About VSS-aware backups

The storage and event storage services coordinate with the Microsoft Windows Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to enable consistent backups of history blocks while the Historian continues running. This means you do not need to shut down the Historian before performing a backup of history blocks.

Notes: You must shut down the Historian before restoring history blocks from backup.

Circular and alternate storage locations can be backed up independently of each other.

Backing Up Data Stored on Network Shares

If you are backing up data from a network share, VSS-aware backups are not available for this location from the Historian server.

For example, if your alternate storage location is on a network share instead of a local drive, you must manage backups of the alternate location from the server hosting the network share. Because this location is independent of the Historian server, the consistency of these backups cannot be guaranteed. See Storage partition locations for recommended best practices.