Offhost backup enables Backup Exec to move backup processing from the host computer, which is the remote computer that contains the volumes selected for backup, to the Backup Exec media server. The offhost backup creates a snapshot of the volume or volumes that are selected for backup on the remote computer. The snapshots are then imported to the media server, where they are backed up.

The following illustrates the basic method for performing an offhost backup.

After the backup, the snapshots are deported from the media server and mounted back on the remote computer and resynchronized with the source volume. This process requires solutions from hardware or software providers that can support transportable snapshots, that is, snapshots that can be imported to and deported from the media server. The Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Services (VSS) provider that you select is used for each volume in the offhost backup. An offhost backup job is performed on one remote computer at a time.