Eduardo:
Thank you again for your reply - it is much appreciated.
Let’s assume that I run the following complete system backups…
1st – July 1
2nd – August 1
3rd – September 1
As I understand it, I should see only one VHD file, but the other
information (the delta difference) is stored as volume shadow copy data. If
I correctly understand your response, this would seem to indicate that a disk
cleanup should never be run because the erasure of ANY of the shadow copy VHD
information will prevent a complete system restore.
Is this correct?
If my assumption is correct (that disk cleanup cannot be run), I can see a
disk space management issue as the months go by and my external disk becomes
full. Again – bear in mind that my external drive is used to store a variety
of data, not just complete system backup data.
Before I learned how complete system backup and VSS works, my plan was to
run a complete system backup once per month (or whenever there was a
significant system change), and to keep 2-3 months of system backups
available at any one time. I had planned to manually delete the older
backups as required to manage my free disk space.
Can you recommend a best practice methodology here?
Is there a simple method of managing this space so that it does not keep
growing as the months go by?
--
RichG
"Eduardo Laureano [MSFT]" wrote:
> The concept is correct, the order is backwards. Once you take your 2nd
> backup, your first backup is now only a set of block level differences
> between the 1st and 2nd. This behavior goes one for subsequent backups.
> Backup n is stored in the VHD, backup n-1 is stored as a set of block level
> differences (between n and n-1) in a shadow copy. And so on ...
>
> You should typically only have one VHD per volume being backed up. All other
> previous backups are saved in terms of shadow copies.
>
> On the web you can get information about VSS in general. There's a TechNet
> article coming that will address a lot of the internal behaviors around the
> backup features, but this might take over a month. meanwhile you can see
> some of it on this presentation:
> http://www.microsoft.com/emea/itssho...px?videoid=219
>
> Eduardo
>
> "RichG" <RichG@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:567738F2-3C59-405E-9064-FAA6EE7FFE6C@microsoft.com...
> > Eduardo:
> >
> > Thank you very much for the clarification – this makes sense.
> >
> > If I understand your reply, my second backup is not a COMPLETE system
> > backup
> > by itself…it is only the difference between my original backup and my
> > current
> > state.
> >
> > If so, it would seem to indicate that both of the VHD files (original and
> > current) in order to accomplish a complete system restore.
> >
> > Is this correct?
> >
> > Is there any documentation on the Microsoft WEB site that fully explains
> > this from a technical perspective?
> >
> > --
> > RichG
> >
> >
> > "Eduardo Laureano [MSFT]" wrote:
> >
> >> Hi Rich,
> >>
> >> your assumptions are mostly correct. VSS is turned on at the
> >> destination where your Complete PC Backups are being saved. At the time
> >> you
> >> created your 2nd backup, block level data representing your 1st backup
> >> was
> >> saved to shadow copy. Therefore the space hit that you are seeing.
> >>
> >> For instance, if you take a 3rd backup, without changing much on your
> >> system, you'll see that the space usage should grow only by the amount of
> >> changed blocks between the time you took your 2nd and 3rd backups.
> >>
> >> If you are concerned about the disk space allocation where your backups
> >> are
> >> being saved, I recommend using Disk Cleanup. From there you can delete
> >> all
> >> older shadow copies, but the most recent one. Be aware that this means to
> >> consequently loose access to older backups.
> >>
> >> Disk Cleanup -> Files from all users on this computer -> Select volume
> >> where
> >> backups are being saved -> More Options -> System Restore and Shadow
> >> Copies -> Clean up ...
> >>
> >> Eduardo
> >>
> >>
> >> "RichG" <RichG@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:6A23BAE1-4554-49AF-8D34-126F3D424EBC@microsoft.com...
> >> > My system is configured as follows…
> >> >
> >> > OS = Windows Vista Business
> >> > Internal Disk (drive C) = 120Gb
> >> > External Disk (drive H) = 500Gb (USB-connected)
> >> >
> >> > I ran my first “Complete System backup” of my system on July 11, and
> >> > chose
> >> > to store the backup files on my external disk (drive H). The backup
> >> > completed successfully, and I verified that the system created a 37Gb
> >> > VHD
> >> > file along with a few other very small files. I then verified that the
> >> > amount of free space remaining on my external drive was ~37Gb less than
> >> > I
> >> > previously had free.
> >> >
> >> > So far, so good…
> >> >
> >> > I installed two other software applications on my system (Microsoft
> >> > Visio
> >> > 2007 and Microsoft Project 2007), and I launched another complete
> >> > system
> >> > backup this weekend. The backup completed successfully, and I verified
> >> > that
> >> > the system created a new 25Gb VHD file along with a few other very
> >> > small
> >> > files.
> >> >
> >> > I expected to see this new 25Gb VHD file IN ADDITION to the previous
> >> > 37Gb
> >> > VHD file from the July 11 backup, and was surprised to find that the
> >> > previous
> >> > 37Gb file appears to be MISSING. At least, I cannot find the file in
> >> > the
> >> > folder where it previously existed.
> >> >
> >> > I checked the free space on my external H drive, and found that I have
> >> > ~
> >> > 25Gb less free space than I had before. It is as if the 37Gb file is
> >> > still
> >> > on the drive somewhere, but I cannot find it. When I launch the backup
> >> > program, it states that the last complete backup was run this weekend,
> >> > and
> >> > it
> >> > also seems to indicate that a previous backup does exist, but it does
> >> > not
> >> > list it my name or date.
> >> >
> >> > I see from the documentation that a complete system backup will run so
> >> > long
> >> > as enough free space exists, and that it will automatically delete
> >> > older
> >> > backups (oldest first) as necessary to insure that free space is
> >> > available.
> >> >
> >> > I use this external drive to store other information in addition to
> >> > complete
> >> > system backups, and I need to insure that I always have enough free
> >> > space
> >> > to
> >> > handle my needs. My plan was to run a complete system backup whenever
> >> > my
> >> > system configuration changes significantly, or every month or so –
> >> > whichever
> >> > comes first. I planned on keeping perhaps 3-4 complete system backups
> >> > on
> >> > my
> >> > external drive, and to delete the older backups as necessary.
> >> >
> >> > NOTE: I am generally aware of volume shadow copy and how it can reduce
> >> > the
> >> > amount of free space on a volume, but I’m not sure if this is
> >> > compounding
> >> > my
> >> > issue or not.
> >> >
> >> > QUESTION:
> >> >
> >> > Can anyone tell me (or does documentation exist that explains) how to
> >> > manage
> >> > complete system backup files? How does one manage these backups?
> >> >
> >> > Any assistance is appreciated...
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > RichG
> >>
>