Snapshots Overview

The initial snapshot for a volume uses no space because it shares its original data with the volume from which it was taken. Each successive snapshot consumes some amount of space because it captures the changes that occurred on the volume. The changed blocks are compressed to reduce capacity consumption.

Consider the change rate of the applications using the volume, the assigned replication strategy, and the snapshot retention to determine the amount of space you need for snapshots. You can retain numerous snapshots in most environments.

Initiators access online snapshots just like they access online volumes. To access snapshot data, set the snapshot online and log the initiator into the snapshot.

When you delete a volume, the snapshots that are associated with that volume are also deleted. If the volume has online snapshots, they must be taken offline before you can delete them.