# Application-Aware Backup Process

The backup performs the following actions:

1. During the VSA backup, the application-aware workflow performs the following actions:

   1. Discovers virtual machines that are running an application that is protected by application-aware backups.

   2. Pushes an application plug-in into the guest virtual machine.

      The application plug-in is installed with the first application-aware backup and is used for any subsequent backups of the VM.

      For virtual machines running SQL Server to support SharePoint, application plug-ins for SQL Server are installed.

   3. Creates an application client automatically.

      For existing application clients, the workflow modifies settings as described in Reconfiguration for VMs That Already Use Application Agents.

   4. Uses the application plug-in to initiate the application backup.

2. When the application backup is initiated, the application plug-in performs an application-consistent software snap backup.

3. After the application backup creates the VSS snapshot, the VSA proxy completes the VSA backup.

   Note

   This step does not apply to the VMware Hypervisor. For VMware, the hypervisor level application consistent VM snapshot is taken during the backup.

4. The application backup will wait for the entire VSA backup to complete because the VSA backup's last phase, 'Application Completion' performs the necessary linking between the application and the VSA job.

   Note

   If an application database is already configured to be backed up by an application agent, it will not be backed up using the application-aware VM group.

5. The application plug-in indexes the backup data and catalogs the data to support granular restores.

   The application plug-in performs the following actions:

   1. Quiesces the application state to disk before the VM backup.

   2. Indexes application data after the VM backup.

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