only) and the BackupAssist Advanced Open Files add-on (additional license purchase).

The Microsoft® VSS solution is only available to Windows XP and 2003, but comes at no additional cost to the user and provides a comprehensive open file manager for backing up live data. Some applications, however, such as non-Microsoft and legacy applications, are not compliant with the VSS framework. This means that VSS cannot guarantee the integrity of any live data backed up from such applications.

The Advanced Open Files add-on is typically only used when you are running Windows 2000 Server or earlier where VSS is not available. The Advanced Open Files add-on is compatible with these earlier operating systems. The add-on also has the advantage of providing support for legacy and non-VSS compliant applications under any Windows Operating System environment.

  1. To select a snapshot manager, use the radio button provided next to each option.
    • Only one snapshot manager can be selected. When backing up the system state of the machine, however, NTBackup requires that VSS is used on Windows XP and 2003. This will result in both snapshot managers being used.
    • If you are running Windows XP or 2003, Microsoft® Volume Shadow Copy is recommended unless you have any non-VSS compliant applications. If you are running Windows 2000 or earlier, the Advanced Open Files add-on is recommended.
    • If Microsoft® Volume Shadow Copy is not available and you do not have a license for the Advanced Open Files add-on, we recommend that you enable Conventional File Copy, which can also be configured in the Open files section.
      Enabling Conventional File Copy