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Snapshot question(s)
A while back I elected to enable snapshots for most shares on one of our ReadyNAS systems. Time went on, I ignored the snapshot topic until today I noticed that snapshots apparently take up a rea...
What NAS model is this, and what firmware it is running?
Assuming you are running OS 6, you should start with this explanation from some years ago: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Using-your-ReadyNAS-in-Business/ReadyNAS-312-Need-Help-Understanding-Snapshots/m-p/936586#M171850
Files that aren't being re-written or deleted won't create more snapshot space usage. So you should sort out what is going on.
Also, I don't recommend using the default "smart" snapshot setting - the reason is that there is no way to limit retention (and monthly snapshots are retained for ever). Instead use the custom snapshot setting, and set a reasonable retention limit for each share. If the space usage seems excessive, then adjust the retention accordingly.
Personally I use 3 months for most of my shares. One is shorter (2 weeks), and one has snapshots off.
Thanks -- the reference to prior art was helpful.
The suggestion on using 'custom' was also helpful.
Netgear shopuld incorporate this into some article/KB info.
Digital999 wrote:
Thanks -- the reference to prior art was helpful.
I'm glad it helped. One aspect I didn't cover back then was the impact of defragmentation.
If a file is modified in place (for instance,when a live database is updated), the main copy ends up fragmented, and the original ends up in the snapshot. The total storage is the original + the modified data blocks.
If you then defrag the file in the main share, you end up disconnecting the two versions - so the total storage becomes the original + the full modified version.
Note that in many situations this doesn't matter. For instance, word and excel documents are completely re-written when you save them, so the storage ends up as the original +full modified version anyway.
Digital999 wrote:
The suggestion on using 'custom' was also helpful.
Netgear should incorporate this into some article/KB info.
I really don't understand what Netgear was thinking when they defaulted to indefinite retention. They really should change that (adding a setting for it). Without it, you need to go in periodically and manually delete the older ones - otherwise the volume runs out of space, which really isn't something you want to let happen.
I've suggested that a description of how snapshots work (and how they impact space) should be in a kb article in the past, but nothing ever came of it.
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