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Understanding Delta Snapshots

The first snapshot of a snapshot configuration is called the baseline snapshot and all the subsequent snapshots are called delta snapshots. The delta snapshots contain only the changes that were made since the last snapshot creation. The last snapshot can be either a baseline snapshot or a previous delta-snapshot. The actual contents of a snapshot are dynamically calculated from the baseline snapshot and its delta snapshots.

For example, if you create 10 snapshots, you will have one baseline snapshot and nine delta-snapshots.

An option “Number of Delta Snapshots”, is available to set up the number of delta snapshots that are allowed per baseline snapshot, in snapshot configuration. This option avoids any performance issues that may arise when the number of delta snapshots become too large.

The default value is 365 delta snapshots per year based on the scale of one delta snapshot per day. The valid range for this option is 1 to 1000. You can edit this option while creating a snapshot configuration.

After the number of delta-snapshots reaches the number that is set in the Number of delta snapshots field, the subsequent snapshot is considered as a new baseline snapshot. The subsequent snapshots are considered as delta snapshots to the newly created baseline snapshot.