Qn for support: Which is -recommended- VSS or PHYLock

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jeffw_00
Posts: 97
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:46 pm

Qn for support: Which is -recommended- VSS or PHYLock

Post by jeffw_00 »

I have W7 machines, migrating them to W10. So as part of that process I updated from my 2.93 IFW to 3.31, and encountered VSS. I see some informal discussions in the forums, but this is a question for support. Which do you -recommend- for W7 and W10 systems and why? (couldn't find this in knowledge base or manual).

Thanks!
/j
jeffw_00
Posts: 97
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:46 pm

Re: Qn for support: Which is -recommended- VSS or PHYLock

Post by jeffw_00 »

bump?
DrTeeth
Posts: 1289
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 6:58 pm

Re: Qn for support: Which is -recommended- VSS or PHYLock

Post by DrTeeth »

On Mon, 26 Aug 2019 10:31:25 PDT, just as I was about to take a herb,
jeffw_00 disturbed my reverie and wrote:

>bump?
>

I would recommend PHYLock 100%. First and foremost, David (TBU) wrote
it.

Second, it is easily user-configurable.

Third, IIRC, VSS copies over the full-sized swap file as well as other
stuff (? restore points) that PHYLock does not. This is a minor issue
as point number 1 does it for me and point two greatly helps.
--
Cheers,

DrT

** Amateurs built the Ark, but professionals built the Titanic.**
jeffw_00
Posts: 97
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:46 pm

Re: Qn for support: Which is -recommended- VSS or PHYLock

Post by jeffw_00 »

that would have been my guess - I asked because when installing the latest IFW - it seems slanted to have you use VSS by default. I'm assuming Terabyte Support is on vacation this month, but hopefully he will soon come back and explain the pros/cons. I do notice that occasionally PHYLOCK fails to cache all changes and then rerunning with VSS works... I wonder if PHYLOCK is more aesthetically correct and for enthusiasts, while VSS is more failsafe albeit uglier.
Bob Coleman
Posts: 785
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 5:58 pm

Re: Qn for support: Which is -recommended- VSS or PHYLock

Post by Bob Coleman »

jeffw_00 wrote:
> that would have been my guess - I asked because when installing the latest
> IFW - it seems slanted to have you use VSS by default. I'm assuming
> Terabyte Support is on vacation this month, but hopefully he will soon come
> back and explain the pros/cons. I do notice that occasionally PHYLOCK
> fails to cache all changes and then rerunning with VSS works... I wonder
> if PHYLOCK is more aesthetically correct and for enthusiasts, while VSS is
> more failsafe albeit uglier.

Unless you've already tried this, rerunning with PhyLock might work also. You can't really draw any conclusions from the fact that PhyLock failed to cache all changes and then VSS worked OK because the underlying conditions are different. Presumably when all changes were not cached there was significant writing to disk during the backup. The same thing might (or might not) happen if VSS were being used at the same time.
jeffw_00
Posts: 97
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:46 pm

Re: Qn for support: Which is -recommended- VSS or PHYLock

Post by jeffw_00 »

I'm drawing more conclusions from which one the install appears to want to default to. I'd really like to understand the pros/cons of each
jeffw_00
Posts: 97
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:46 pm

Re: Qn for support: Which is -recommended- VSS or PHYLock

Post by jeffw_00 »

I see Terabyte Support is back -hope you enjoyed your time off!. I'd still really like to understand why i would pick VSS or PHYLock.
Bob Coleman
Posts: 785
Joined: Fri Aug 12, 2011 5:58 pm

Re: Qn for support: Which is -recommended- VSS or PHYLock

Post by Bob Coleman »

I'm not sure I've ever done this myself, but I've seen it said that email to support@terabyteunlimited.com sometimes produces results when a forum post doesn't.
TeraByte Support
Posts: 3598
Joined: Thu May 05, 2011 10:37 pm

Re: Qn for support: Which is -recommended- VSS or PHYLock

Post by TeraByte Support »

What is recommended is whichever you prefer. PHYLock works on the physical drive level. VSS works on the volume level. VSS is already installed and ready to use in the newer Windows OSes. It also has a mechanism for things that support it to help create a clean state. PHYLock uses a quiet period as the clean state point (or final timeout). PHYLock will still backup all the various metadata and files. VSS has exclude files and such (that are deemed to be okay to exclude by MS). The default is VSS. I personally use VSS (falls back to PHYLock for situations where VSS won't start).
jeffw_00
Posts: 97
Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2011 1:46 pm

Re: Qn for support: Which is -recommended- VSS or PHYLock

Post by jeffw_00 »

Hi - Thanks so much for the info. Much appreciated!
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