User guide

 Software - Acronis VSS Provider

VSS will use Acronis VSS Provider for taking snapshots.

 Software - System provider (selected by default)

VSS will use the system provider (Microsoft Software Shadow Copy provider) for taking

snapshots. We recommend choosing the system provider when backing up application servers

(Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft SharePoint, or Active Directory).

 Software - A software provider

In most cases, VSS will use the Microsoft Software Shadow Copy provider.

 Hardware - Select automatically

VSS will use the hardware-based provider that supports the source volume. If no hardware-based

provider is found, backups will be created by means of Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5 without

taking snapshots.

Note: Using a hardware snapshot provider may require administrative privileges.

Do not use VSS

If you select Do not use VSS, the data snapshot will be taken by Acronis Backup & Recovery 11.5.

Choose Do not use VSS if your database is incompatible with VSS. Backup process is fastest, but data

consistency of the applications whose transactions are not completed at the time of taking a

snapshot cannot be guaranteed. You may use Pre/Post data capture commands (p. 93) to indicate

which commands should be performed before and after taking the snapshot. This ensures that the

data is being backed up in a consistent state. For instance, specify pre-data capture commands that

will suspend the database and flush all caches to ensure that all transactions are completed; and

specify post-data capture commands that will resume the database operations after the snapshot is

taken.

Volume shadow copy writers

Before backing up the data of VSS-aware applications, make sure that the volume shadow copy

writers for those applications are turned on by examining the list of writers that are present in the

operating system. To view this list, run the following command:

vssadmin list writers

Note: In Microsoft Windows Small Business Server 2003, the writer for Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 is

turned off by default. For instructions on how to turn it on, see the following Microsoft knowledge base article

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/838183/.