Dell MD3200, MD3220

144 Configuration: Premium Feature—Snapshot Virtual Disks

NOTE: Mapping the snapshot virtual disk to the node that does not own the source

virtual disk before the Snapshot enabling process is completed can result in the

operating system mis-identifying the snapshot virtual disk. This, in turn, can result in

data loss on the source virtual disk or an inaccessible snapshot.

NOTE: For more information on mapping the snapshot virtual disk to the secondary

node, see the Dell PowerVault MD3200 and MD3220 Storage Arrays With Microsoft

Windows Server Failover Clusters at support.dell.com/manuals.

NOTE: You can create concurrent snapshots of a source virtual disk on both the

source disk group and on another disk group.

Before creating a Snapshot Virtual Disk:

• The following types of virtual disks are not valid source virtual disks:

• Snapshot repository virtual disks

• Snapshot virtual disks

• Target virtual disks that are participating in a virtual disk copy.

NOTE: Virtual Disk Copy is an Advanced (Premium) feature.

• You cannot create a snapshot of a virtual disk that contains unreadable

sectors.

• You must satisfy the requirements of your host operating system for

creating snapshot virtual disks. Failure to meet the requirements of your

host operating system results in an inaccurate snapshot of the source

virtual disk or the target virtual disk in a virtual disk copy.

NOTE: Before you create a new snapshot of a source virtual disk, stop any data

access (I/O) activity or suspend data transfer to the source virtual disk to ensure

that you capture an accurate snapshot of the source virtual disk. Close all

applications, including Windows Internet Explorer, to make sure all I/O activity has

stopped.

NOTE: Removing the drive letter of the associated virtual disk(s) in Windows or

unmounting the virtual drive in Linux helps to guarantee a stable copy of the drive

for the Snapshot.

Before creating a snapshot virtual disk, the host server has to be in the proper

state. To ensure that the host server is properly prepared to create a snapshot

virtual disk, you can either use an application to carry out this task, or you can

perform the following steps:

Stop all I/O activity to the source.

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