Mounting a Read-Only Snapshot Locally
Applies To: Microsoft iSCSI Software Target
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 appear as a local disk. You can configure backup software to back up the data of the locally-mounted disks by using their drive letters or mount points, and then schedule the backup (if not previously scheduled).
You can 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 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
In Microsoft iSCSI Software Target, in the console tree, double-click Snapshots, and then click Active Snapshots.
In the results pane, right-click the snapshot that you want to mount locally (read-only), point to Disk Access, and then click Mount Snapshot.
When you are 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.)