Backup and restore methods with FlashCopy and snapshots
The terms snapshot or FlashCopy are used differently depending on your hardware storage. Both denote a logical point-in-time copy where the target volume represents an exact copy of the data on a source volume. The term snapshot is used generically to apply to all hardware types.
Snapshots and FlashCopies
Depending on the storage hardware you use, the terms snapshot or FlashCopy are used. Both denote a logical point-in-time copy, where the target volume represents an exact copy of the data on a source volume. Data is transferred to the target volume as the source volume is modified. This action is called copy-on-write, or redirect-on-write. The logical copy can be transformed into a physical full copy on the target volume. When target volumes must be provided in advance, the target volume must be the same size as the source volume. In addition, the target volume and source volume must have the same logical track format, and must be on the same storage system. When data is restored, it is copied from the target to the source volume. The term snapshot is used to signify snapshot and FlashCopy.
Types of snapshot backups
Snapshot backups can be either full copy snapshots or space-efficient snapshots. The type of snapshot backups depends on the storage environment. During a full copy snapshot, all blocks of data on the source volume are copied to the target volume. During a space efficient snapshot, only blocks of data that are written on the source volume after the snapshot was created are copied to the target volume.
Transferring snapshots to an IBM® Storage Protect server
When you use IBM Storage Protect Snapshot with IBM Storage Protect products, you can transfer snapshots to the IBM Storage Protect server. To send these snapshot backups to the IBM Storage Protect server, you must configure a backup server or cluster.
