Dell EMC Avamar for Windows Servers 19.7 User Guide

File system backups in a Windows Server cluster

Use the Windows File System plug-in to back up file system data on shared storage in a Windows Server cluster. You can back up all file system data at one time, or you can back up individual cluster disks, folders, and files.

To back up data on a local volume of a cluster node, select the physical node as the client to back up, and use the Windows File System plug-in.

Back up shared cluster data separately from file system data on local volumes. You may not be able to restore data from a backup that includes file system data from both shared storage and local volumes. A best practice is to exclude shared cluster data when you back up local file system data, and to exclude local file system data when you back up shared cluster data. Specify the exclusion on the Exclusions tab when you create a dataset for scheduled backups.

Do not include the cluster quorum drive in file system backups. According to Microsoft guidelines, this cluster resource must always remain under exclusive control of the cluster. A best practice is to exclude the quorum drive from backups. To exclude the quorum drive, specify the drive on the Exclusions tab when you create a dataset for scheduled backups of the cluster.