Deletion of Snapshot copies

You can use the Delete Backup dialog box to explicitly delete multiple Snapshot copies from one or more Storage Groups or databases. You can delete either entire backup sets, or only the SnapInfo Snapshot copies related to the selected backup sets, and you can delete Snapshot copies created during previous restore operations.

You can use the Delete Backup dialog box to delete backups when the SnapManager MMC snap-in connects to a member server of the Database Availability Group (DAG), but this box is not available when it connects to the DAG.

Do not use SnapDrive or storage system administration tools to delete Snapshot copies created by SnapManager. Doing so will leave behind unwanted data that cannot be removed.

You must run SnapManager from the system console, not from a Terminal Services client. Do not use Terminal Services for any type of SnapManager administration, because you might miss critical information that is displayed only in pop-up boxes at the system console.

• Criteria for deleting backups
  To avoid reaching the limit of 255 Snapshot copies per volume, you should delete the backups that you no longer need. You can delete backups by using either the age-based criteria or the quantity-based criteria.
• Automatic deletion of Snapshot copies
  You can manage the number of Snapshot copies you store by configuring SnapManager to delete backups automatically, based on how old the backups are or based on how many of them are stored.
• Explicit deletion of Snapshot copies
  You can explicitly delete any backups or Snapshot copies of LUNs created during a restore operation by selecting them. You can delete either an individual backup or multiple backups.
• Explicitly deleting individual backup copies
  You can delete an individual backup copies.
• Explicitly deleting backup sets or SnapInfo Snapshot copies
  You can delete backup sets (or only the SnapInfo Snapshot copies related to those backup sets) that contain one or more selected Storage Groups or databases. If you need to free some space or reduce your Snapshot copy count without deleting a SnapManager Backup, you can delete the SnapInfo Snapshot copies without affecting the associated backup.
• Explicitly deleting Snapshot copies created by SnapManager Restore
  You can delete Snapshot copies created during previous restore operations.
• Problem deleting backups due to busy Snapshot copy error
  If you delete a backup copy of a LUN that was already backed up by another Snapshot copy, you get an error message saying that the Snapshot copy is busy and cannot be deleted. In this case, you need to delete the most recent backup copy before the older backup can be deleted.