Snapshot
Point-in-time, space-saving copies

Overview:

Snapshot functions provide instantaneous point-in-time copies of data that look and behave like complete backups without consuming equivalent disk space. The snapshot images are ideal for various applications including backup, testing or development, information analysis and data mining.

In the instant of snapshot creation, a point-in-time data image is taken without disrupting online applications. Based on the image, data changes will be copied to the snapshot volume when new writes occur. With copy-on-write design, Infortrend's snapshot protects production data from accidental modifications, deletions and corruptions with minimal capacity requirements and performance overhead. By accessing a snapshot copy as the desired recovery point, users can immediately restore system availability from data disruption

Benefits:

Features	Benefits
Increased availability	Restore files and roll back data in seconds; data is protected from accidental or malicious losses to ensure the highest system availability
Space-efficient, low-impact data protection	Create immediate, differential copies; users can instantly take point-in-time data images without disrupting online applications and use them as granular recovery points while consuming the minimum disk space and performance by storing only data changes
Simplified management	Take advantage of scheduling and capacity control mechanisms; minimal manual intervention is required to take and manage snapshots
Deployment flexibility	Allow flexible configuration of snapshot frequency and support up to 1024 snapshots for each source data volume; users can deploy different levels of snapshot protection depending on data importance

Diagram:

Space-saving, point-in-time, copy-on-write methodology