Snapshots

This page allows you to take, remove, and edit snapshots, as well as to configure snapshot schedule and retention settings.

Snapshots minimize disk consumption by preserving individual blocks rather than whole files. Extra space may be consumed when the files in shared folders or blocks in iSCSI LUNs are updated or removed.

Shared Folder

To take a snapshot for a shared folder:

  1. Select the shared folder of which you wish to take a snapshot.
    Note: You can press and hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple items.
  2. Click Snapshot > Take a Snapshot.
  3. Enter the description in Description for the snapshot to be taken.
  4. Tick/untick the Lock checkbox to determine whether the snapshot will ignore the retention settings when automatic removal is to be triggered.
  5. Click OK to start taking a snapshot.

Note:

To make snapshot visible:

The folders and files in snapshots can be accessed via file services in #snapshot folders of the shared folder.

  1. Select a shared folder of which you wish to make the snapshot visible.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Go to the Advanced tab, and tick the Make snapshot visible checkbox.

Note:

To browse snapshots of a shared folder:

  1. Select a shared folder of which you wish to browse the snapshots.
  2. Click Snapshot > Snapshot List.
  3. Select a snapshot you wish to browse, and click Browse.

Note:

To remove snapshots of a shared folder:

  1. Select a shared folder you wish to remove the snapshots of.
  2. Click Snapshot > Snapshot List.
  3. Select one or more snapshots you wish to remove, and click Remove.
    Note: You can press and hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple items.
  4. You will see a confirmation message. Click Delete to confirm the removal. System will delete snapshots in the background. Deleting large quantity of snapshots may prolong the processing time.

Note:

To estimate storage usage by snapshots of a shared folder:

  1. Select a shared folder you wish to evaluate snapshot usage of.
  2. Click Snapshot > Calculate Size.
  3. Select a time range by entering a start date and an end date, and then click Calculate now.
    Note: The minimum time range is 7 days.

Note:

To view storage usage by snapshots of a shared folder:

After the estimation task is completed, click Task done to view the storage estimation report. Move the mouse cursor to view storage usage accumulation.

To clear a finished estimation task:

In Snapshots > Shared Folder, select a shared folder and click Clear to erase task details.

To edit snapshots of a shared folder:

  1. Select a shared folder you wish to edit the snapshots of.
  2. Click Snapshot > Snapshot List.
  3. Select a snapshot you wish to edit, and click Edit.
  4. You can modify the description of the snapshot in Description, and tick/untick the Lock checkbox to determine whether the snapshot will ignore the retention settings when automatic removal is to be triggered.
  5. Click OK to save your settings.

To configure scheduled snapshots:

With scheduled snapshots, Snapshot Replication will automatically take snapshots at the pre-determined time and frequency, and it will thus lighten your workload to take snapshot manually.

  1. Select a shared folder.
    Note: You can press and hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple items.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. In the Schedule tab, tick the Enable snapshot schedule checkbox, and set up the time and frequency to take snapshots. To cancel scheduled snapshots for this shared folder, please untick the checkbox.
  4. Click OK to save your settings.
  5. You will see a confirmation message. Click OK to confirm the configuration.

Note:

To configure the retention settings for the scheduled snapshots:

  1. Select a shared folder.
    Note: You can press and hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple items.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Select Retention tab.
  4. Specify how to retain and delete snapshots.
  5. Click OK to save your settings.

To configure the snapshot naming policy:

  1. Select a shared folder.
    Note: You can press and hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple items.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Select Advanced tab.
  4. Tick/untick the Use the time in the GMT +0 time zone to name the snapshots checkbox.
  5. Click OK to save your settings.

Note:

iSCSI LUN

To take a snapshot for an iSCSI LUN:

  1. Select the iSCSI LUN of which you wish to take a snapshot.
    Note: You can press and hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple items.
  2. Click Snapshot > Take a Snapshot.
  3. Enter the description in Description for the snapshot to be taken.
  4. From the Lock drop-down list, select Yes/No to determine whether the snapshot will ignore the retention settings when automatic removal is to be triggered.
  5. Click OK to start taking a snapshot.

To remove a snapshot of an iSCSI LUN:

  1. Select an iSCSI LUN you wish to remove the snapshots of.
  2. Click Snapshot > Snapshot List.
  3. Select one or more snapshots you wish to remove, and click Remove.
    Note: You can press and hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple items.
  4. You will see a confirmation message. Click Delete to confirm the removal. System will delete snapshots in the background. Deleting large quantity of snapshots may prolong the processing time.

Note:

To edit a snapshot of an iSCSI LUN:

  1. Select an iSCSI LUN you wish to edit the snapshots of.
  2. Click Snapshot > Snapshot List.
  3. Select a snapshot you wish to edit, and click Edit.
  4. You can do any of the following to edit the snapshot:
  5. Click OK to save your settings.

Note:

Terminologies:

To configure scheduled snapshots:

With scheduled snapshots, Snapshot Replication will automatically take snapshots at the pre-determined time and frequency, and it will thus lighten your workload to take snapshot manually.

  1. Select an iSCSI LUN.
    Note: You can press and hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple items.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. In the Schedule tab, tick the Enable snapshot schedule checkbox, and set up the time and frequency to take snapshots. To cancel scheduled snapshots for this shared folder, please untick the checkbox.
  4. Click OK to save your settings.

To configure the retention settings for the scheduled snapshots:

  1. Select an iSCSI LUN.
    Note: You can press and hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple items.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Select Retention tab.
  4. Specify how to retain and delete snapshots.
  5. Click OK to save your settings.
  6. You will see a confirmation message. Click OK again to confirm the configuration.

To configure the consistent state of your iSCSI LUN snapshots:

  1. Select an iSCSI LUN.
    Note: You can press and hold Ctrl or Shift to select multiple items.
  2. Click Settings.
  3. Select Application tab.
  4. Tick/untick Enable application-consistent snapshots checkbox to switch between the following consistent states:
  5. Click OK to save your settings.

Note:

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Retention Policy

This option provides an ideal solution to help you specify the maximum amounts of snapshot versions to save your volume space, but you may need to retain your snapshots for longer periods of time. There are a few things to note about Retention Policy:

Example 1:
If you want to keep daily snapshots for the past 3 months, weekly snapshots for the past 4 to 6 months, and monthly snapshots for the past 7 to 9 months, you need to input 0 for hourly snapshots, 90 for daily snapshots, 24 for weekly snapshots, 9 for monthly snapshots, and 0 for yearly snapshots.

Example 2:
If you want to keep hourly snapshots for the past 2 days, daily snapshots for the past week, weekly snapshots for the past month, and monthly snapshots for the past year, you need to input 48 for hourly snapshots, 7 for daily snapshots, 4 for weekly snapshots, 12 for monthly snapshots, and 0 for yearly snapshots.