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Manage local Snapshot copies overview

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A Snapshot copy 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 copy.

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

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

Note

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