VSS restore requirements

Unless otherwise specified, a VSS restore operation refers to all restore types that use VSS, including VSS restore, VSS fast restore, and VSS instant restore operations.

If you complete VSS snapshot backups with the backup destination parameter set to TSM, restore processing also refers to an image-level restore from the IBM Storage® Protect server.

As you decide your restore strategies, be aware of VSS requirements.

VSS instant restore

A VSS instant restore operation overwrites the entire contents of the source volumes.

• If you do not want to overwrite the source volumes, ensure that you set the Instant Restore option to No in Microsoft™ Management Console (MMC).
• VSS instant restore processing requires that the local disk is not accessed by other applications, for example, Windows™ Explorer.
• When you run a VSS instant restore operation, verify that no other data exists on the volumes that are being restored.
• Before you start a VSS instant restore operation, ensure that any previous background copies that contain the volumes that are being restored are completed. XIV®, SAN Volume Controller, or Storwize® family with space-efficient target volumes do not need to be completed.

VSS fast restore

In a VSS fast restore operation, if you do not want to overwrite all the files on the original volume, mount the snapshot. Copy only the files that you want to restore.

When you complete a VSS restore operation from local shadow volumes, the bytes that transfer are displayed as 0 because no data (0) is restored from the IBM Storage Protect server.