5 Keys to Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS)

As you implement Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) or Windows Vista restore points, keep these five tips in mind; you’ll be doing a service to yourself as well as to your users.

1. Before you enable VSS restore points, decide where you’re going to store the shadow copies. Remember that you can’t move them later.

2. Enabling VSS on the system or boot volume is a bad idea. Because OS files are modified frequently, VSS-enabling the boot volume is likely to generate an excessive number of shadow copies.

3. The optimal cluster size for VSS is 16KB.

4. Storing the shadow copy cache on a physical disk separate from the source volume enhances performance and provides fault tolerance.

Neither VSS nor restore points are a replacement for a complete backup solution.