Volume Shadow Copy (VSS) and Automated System Recovery (ASR) doc updates

First published on TECHNET on Nov 26, 2009
This is a summary of recent additions and revisions to the VSS and ASR documentation on MSDN and TechNet.

1. The following new API elements have been documented:



a. IVssComponentEx2 interface (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd405576.aspx )

b. IVssCreateExpressWriterMetadata interface (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd765211.aspx )

c. IVssExpressWriter interface (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd405596.aspx )

d. CVssWriterEx2 class (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd405545.aspx )

e. VSS_RECOVERY_OPTIONS enumeration (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd433620.aspx )

f. CreateVssExpressWriter function (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd405544.aspx )

g. IVssHardwareSnapshotProviderEx::ResyncLuns method (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb427429.aspx )

2. A new topic, "Using Tracing Tools with VSS" (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd765233.aspx ), was added.

3. The Remarks sections for the following methods have been completely rewritten:



a. IVssBackupComponents::EnableWriterClasses (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa382660.aspx )

b. IVssBackupComponents::DisableWriterClasses (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa382655.aspx )

c. IVssBackupComponents::DisableWriterInstances (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa382657.aspx )

4. The in-box VSS writer lists have been expanded. These will eventually be consolidated into a single master list.



a. New In-Box VSS Writers for Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee517248.aspx )

b. New In-Box VSS Writers for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista SP1 (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee517247.aspx )

c. In-Box VSS Writers (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb968827.aspx )

5. The MaxShadowCopies and MinDiffAreaFileSize registry values have been added to "Registry Keys and Values for Backup and Restore" (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb891959.aspx )

6. The sequence of requester and writer actions in "Overview of the Backup Discovery Phase" (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384593.aspx ) has been revised.

7. The Events and Errors troubleshooting documentation for VSS (also called the VSS Health Model) (

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc734243.aspx ) has been updated for Windows Server 2008 R2.

8. The VShadow command has new command-line options for reverting to a previous shadow copy and for resynchronizing LUNs:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb530725.aspx

9. The registry value information in "Security Considerations for Writers" (

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384605.aspx ) and "Security Considerations for Requesters" ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384604.aspx ) has been updated.

10. A code example was added to "Using VSS Automated System Recovery for Disaster Recovery" ( http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa384630.aspx )

- Diane