It is possible to restore files locally from the images created by the Green Cloud DRaaS with StorageCraft service. Because StorageCraft’s ShadowProtect is used and it is an image level backup system, it is necessary to mount a backup image as a drive letter, explore that drive for the file(s) you wish to restore, and copy those files to the correct location on the running server. The process for doing so is outlined below.
NOTE: You cannot restore many Windows operating system files or DLLs on a running system. If Windows does not load and you have lost data or operating system files, or you had undesirable changes to applications preventing their operation, a recovery to the cloud may be necessary to allow for restoring OS files offline locally. It is also necessary to have the application to which the files being restored belong offline before copying files since the application will likely have many of its files open preventing restoration.
Mount Image
To locate and mount the ShadowProtect image for the relevant server, open a Windows Explorer instance on a machine with:
- Local access to the Synology DiskStation, and
- ShadowProtect installed.
Navigate to:
\\diskstation\synology
Use the username “diskstation\customer”. Contact Green Cloud support for the password to your specific Synology device.
Once the DiskStation share is open, navigate to the folder containing backups for the relevant server. Sort by Date Modified and locate the most recent *.spi Backup Image file. Right-click on the file and select “Quick Mount” to mount it to the local machine. Enter the Encryption Key provided by Green Cloud support. ShadowProtect then mounts the backup image file as the drive letter you specified, and then automatically launches Windows Explorer and displays the mounted volume.
Restore Files and Dismount
With the backup image mounted, you can browse the contents of the volume as you would any Windows volume. To restore individual files or folders, simply copy them from the mounted image file volume to your production volume.
When the restoration is complete, it is best to dismount the volume by right-clicking on the mounted image in Windows Explorer and selecting Quick Dismount.
Further Reading
For more detailed information the complete ShadowProtect User Guide can be found online at:
http://www.storagecraft.com/support/book/shadowprotect-user-guide-0