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Learn about managing local ONTAP snapshots

Contributors netapp-lenida netapp-aaron-holt netapp-thomi netapp-aherbin
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A snapshot is a read-only, point-in-time image of a volume. The image consumes minimal storage space and incurs negligible performance overhead because it records only changes to files since the last snapshot.

You can use a snapshot to restore the entire contents of a volume, or to recover individual files or LUNs. snapshots are stored in the directory .snapshot on the volume.

In ONTAP 9.4 and later, a FlexVol volume can contain up to 1023 snapshots. In ONTAP 9.3 and earlier, a volume can contain up to 255 snapshots.

Note

Beginning with ONTAP 9.8, FlexGroup volumes can contain 1023 snapshots. For more information, see Protect FlexGroup volumes using snapshots.

There are several common ONTAP snapshot types:

  • sched_created: Snapshots generated automatically by an ONTAP snapshot policy, based on predefined schedules (for example, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly).

  • sm_created: Snapshots created automatically as a result of SnapMirror replication transfers (either update or initialize operations).

  • application_created: Snapshots generated by host-level or database-level integration software like SnapCenter or SnapDrive.

  • user_created: Snapshots triggered manually by an administrator using either the ONTAP CLI or System Manager.

  • sv_created: Snapshots created automatically during cluster operations, such as Storage Virtual Machine (SVM) DR or specific protection workflows.

  • luns_created: Snapshots created to back up or capture the state of LUN or NVMe namespace clones.