Mainframe Enablers TimeFinder SnapVX and zDP 8.5 Product Guide

With SnapVX, you first create a snapshot using the CREATE command and then activate the snapshot using the ACTIVATE command.

The CREATE command alone does not capture the point-in-time image. Once a CREATE command has been issued, the ACTIVATE command can then be issued to capture the point-in-time image of the source device to the created snapshot. The snapshot name and source device pair must be unique, even though different source devices can have the same snapshot name.

CREATE action restrictions include:

• The CREATE command is blocked if Dynamic Volume Expansion (DVE) is active on a requested device. The ResourcePak Base for z/OS Product Guide provides information about DVE.
• The CREATE command is blocked if the device has an active Transparent Cloud Tiering (TCT) session.

The ACTIVATE action creates a point-in-time copy for a snapshot which has already been created.

Activated snapshots can be used to link point-in-time images to target devices. A time-to-live value may be associated with the snapshot by using the EXPIration parameter.

The ACTIVATE command for the SnapVX commands may be used together with traditional TimeFinder sessions. Consistency is maintained across multiple storage systems.

If the ACTIVATE command is not explicitly specified for a SnapVX snapshot, it is automatically added to the job. The only exception to this rule is for group processing.