Back up Archives with Volume Shadow Copy Service

Use the Microsoft® Volume Shadow Copy Service to back up large archive files, or if you want to back up more than the last two archives, as it allows you to backup and restore archives reliably and in a short period of time without affecting the data collection.

The Volume Shadow Copy feature is provided by Windows Operating System, and the instructions to use backup and restore vary depending on the backup application that is used in the Windows operating system.

VSS provides fast volume capture of the state of a disk which is called a snapshot or shadow copy. When the snapshot is taken, disk writes are suspended for a brief period of time, typically on the order of milliseconds. After the snapshot, disk writes can resume, but the original state of the files are maintained by a difference file. The difference file allows the state of the original file at the time of the snapshot to be reconstructed. This behavior allows files to be backed up while new data is being written to files.

If you are using ihArchiveBackup.exe before the upgrade, your backup will continue to work in the same or similar manner as it did before the upgrade. There is no change in the backup procedure and the Auto Recovery Backup Files option remains unchanged.

Note: Though you could use either ihArchiveBackup.exe or VSS for backup, VSS is a better choice for both larger archives or if you are backing up more than the last two archives to reduce the load on the Data Archiver service.

Microsoft uses a backup format called Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) to back up files.

When you create archives backup using Microsoft® Volume Shadow Copy Service, you must first restore the archives files (that is, .bkf or .vhd into .iha) using the Windows Restore wizard, and then restore the archives (.iha) into Historian. For more information on restoring an archive (.iha) into Historian, refer to the Restoring an Archive topic.

Note: It is recommended that you:
  • Use Microsoft® Volume Shadow Copy Service when you want to back up archive files that are more than 2 GB in size, or if you are backing up more than your last two archives.
  • Ensure you have enough hard drive space on your default backup location before backing up your archives.
Important: For optimum performance, it is recommended you to save paging file of the operating system, Historian archives, and scheduled backup directory on separate drives.