topic Re: SnapVault in System Manager 3.0 questions in ONTAP Discussions

SnapVault in System Manager 3.0 questions

mikesicarup — Thu, 05 Jun 2025 05:51:21 GMT

So I was happy to finally see the SnapVault tab in On Command System Manager 3.0 when I installed it. This looks like a much easier way to manage my SnapVaults going forward. I do have some questions:

1. What is the difference between a "transfer" and a "backup". Documentation states:

Transfer = Transfer data from a source volume or qtree to a destination qtree

Backup = Create a backup schedule on a volume

This is no help, as symantically, a backup is a tranfer of data. All my current pre-system manager snapvault relationships appear as backups, but I went with Transfer on my new relationship. It seems to be updating SnapVault properly, and creating a nightly snapshot properly.

However, the baseline snapshot is showing as busy. Is this normal?

Can someone explain?

Re: SnapVault in System Manager 3.0 questions

resqme914 — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:25:11 GMT

My understanding is that the transfer schedule is when data actually starts transmitting from the source to the destination. Backup is when the snapshot is actually taken. So for example, you can set the snapshot to be taken at 6 p.m., but not actually start transferring data to the destination until 8 p.m. Hope that helps.

Re: SnapVault in System Manager 3.0 questions

mikesicarup — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 15:59:34 GMT

Thanks. This would imply you need both a data transfer (to transfer the data) and a backup schedule (to create the snapshots). However, this is not what I'm experiencing. Just having a Transfer schedule seems to do both, but the baseline snapshot remains busy.

Re: SnapVault in System Manager 3.0 questions

resqme914 — Mon, 21 Oct 2013 17:34:27 GMT

Well if you only have a transfer schedule then the snapshot is taken at that time.

And the baseline always remains "busy, snapvault". That's just normal.