Auto Snapshot Policies

The Auto Snapshot Policy feature configures frequency for the automatic snapshots and retention. Snapshots can be set to be taken daily, weekly, monthly, yearly or over a custom time interval. Active Defense feature will also provide additional, more frequent snapshots called rolling snapshots. Rolling snapshots occur once every minute to allow data recovery in the event of a security incident. Rolling snapshots can be configured separately, see [_configure_snapshot_service].

Editing a policy

The following fields are available when configuring an Auto Snapshot Policy:

  • Interval - Specifies a custom snapshot frequency. This is typically used to configure hourly snapshots. The format is 1d for 1 day, 2h for 2 hours, and 5m for 5 minutes. The count field specifies the maximum number of snapshots of this kind that will be retained under this policy. Once the count has been reached, the oldest snapshot will expire and be replaced by the newest snapshot taken. This does not affect snapshots of any other kind.

  • Daily - Specifies the number of days that daily snapshots will be retained under this policy. This does not affect snapshots of any other kind.

  • Weekly - Specifies the maximum number of weeks that weekly snapshots will be retained under this policy. This does not affect snapshots of any other kind.

  • Yearly - Specifies the maximum number of years that yearly snapshots will be retained under this policy. This does not affect snapshots of any other kind.

  • Alternate retention for replicas - Toggle to configure separate snapshot retention settings for any snapshot replicas. Replicas are snapshots stored in another storage pool, either local or on a separate appliance.

  • Prevent rolling snapshots - Toggle to enable/disable rolling snapshots for this policy.

To edit an existing Auto Snapshot Policy, follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to the Auto Snapshot Policies page.

  2. Click the action cog (Gear) next to the desired policy.

  3. Select Edit Policy from the dropdown menu.

  4. Configure the desired Auto Snapshot Creation settings.

  5. Review the Datasets Affected section.

  6. Click Save Storage Profile Policy.

Configure Data Protection service

The RackTop Data Protection Service is responsible for snapshot creation and management on the BrickStor SP system. The following fields are available when configuring the service:

  • Time of day - Specifies the time of day when daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly snapshots are taken.

  • Weeklies (day of week) - Specifies the day of the week that weekly snapshots are taken on.

  • Monthlies (day of month) - Specifies the day of the month that monthly snapshots are taken on. Any number greater than 27 will be treated as the last day of the month.

  • Yearlies (day of year) - Specifies the day of the year that yearly snapshots are taken on. Entering the number 1 would correspond to January 1st.

  • Rolling Snapshots Minutes of Protection - Specifies the number of minutes that rolling snapshots are retained for. Subsequently, this is also the maximum number of rolling snapshots that will be retained for a filesystem at any given time.

  • Retain Destroyed Datasets For At Least - Specifies the amount of time that snapshots of destroyed datasets will be retained. Enter in the following format: 1d 1h 1m 1s. These snapshots may be retained longer, depending on the policy of the filesystem.

  • Expiration Paused Until - Specifies a date to pause the expiration of all snapshots on the BrickStor SP until that date is reached.

To configure the RackTop Data Protection Service, follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to the Auto Snapshot Policies page.

  2. Click Configure Service.

  3. Configure the desired features.

  4. Configure the fields of the Auto Snapshot Creation panel.

  5. Click Apply.

Pausing snapshot expiration

To pause the expiration of all snapshots on the BrickStor SP system, follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to the Auto Snapshot Policies page.

  2. Click Pause Expiration.

  3. Specify a time for expiration of snapshots to resume.

  4. Click Pause.

Resume snapshot expiration

To resume snapshot expiration before the Pause Expiration Snapshot date has been reached, follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to the Auto Snapshot Policies page.

  2. Click Resume, and again on the dialog.