How to restore a volume that is managed by Single Instance Storage

When you install Remote Installation Service (RIS) on a computer, you also set up Single Instance Storage (SIS) on a volume of the hard disk drive. SIS reduces the amount of space in a volume that data uses by removing duplicate files and placing them in a common store directory (\Sis Common Store), which is a hidden directory in the root directory of the volume. When you run Risetup.exe to complete the installation of RIS, you choose an NTFS file system volume on which to store your images. You install the SIS filter on this volume.

When you restore a volume that is managed by SIS, you must follow specific steps to prevent corruption of the data you are restoring. Also, because SIS manages the entire volume, not just the RIS directory structure, SIS will manage any data that you place on this volume.

Note: To successfully restore a SIS-managed volume, the SIS/Groveler must be running and attached to the volume to which you are restoring data. If it is not, any non-SIS-linked files will still be accessible, but SIS-linked files will not be accessible, and they will appear to be corrupted. The name and size of a SIS-linked file will appear as normal. However, the file will be a zero-length file because it will not have access to the data it should contain.

To make SIS Management available on your computer

Select one of the following methods to make SIS management available for a volume on your computer based on whether your computer is running RIS.

Remote Installation Services is installed on the computer

The following instructions explain how to start RIS and the SIS service, and how to create the basic RIS directory structure. As a result, the directory will be empty and ready for you to begin restoring the data from backup using your backup program.

If your computer is running RIS, and you are restoring only the volume in which RIS images were stored, (due to disk drive failure, installation of a larger had drive, or similar circumstances), follow these steps:

1. Install the hard drive and format it using the NTFS file system.
2. Create a volume with the same name as the one you are restoring that resides on the same letter drive. Trivial FTP Daemon (TFTPD) hard codes the drive letter of its Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) root in its registry key.
3. From a command prompt, type risetup -check, and then press ENTER.
4. Follow the instructions on the screen. When you are asked for the RIS volume, type the name of the volume you are restoring (the volume you created in step 2).
5. Using NTBackup or your backup program, restore the RIS volume from the backup media.

Remote Installation Services is not installed on the computer

Note: You need to copy an image from the Windows 2000 Professional CD-ROM during the following procedure. Be sure you have the CD-ROM available.

If RIS is not installed on the system because the server is being rebuilt, or the images are being moved to a new server, follow these steps:

1. Install RIS using Add/Remove programs, and then restart the computer.
2. Using Disk Management, create a volume large enough to hold your RIS images. The minimum recommended size is 2 gigabytes (GB).
3. Restart the computer, and from a command prompt, run Risetup.exe.
4. Follow the instructions on the screen. When you are asked for the name of the volume that will hold the RIS images, type the name of the volume you created in step 2.

When you have completed the preceding steps to install and start RIS and attach the SIS/Groveler to the volume, you can begin restoring the data from backup using your backup program.

Troubleshooting

Your backup program does not need to understand SIS-linked files but it should understand NTFS file system reparse points. If you are using a non-Microsoft backup program, check with the vendor to see if your program has this capability.

When you install SIS, you also install Sisbkup.dll. Your backup program can call this DLL when backing up or restoring a SIS-managed volume so that the data is handled properly. You must modify your backup program to call this DLL.

If your backup program does not call Sisbkup.dll, your program will back up all of the data on the volume, the data will require more storage space on the tape than it uses on the volume, and when you restore the volume from the tape, the files will be restored as non-Sis-linked files.