Drive Snapshot: Reliable backups for industrial PCs, without interrupting operations

 

With Drive Snapshot, you back up complete hard drives and partitions as an exact image while Windows keeps running. No installation, no restart, with minimal resource usage.

 

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Why conventional backup solutions reach their limits in production environments

Production IT operates under different conditions from office IT. Conventional backup software is often not designed to meet these requirements.

 

  • Backups often require a restart or production downtime because conventional imaging tools can only create backups while systems are offline.
  • Agent-based backup solutions often require frameworks, domain connections or extensive installations that may not be permitted on validated or legacy industrial systems.
  • Recovery takes too long when an incident occurs because there is no complete, ready-to-use image of the system state available.

 

As a result, a system failure is more likely to turn into actual production downtime.

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Back up industrial PCs with Drive Snapshot software without interrupting production

With Drive Snapshot, you create an exact image of a partition or hard drive while Windows continues to run normally. There is no need to close applications or schedule a restart.

When a backup starts, Drive Snapshot captures the current state of the drive and creates a snapshot. If an application subsequently changes data on the drive, Drive Snapshot first saves the affected original data before allowing the change. This ensures that the completed image accurately represents the system state at the time the backup was started.

In the event of a failure, you restore this image to the original or new hardware without having to reinstall Windows, drivers or applications.

 

 

 

 

Drive Snapshot in combination with ondeso SR

Drive Snapshot provides the disk imaging engine, while ondeso SR provides centralised management. Together, they create an end-to-end image backup workflow for your entire OT environment.

Instead of manually starting backups on individual industrial PCs, you define your backup processes centrally in ondeso SR. You specify the schedule, drives to be backed up and retention rules once. ondeso SR then automatically executes these processes across all connected clients, verifies the integrity of the created images and removes outdated backups according to your rules.

The central ondeso SR interface gives you an overview of all backups at any time. You can validate them and restore them to external media when required. Restoring the client itself is generally carried out locally. Under certain conditions, remote recovery is also possible. This reduces manual effort and the risk of errors, particularly when you manage large numbers of industrial PCs across multiple locations.

You can also use Drive Snapshot as standalone image backup software. If you additionally require centralised management, reporting and automation across your entire OT environment, you can use Drive Snapshot as part of ondeso SR. With ondeso SR, you not only get a comprehensive solution for managing your OT clients. A Drive Snapshot licence is also included as standard.

Experience the Benefits Yourself

I am here to assist you.

Christoph Ackermann
Head of Professional Services
Phone: +49 175 3334006

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Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to restart the system for a backup?

No. Drive Snapshot backs up partitions and hard drives while Windows is running and applications remain active.

 

How many resources does Drive Snapshot require during operation?

Drive Snapshot uses around 8 MB of memory in the background. It also runs at low priority and briefly pauses whenever other applications are accessing the hard drive intensively.

 

Can I restore an image to different hardware?

Yes. During recovery, additional hard drive drivers can be injected into the restored Windows system. This makes it possible to restore the system to different hardware under certain conditions, depending on factors such as driver availability.

 

Which Windows versions are supported?

Current versions of Drive Snapshot support Windows from XP and Windows Server 2003 through to Windows 11 and Windows Server 2022, including Windows PE and x64 versions. For legacy systems such as Windows NT4 SP6 and Windows 2000, a dedicated version (1.49) is available.

 

Are Linux file systems supported as well?

Yes, although Drive Snapshot itself does not run on Linux. If a Windows system also contains a Linux partition, for example as part of a dual-boot setup, Drive Snapshot detects the partition and can back it up just as efficiently as Windows drives.

 

How can I make sure an image will work in an emergency?

Drive Snapshot includes a test function that reads the entire image and uses checksums to verify its integrity.

 

What happens to open files during a backup?

Open files, including active databases, are backed up consistently in the state they were in when the backup started.

 

Can I automate Drive Snapshot?

Yes. Backups, restores and other actions can be scheduled or executed via command-line scripts. When you use Drive Snapshot as part of ondeso SR, scripting is not required. You define the automation centrally through the ondeso SR interface, and ondeso SR executes the processes across your clients.

Success Story: Automated Backups with ondeso SR

A semiconductor manufacturer was looking for a backup solution to protect its OT clients from cyber attacks. The company chose our client management software ondeso SR.

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