Dell EMC PowerVault MD 34XX/38XX Series Storage Arrays Administrator's Guide

Snapshot images can be created manually or automatically by establishing a schedule that defines the date and time you want the snapshot image created. The following objects can be included in a snapshot image:

• Standard virtual disks
• Thin provisioned virtual disks
• Consistency groups

To create a snapshot image, you must first create a snapshot group and reserve snapshot repository space for the virtual disk. The repository space is based on a percentage of the current virtual disk reserve.

You can delete the oldest snapshot image in a snapshot group either manually or you can automate the process by enabling the Auto-Delete setting for the snapshot group. When a snapshot image is deleted, its definition is removed from the system, and the space occupied by the snapshot image in the repository is released and made available for reuse within the snapshot group.