With Microsoft iSCSI Software Target, you can mount a read-only snapshot of an iSCSI virtual disk locally on the iSCSI target server. This snapshot will then appear as a local disk. You can then configure backup software to back up the data of the locally-mounted disks using their drive letters or mount points, and then schedule the backup (if not previously scheduled).

You can either mount iSCSI virtual disk in read/write mode or mount a snapshot of the virtual disk in read-only mode, but not both. If you have already mounted the virtual disk as either read/write or read-only, a subsequent mount operation will dismount the previous instance before proceeding. For more information about mounting a virtual disk locally as a read/write disk, see Mounting a Virtual Disk Locally.

Membership in the local Administrators group, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review the details in "Additional considerations" in this topic.

To mount a read-only snapshot locally
  1. In Microsoft iSCSI Software Target, in the console tree, double-click Snapshots, and then click Active Snapshots.

  2. In the results pane, right-click the snapshot you want to mount locally (read-only), point to Disk Access, and then click Mount Snapshot.

  3. When prompted to confirm the action, click Yes.

Additional considerations

  • You must be a member of the local Administrators group to perform these tasks.

  • To open iSCSI Software Target, click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and then click Microsoft iSCSI Software Target.

  • Another way to open iSCSI Software Target is to click Start, click Run, and then type iscsitarget.msc.

Additional references