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When I make a backup using WHS, am I creating a drive image? RRS feed

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    I'm going to guess that the answer is "no", but I just wanted to check.

    If the answer is "no", then I have this followup:

    What is the difference in "recoverability" or convenience between backing up to WHS using the WHS backup process versus using ntbackup.exe to back up to a folder on the WHS drives?

    As some will be able to tell, if I have ever had to do a restore operation in my life, the process was so long ago that I have forgotten it.  I have restored individual files, but that's it... no system states or settings.

    So, it would be fresh territory for me to try to restore a pc (or my small business server) from a backup to WHS or to some other drive.




    Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7:21 PM

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    Hi,

    The answer is 'No'.  WHS uses Single Instance Storage, so only ever has one copy of any file, and, if there are other copies on other clients, just uses a pointer to indicate.

    After the initial backup, WHS only backs up any changes; however, as far as you are concerned, when you choose a backup to be restored, WHS re-creates that backup as a complete disk image.

    There is quite a lot of info available here, and here, which goes a long way to explaining the operation.

    Colin




    If anyone answers your query successfully, please mark it as 'Helpful', to guide other users.
    • Proposed as answer by contractcooker Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7:48 PM
    • Marked as answer by jlsoaz Wednesday, October 29, 2008 8:26 PM
    Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7:45 PM
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    In the strictest sense, the answer is no. In terms of recoverability, Windows Home Server's Home Computer Backup technology is designed to make a bare metal recovery of a computer with a failed hard drive less painful than other commonly used technologies like NTBACKUP. So the backup isn't actually a drive image, because of how it's stored. But as far as the end user is concerned, it might as well be a drive image. The backup tool includes the ability to mount a backup of a drive. When you do so, it opens in an Explorer window, just like a drive (it really is a drive as far as Explorer is concerned, courtesy of a virtual driver that supplies the hooks). And you can copy loose files out of the backup to your desktop (or anywhere else you'd like to) just like it was a real drive.

    Colin has given you some good pointers as well.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    • Marked as answer by jlsoaz Wednesday, October 29, 2008 8:26 PM
    Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7:51 PM
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    Hi,

    The answer is 'No'.  WHS uses Single Instance Storage, so only ever has one copy of any file, and, if there are other copies on other clients, just uses a pointer to indicate.

    After the initial backup, WHS only backs up any changes; however, as far as you are concerned, when you choose a backup to be restored, WHS re-creates that backup as a complete disk image.

    There is quite a lot of info available here, and here, which goes a long way to explaining the operation.

    Colin




    If anyone answers your query successfully, please mark it as 'Helpful', to guide other users.
    • Proposed as answer by contractcooker Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7:48 PM
    • Marked as answer by jlsoaz Wednesday, October 29, 2008 8:26 PM
    Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7:45 PM
    Moderator
  • Question
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    In the strictest sense, the answer is no. In terms of recoverability, Windows Home Server's Home Computer Backup technology is designed to make a bare metal recovery of a computer with a failed hard drive less painful than other commonly used technologies like NTBACKUP. So the backup isn't actually a drive image, because of how it's stored. But as far as the end user is concerned, it might as well be a drive image. The backup tool includes the ability to mount a backup of a drive. When you do so, it opens in an Explorer window, just like a drive (it really is a drive as far as Explorer is concerned, courtesy of a virtual driver that supplies the hooks). And you can copy loose files out of the backup to your desktop (or anywhere else you'd like to) just like it was a real drive.

    Colin has given you some good pointers as well.
    I'm not on the WHS team, I just post a lot. :)
    • Marked as answer by jlsoaz Wednesday, October 29, 2008 8:26 PM
    Wednesday, October 29, 2008 7:51 PM
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    Hi,
    on top of what already has been mentioned, it's also not an exact drive image due to some files and folders being on the exclusion list.
    While temp files, swap file and so on will not really be missed, this may be different for TV recordings of Media Center, i.e. .
    Best greetings from Germany
    Olaf
    Wednesday, October 29, 2008 9:49 PM
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