NetApp Snapshot Reviews

The data protection provides peace of mind.

More reliable and accessible data protection than backups alone.

Specialized applications like SnapManager for Exchange (SME) are finicky.

My experience with SME is that it is not as stable at the overall Snap platform (which is part of ONTAP, not a separate product like the SnapManager products). SME does a fine job of backing up Exchange databases, but due to the HA nature of DAGs, there are times when a primary database switches from server to server. When this happens, SME does not elegantly handle that transition; as a result, there can be missed snapshots. This means gaps in your recoverable timeframe.

I'm not sure how to fix the issue as I'm not a software developer. I'm sure there are complexities that I don't see.

More than six years.

Only with SME, especially going between versions. So, rarely.

No.

Very good.

Straightforward, once you fully comprehend the concept. It's not 'simple', but it works well and is comprehensible.

Do it! Don't not do it.

It’s about understanding how it works. If you know how it was designed at a very low level with bits and bytes, you understand what you can do. However, most people don’t understand WAFL very clearly. WAFL is the file system—Write Anywhere File Layout—and it’s the genesis of all the technology. It is the base technology that generates the snapshots.

One of the best features in the industry is that data snapshots can be synchronise for database consistency. Using NetApp Snapshot, you can synchronise the redo logs of a database to ensure a consistent snapshot.

The solution should have a snapshot mode using AI to decide when to create the snapshot, depending on the workload. For instance, if there are a bunch of transactions, it could create snapshots faster, allowing the system to decide the optimal times for snapshots.

I have been using NetApp Snapshot as a reseller for over 15 years. We are using the latest version of the solution.

The product is stable.

You don’t have to worry about the size of the data. It works because the snapshot is created based on a pointer. So, whether you are dealing with one hundred terabytes or one gigabyte, it functions the same way.

Support is very good.

Positive

The deployment process is extremely easy. It comes preinstalled, and works by default. It comes inside the base curve, so there won’t be any problem making it work. If you want to integrate it with a database or something similar, you will need to meet some requirements but in terms of base-level Snapshot functionality, it works out of the box.

The integration requires having a specific layout, and this layout depends on how the data is moved. If you don’t have a good setup from the beginning, you may need to rearrange the data to ensure correct usage, especially if you have a huge database.

I recommend the solution because it protect with no impact and recover easily.

Overall, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.