Forum Discussion
RMGIT4550
Oct 02, 2023Copper Contributor
What is this file listed under the SVI folder for shadow copies, and why is it so large?
Hello, I'm currently experiencing an issue on our file servers regarding shadow copies. For a little background, our environment hosts 3 file servers to serve the various amounts of different com...
LeonPavesic
Oct 04, 2023Silver Contributor
Hi RMGIT4550,
The shadow copy index file {3808876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-04046e6cc752} is very large, and is causing the drive delegated to shadow copies to be almost always at 90% full.
You can try the following steps:
- Reduce the number of shadow copies that are stored. You can do this by changing the settings in the System Protection control panel.
- Exclude certain drives or folders from shadow copies. You can do this by creating shadow copy exclusions.
- Delete old shadow copies. You can do this using the vssadmin command-line tool.
The shadow copy index file is used by the Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to track the changes made to files on your system. The file can grow very large, especially if you have a lot of changes to your files or if you have shadow copies enabled on multiple drives.
If the shadow copy index file is too large, it can cause the drive delegated to shadow copies to become full. This can prevent VSS from creating new shadow copies, and can also make it difficult to restore data from existing shadow copies.
By reducing the number of shadow copies that are stored, excluding certain drives or folders from shadow copies, and deleting old shadow copies, you can reduce the size of the shadow copy index file and improve the performance of VSS.
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Kindest regards,
Leon Pavesic
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RMGIT4550
Oct 04, 2023Copper Contributor
Thank you LeonPavesic, this was the most straightforward answer I got from any forum. Others couldn't answer my question of what exactly this file was, they only focused on the shadow copies.
As for reducing the size, I've been doing most of the suggestions you have listed (aside from exclusions). I'm hesitant to do that due to our file structure and the amount of data we have stored. Nonetheless, I'll just continue to regularly try and clean out shadow copies.
I've been reading other forums about the SVI folder, this file I've mentioned doesn't have any association with the search and indexing services does it?
As for reducing the size, I've been doing most of the suggestions you have listed (aside from exclusions). I'm hesitant to do that due to our file structure and the amount of data we have stored. Nonetheless, I'll just continue to regularly try and clean out shadow copies.
I've been reading other forums about the SVI folder, this file I've mentioned doesn't have any association with the search and indexing services does it?
- LeonPavesicOct 05, 2023Silver Contributor
Hi RMGIT4550,
thanks for your update,
The file {3808876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-04046e6cc752} is a shadow copy index file. It contains information about the files and folders that are included in the shadow copy. This index file is used by VSS to quickly identify which files need to be restored when you restore from a shadow copy.
To answer your question directly, the file {3808876b-c176-4e48-b7ae-04046e6cc752} does not have a direct association with the search and indexing services. However, the search and indexing services may use the shadow copy index file to improve their performance. For example, the search service may use the shadow copy index file to quickly identify which files have been changed since the last time the index was updated.Please click Mark as Best Response & Like if my post helped you to solve your issue.
This will help others to find the correct solution easily. It also closes the item.If the post was useful in other ways, please consider giving it Like.
Kindest regards,
Leon Pavesic
(LinkedIn)