Understand VSS with pst (and other) files
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In the “smart handling” section of “miscellaneous” configuration settings, the user can disable, or set “smart” handling of files using VSS.
I assumed that “smart handling” means that it uses VSS when it needs it (when the file is open) and doesn’t use it when it doesn’t (the file is closed).
Apparently that is not what smart handling means, at least not on my system. VSS will not work with an open PST file unless I check “always use with pst files.”
But I don’t want to use VSS unless I must. So I don’t want to tell PA to ALWAYS use VSS with ANY files.
However, unless I do, I cannot compress an open pst file.
Does VSS work differently with pst files than with other files? Or will VSS only work if I specify that I must always use it each file type?
If so, what does “smart handling” mean? I am trying to understand.
This works very differently than other backup systems I have that work with VSS.
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Smart handling means what you wrote it means, however with certain files, it can not detect smartly because they actually allow reading sometimes and up to certain level.
this is why you can use the filter to force it.
VSS is used for enterprise level backups usually, and they simply always use it. However since PA is different kind of utility, we cant do that as first init of Volume Shadow Copy Service can take anywhere from 8s to 1 minute, depending on the computer.