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I have a 2016 server with 2 volumes C and M and would like to set up VSS to a SEPARATE dedicated disk. Is it possible to point both volumes (C & M) VSS configurations to use this SAME dedicated disk for VSS and share them as the storage area? I will give them about 20% for each volume that they can use on the dedicated VSS drive.

The server runs a few SQL instances and I don't want to fill up either drive C or M with the VSS data as I need that for production. I only care about VSS for backup (backup live files) and don't care if users can use it to restore previous versions.

What would people suggest...

user777958
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While you should be able to do this, remember that VSS snapshots are automatically removed when a certain quota/size is reached. In other words, if sized properly you should never run out of space due to VSS snapshots.

Moving the CoW data to another volume is generally done for performance purposes, rather than to lower disk space utilization.

shodanshok
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  • I'm more concerned that these are 4TB volumes and I want VSS to capture the backup of ALL of the live files. If I leave the configuration on the same volume will it perhaps miss any 'live' files in the backup? That worries me. – user777958 Jun 04 '20 at 21:58
  • @user777958 VSS can skip some files by default, but this is not related to where you store the CoW itself. Please read [here](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/vss/excluding-files-from-shadow-copies) or [here](https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/561374-exclude-certain-files-from-volume-shadow-copy) for more informations. – shodanshok Jun 04 '20 at 23:06