Sometimes, it is necessary to complete a series of inter-related changes to several related files. But sometimes, this cannot simply be achieved by completing all pending file change operations. The aim of Shadow Copy is to create consistent reliable snapshots. Other components that are involved in the snapshot creation process are writers. Each provider has a maximum of 10 seconds' time to complete the snapshot generation.
While Windows comes with a default System Provider, software and hardware vendors can create their own software or hardware providers and register them with Volume Shadow Copy service. The components that perform all the necessary data transfer are called providers.
The core component of shadow copy is the Volume Shadow Copy service, which initiates and oversees the snapshot creation process. Snapshots allow the creation of consistent backups of a volume, ensuring that the contents do not change and are not locked while the backup is being made. VSS operates at the block level of volumes.Ī snapshot is a read-only point-in-time copy of the volume.
