Dell POWERVAULT MD3600F - Manual (Page 154)

154 Configuration: Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks
Preparing Host Servers to Create the Snapshot Using the Advanced Path
NOTE: Before using the Snapshot Virtual Disks Premium Feature in a Microsoft
Windows clustered configuration, you must first map the snapshot virtual disk to
the cluster node that owns the source virtual disk. This ensures that the cluster
nodes correctly recognize the snapshot virtual disk.
NOTE: Mapping the snapshot virtual disk to the node that does not own the source
virtual disk before the Snapshot enabling process is completed can result in the
operating system mis-identifying the snapshot virtual disk. This, in turn, can result in
data loss on the source virtual disk or an inaccessible snapshot.
NOTE: For more information on mapping the snapshot virtual disk to the secondary
node, see the Dell PowerVault MD3200 and MD3220 Storage Arrays With Microsoft
Windows Server Failover Clusters at dell.com/support/manuals.
The destination of a snapshot repository virtual disk is determined based on
the free capacity available in the disk group. A snapshot repository virtual disk
requires a minimum 8 MB of free capacity. You can choose your preferred
creation path—simple or advanced—if the disk group of the source virtual
disk has the required amount of free space.
If 8 MB of free capacity is not available in the disk group of the source virtual
disk, the Create Snapshot Virtual Disks feature defaults to the advanced
path see "Creating a Snapshot Virtual Disk Using the Advanced Path" on
page 152. In the advanced path option, you can choose to place the snapshot
repository virtual disk in another disk group or you can use unconfigured
capacity on the storage array to create a new disk group.
NOTE: You can create concurrent snapshots of a source virtual disk on both the
source disk group and on another disk group.
Remember the following guidelines before creating a Snapshot Virtual Disk:
• The following types of virtual disks are not valid source virtual disks:
– Snapshot repository virtual disks.
– Snapshot virtual disks.
– Replication repository virtual disks.
– Target virtual disks that are participating in a virtual disk copy.
NOTE: Virtual Disk Copy is an Advanced (Premium) feature.
• You cannot create a snapshot of a virtual disk that contains
unreadable sectors.
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