Snapshots?

[spf62]

Hello all,

Just curious to hear your thougts on SNAPSHOTS!! Better powered off or on.

What are the benefits either way.

There has been a lot of discussions going back and forth here at work.

Personally my thoughts are to take them when powered off when possible.

Any help is appreciated

[admin]

spf 62,

there is lot to talk about snapshots. So i would encourage you to read the 2 following KBs.

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=101518...

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=100940...

~dGeorgey

[spf62]

I have read the KB articles, I am looking for peoples personal experiences.

Sometimes what admins are seeing in the field, isn't what is written in the book.

thanks

[Alim786]

My experiences have been mixed. With powered off VMs, the snapshot process has been quicker and reverting to them has been error free. With powered on, sometimes some application services have not started properly or hung and have to manually restart them. I think it all depends how well written the application has been.

[virtualizacao]

Hi spf62,

Well, snapshot is much faster when it is done with the machine off, revert to the snapshot is best to be done with the machine switched off to avoid mistakes, because end up getting arrested services. and often the snapshot failed before reaching 100%.

Well that needs to be told what happens in many companies where step is Snapshot backup is not.

Snapshot is used to test, implement some tool or some application.

Should not accumulate because after snapshot becomes a mess and in some cases difficult to return, only making them commit.

Abs

[a_p_]

It actually depends on the reason for the snapshot. If it's for testing where you plan to revert to the original state, then I it's usually better to do this with the powered off VM. This does not only provide a consistent state, but also saves disk space, because the memory isn't backed up.

If however, the snapshot is created for e.g. backup purposes where you don't plan to revert and also can't afford downtime, then you would certainly snapshot the VM in the powered on state.

André

[mathanmailid]

Hope this helps better - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw-2zWhqyqE