Snapshots and Replication

What is Replication?

Replication is the process of creating and maintaining an exact duplicate copy from one storage system to another. In the case of Turbo, duplicate copies are sent offsite to ensure data integrity, site redundancy, and increased availability for Turbo data in the event of a systems outage.

What are Snapshots?

Snapshots are a feature provided by Enterprise Storage Systems, like Turbo that allow for reverting to a previous point in time for any files or folders that have been modified or deleted. Snapshots keep track of changes to files and folders nightly and save copies of any files that have been altered or deleted since the last snapshot. This means a file can be recovered from the previous day's snapshots if it is accidentally deleted.

  • Snapshots can be requested at no additional charge but will count against your available capacity.
  • Your snapshots are in /nfs/turbo/<volume_name>/.snapshot/.
  • Snapshots are available with the following options:
    • Daily snapshot, retained for 7 days (default, if selected)
    • Daily snapshot, retained for 1 day
    • Daily snapshot, retained for 3 days
    • Daily snapshot, retained for 7 days, and 1 bi-weekly snapshot
  • Snapshots are taken nightly, so if a file is created and deleted on the same day, it may not be recoverable.
  • Note: If a large number of files are changed or deleted in a short period of time, snapshots may consume a considerable amount of one’s allocated capacity.
  • If you suspect snapshots are taking up too much space, please email [email protected]. We will be happy to help resolve the issue.

Recovering Lost Files

Turbo volumes configured with snapshots will save previous file versions. Recoverable files are only those where snapshots were taken overnight. Files will be considered lost on the same day they were created.

From Linux-based clients: To recover files lost from your directory, navigate to the .snapshot directory at the root of your share.

$ cd /nfs/turbo/flux-admin/.snapshot

$ ls -1

daily_2015-08-24-_23-30 daily_2015-08-25-_23-30

daily_2015-08-26-_23-30

daily_2015-08-27-_23-30

daily_2015-08-28-_23-30

daily_2015-08-29-_23-30

daily_2015-08-30-_23-30

You can navigate to the snapshot directories and copy files back to your file share.
Note: The .snapshot directory may not be visible until you try to enter it with cd.

From Windows clients: You can recover lost files from snapshots natively:

  • Open the directory where the deleted file was located.
  • Right-click on the directory and choose "Properties."
  • When the Properties window opens, click the "Previous Versions" tab.
  • A list of available snapshots will be displayed.
  • Choose the snapshot from which you want to restore the data.
  • Find the file(s) you want to restore in the new window.
  • Drag the file(s) or folder to the correct location to restore them.