Volume shadow copy service overview

The Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) provides an infrastructure for creating point-in-time snapshots (shadow copies) of volumes. VSS supports 64 shadow copies per volume.

Shadow Copies of Shared Folders resides within this infrastructure, and helps alleviate data loss by creating shadow copies of files or folders that are stored on network file shares at pre-determined time intervals. In essence, a shadow copy is a previous version of the file or folder at a specific point in time.

By using shadow copies, the StoreEasy 1000 Storage system can maintain a set of previous versions of all files on the selected volumes. End users access the file or folder by using a separate client add-on program, which enables them to view the file in Windows Explorer.

Shadow copies must not replace the current backup, archive, or business recovery system, but they can help to simplify restore procedures. For example, shadow copies cannot protect against data loss due to media failures; however, recovering data from shadow copies can reduce the number of times needed to restore data from tape.