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Large and small businesses rely on high-tech companies to protect one of their most critical assets: information. These businesses will often purchase a disk array for this purpose.&lt;p&gt;If you find yourself interviewing for a high-tech position, you might get asked for your thoughts on how best to access a copy of a live, constantly changing piece of information.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Your answer (once you choose to read up on it!) should be &lt;strong&gt;&lt;span&gt;a snap&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snap copy technology is frequently used inside of a disk array in order to provide point-in-time copies of digital information. Note that snap copy technology can be used outside of a disk array as well. As we have discussed in previous posts, however, the features and functions of a disk array are important for you to know.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We’ve been using this simple diagram to illustrate the flow of information between an application and a persistent storage device. Consider the following diagram, where the application on the left (Application #1) has written information to a disk array.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://media2.vault.com/23d34327-f2e8-44ad-bfb2-ec9259ac9a44/00000119.png&quot; alt=&quot;disk array data storage&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;embeddedObject&quot; align=&quot;middle&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Imagine that Application #2 wishes to run experiments on this data. Perhaps Application #2 is a financial application that wishes to create reports, modify the data, and run “what-if” scenarios. The problem here is that these experiments cannot disrupt or corrupt the data flow from Application #1.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Most disk arrays support the ability to make a “point-in-time copy”, “snapshot”, or “snap copy” of application data. Usually applications will “pause” just long enough to instruct the disk array to “split off” a copy of a certain piece of information. This copy can then be mounted and accessed by another application without corrupting the integrity of the production data. If application #1 pauses at 3:00 PM and instructs the disk array to create a snap copy, it can then continue modifying the data. The diagram below depicts Application #2 accessing a copy, while Application #1 has already continued to change the original data.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src=&quot;https://media2.vault.com/e9da1476-97c8-42b4-8938-0c0f03d1e1d3/00000120.png&quot; alt=&quot;snap copy data storage&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;embeddedObject&quot; align=&quot;middle&quot; /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&#160;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is a very handy feature that can enable much more than just the simple running of experiments. Application #2 could be a backup application that safely stores the data in a remote location. It could be an application that performs a virus scan. Regardless of the capabilities of Application #2, Application #1 can rest assured that none of this activity will corrupt the primary copy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Closely related to snap copy is a feature known as “continuous data protection”. CDP allows an application to access an old copy from &lt;em&gt;any previous point in time&lt;/em&gt;(as opposed to a copy which was created at a specific point in time such as 3PM).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Knowing the details of these technologies is advantageous when conversing with someone in the high-tech industry. You can start with Wikipedia and read up on both CDP and Snapshot technologies. My corporation (EMC) has created a product (Symmetrix) which supports a feature known as Timefinder Business Continuance Volumes (BCVs). For more reading on BCVs I recommend this description.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Steve&lt;br /&gt;http://stevetodd.typepad.com&lt;br /&gt;Twitter: @SteveTodd&lt;br /&gt;EMC Intrapreneur&lt;/p&gt;

Steve Todd

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