Merge pull request #219584 from v-amallick/Nov-27-2022-QS

QS - Freshness updates

Author: LJSpiller

articles/backup/backup-azure-about-mars.md

@@ -2,44 +2,58 @@
 title: About the MARS Agent
 description: Learn how the MARS Agent supports the backup scenarios
 ms.topic: conceptual
-ms.date: 08/04/2020
+ms.date: 11/28/2022
+author: v-amallick
+ms.service: backup
+ms.author: v-amallick
+ms.custom: engagement-fy23
 ---
 
-# About the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services (MARS) agent
+# About the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services (MARS) agent for Azure Backup
 
-This article describes how the Azure Backup service uses the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services (MARS) agent to back up and restore files, folders, and the volume or system state from an on-premises computer to Azure.
+Azure Backup uses the Microsoft Azure Recovery Services (MARS) agent to back up and recover files, folders, and the volume or system state from an on-premises computer to Azure.
+
+In this article, you'll learn about:
+
+> [!div class="checklist"]
+> - Backup scenarios
+> - Recovery scenarios
+> - Backup process
 
 ## Backup scenarios
 
 The MARS agent supports the following backup scenarios:
 
-![MARS backup scenarios](./media/backup-try-azure-backup-in-10-mins/backup-scenarios.png)
+![Diagram shows the MARS backup scenarios.](./media/backup-try-azure-backup-in-10-mins/backup-scenarios.png)
 
-- **Files and Folders**: Selectively protect Windows files and folders.
-- **Volume Level**: Protect an entire Windows volume of your machine.
-- **System Level**: Protect an entire Windows system state.
+| Scenarios | Description |
+| --- | --- |
+| **Files and Folders** | Selectively protect Windows files and folders. |
+| **Volume Level** | Protect an entire Windows volume of your machine. |
+| **System Level** | Protect an entire Windows system state. |
 
 ### Additional scenarios
 
 - **Back up specific files and folders within Azure virtual machines**: The primary method for backing up Azure virtual machines (VMs) is to use an Azure Backup extension on the VM. The extension backs up the entire VM. If you want to back up specific files and folders within a VM, you can install the MARS agent in the Azure VMs. For more information, see [Architecture: Built-in Azure VM Backup](./backup-architecture.md#architecture-built-in-azure-vm-backup).
 
 - **Offline seeding**: Initial full backups of data to Azure typically transfer large amounts of data and require more network bandwidth. Subsequent backups transfer only the delta, or incremental, amount of data. Azure Backup compresses the initial backups. Through the process of *offline seeding*, Azure Backup can use disks to upload the compressed initial backup data offline to Azure. For more information, see [Azure Backup offline-backup using Azure Data Box](offline-backup-azure-data-box.md).
 
-## Restore scenarios
-
-The MARS agent supports the following restore scenarios:
+## Recovery scenarios
 
-![MARS recovery scenarios](./media/backup-try-azure-backup-in-10-mins/restore-scenarios.png)
+The MARS agent supports the following recovery scenarios:
 
-- **Same Server**: The server on which the backup was originally created.
-  - **Files and Folders**: Choose the individual files and folders that you want to restore.
-  - **Volume Level**: Choose the volume and recovery point that you want to restore. Then restore it to the same location or an alternate location on the same machine.  Create a copy of existing files, overwrite existing files, or skip recovering existing files.
-  - **System Level**: Choose the system state and recovery point to restore to the same machine at a specified location.
+![Diagram shows the MARS recovery scenarios.](./media/backup-try-azure-backup-in-10-mins/restore-scenarios.png)
 
-- **Alternate Server**: A server other than the server where the backup was taken.
-  - **Files and Folders**: Choose the individual files and folders whose recovery point you want to restore to a target machine.
-  - **Volume Level**: Choose the volume and recovery point that you want to restore to another location. Create a copy of existing files, overwrite existing files, or skip recovering existing files.
-  - **System Level**: Choose the system state and recovery point to restore as a System State file to an alternate machine.
+| Server | Recovery scenario | Description |
+| --- | --- | --- |
+| **Same Server** |  | The server on which the backup was originally created. |
+|   | **Files and Folders** | Choose the individual files and folders that you want to restore. |
+|   | **Volume Level** | Choose the volume and recovery point that you want to restore, and then restore it to the same location or an alternate location on the same machine.  Create a copy of existing files, overwrite existing files, or skip recovering existing files. |
+|  | **System Level** | Choose the system state and recovery point to restore to the same machine at a specified location. |
+| **Alternate Server**  |  | A server other than the server where the backup was taken. |
+|   | **Files and Folders** | Choose the individual files and folders whose recovery point you want to restore to a target machine. |
+|   | **Volume Level** | Choose the volume and recovery point that you want to restore to another location. Create a copy of existing files, overwrite existing files, or skip recovering existing files. |
+|   | **System Level** | Choose the system state and recovery point to restore as a System State file to an alternate machine. |
 
 ## Backup process
 
@@ -49,11 +63,14 @@ The MARS agent supports the following restore scenarios:
 3. [Install the agent](./install-mars-agent.md#install-and-register-the-agent) and use the downloaded vault credentials to register the machine to the Recovery Services vault.
 4. From the agent console on the client, [configure the backup](./backup-windows-with-mars-agent.md#create-a-backup-policy) to specify what to back up, when to back up (the schedule), how long the backups should be retained in Azure (the retention policy) and start protecting.
 
-![Azure Backup agent diagram](./media/backup-try-azure-backup-in-10-mins/backup-process.png)
+
+The following diagram shows the backup flow:
+
+![Diagra shows the bacup flow of Azure Backup agent.](./media/backup-try-azure-backup-in-10-mins/backup-process.png)
 
 ### Additional information
 
-- The **Initial Backup** (first backup) runs according to your backup settings.  The MARS agent uses VSS to take a point-in-time snapshot of the volumes selected for backup. The agent only uses the Windows System Writer operation to capture the snapshot. It doesn't use any application VSS writers, and doesn't capture app-consistent snapshots. After taking the snapshot with VSS, the MARS agent creates a virtual hard disk (VHD) in the cache folder you specified when you configured the backup. The agent also stores checksums for each data block.
+- The **Initial Backup** (first backup) runs according to your backup settings.  The MARS agent uses VSS to take a point-in-time snapshot of the volumes selected for backup. The agent only uses the Windows System Writer operation to capture the snapshot. It doesn't use any application VSS writers, and doesn't capture app-consistent snapshots. After VSS agent takes the snapshot, the MARS agent creates a virtual hard disk (VHD) in the cache folder you specified during the backup configuration. The agent also stores checksums for each data block.
 
 - **Incremental backups** (subsequent backups) run according to the schedule you specify. During incremental backups, changed files are identified and a new VHD is created. The VHD is compressed and encrypted, and then it's sent to the vault. After the incremental backup finishes, the new VHD is merged with the VHD created after the initial replication. This merged VHD provides the latest state to be used for comparison for ongoing backup.