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Storage Virtual Machine : Storage > Volumes : Understanding volumes : Guidelines for working with Snapshot copies of Infinite Volumes
Guidelines for working with Snapshot copies of Infinite Volumes
You can create, manage, and restore Snapshot copies of Infinite Volumes. However, you should be aware of the factors affecting the Snapshot creation process and the requirements for managing and restoring the copies.
Guidelines for creating Snapshot copies of Infinite Volumes
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The volume must be online.
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The Snapshot copy schedule should not be less than hourly.
It takes longer to create a Snapshot copy of an Infinite Volume than of a FlexVol volume. If you schedule Snapshot copies of Infinite Volumes for less than hourly, Data ONTAP tries but might not meet the schedule. Scheduled Snapshot copies are missed when the previous Snapshot copy is still being created.
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Time should be synchronized across all the nodes that the Infinite Volume spans.
Synchronized time helps schedules for Snapshot copies run smoothly and restoration of Snapshot copies function properly.
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The Snapshot copy creation job can run in the background.
Creating a Snapshot copy of an Infinite Volume is a volume-level job (unlike the same operation on a FlexVol volume), and the operation spans multiple nodes in the cluster.
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After you create Snapshot copies of an Infinite Volume, you cannot rename the copy or modify the comment or SnapMirror label for the copy.
Guidelines for managing Snapshot copy disk consumption
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You cannot calculate the amount of disk space that can be reclaimed if Snapshot copies of an Infinite Volume are deleted.
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The size of a Snapshot copy for an Infinite Volume excludes the size of namespace mirror constituents.
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To reclaim disk space used by Snapshot copies of Infinite Volumes, you must manually delete the copies.
You cannot use the automatic Snapshot copy deletion feature to automatically delete Snapshot copies of Infinite Volumes. However, you can manually delete Snapshot copies of Infinite Volumes, and you can run the delete operation in the background.
Guidelines for restoring Snapshot copies of Infinite Volumes
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You must restore the entire Snapshot copy of the Infinite Volume.
You cannot restore single files or parts of files. You also cannot restore a Snapshot copy of a single constituent.
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The Snapshot copy must be in a valid state.
You cannot use admin privilege to restore a Snapshot copy of an Infinite Volume if the copy is in a partial or invalid state because the commands require diagnostic privilege. However, you can contact technical support to run the commands for you.
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Restored Snapshot copies inherit the current efficiency settings of the Infinite Volume.
For more information about how efficiency settings work with restored Snapshot copies of volumes, see the Clustered Data ONTAP Logical Storage Management Guide.

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