How many shadow copies you can create in Windows?
There are various numeric limits, imposed either in the OS or in the specific shadow copy provider. Here is a table that summarizes all the numbers.
Note that the limit below is per volume, not per system.
|
Maximum number of shadow copies per volume |
Windows XP |
Windows Server 2003 | |
|
Provider |
Shadow type | ||
|
The in-box provider (ships with Windows) |
Writers, non-persistent (used for backup) |
1 |
512 |
|
No writers, non-persistent |
n/a | ||
|
Writers, persistent | |||
|
No writers, persistent | |||
|
Shadow Copies for Shared Folders (no writers, non-persistent) |
64 | ||
|
Third-party Hardware providers |
Writers, non-persistent (used for backup) |
n/a |
Provider-specific (No max limit imposed by VSS) |
|
No writers, non-persistent | |||
|
Writers, persistent | |||
|
No writers, persistent | |||
|
Shadow Copies for Shared Folders |
n/a | ||