Updated data protection

Group storage directories are now protected by additional snapshots. You might be wondering what that is, and how does it help? We answer questions about data protection often, but this particular change is exciting and gives us an opportunity to discuss our file system, data protection, and specifically snapshots.

Overview

A snapshot is a version of the file system data captured at a specific timestamp. This includes information about the file system objects (files and directories), including creation/modification timestamp, permissions, etc. Snapshots are taken at incremental times, and capture changes since the last snapshot timestamp. Using snapshots, we can compare versions of files over time, and possibly recover an older version of a file if needed.

The time between snapshots determines the granularity of the information that is captured. For instance, a daily snapshot will capture all changes made in the previous 24-hour period, for files present at the time of the next snapshot. That last point is important. The timing of snapshots will determine what is and is not captured. For example, if you create and delete a file within the same 24-hour period, then the file will not be present for any snapshot. In that case you will not have any snapshot version of that particular file. Keep this in mind when working.

Consider additional tools

Snapshots may not be the best safety measure for your data types. For instance, when working with code, use a version control system such as git to capture your changes. Do not rely on snapshots to save your work.

Updates

The previous snapshot policy for all lab group and home directories was 7 daily snapshots. That policy captured changes once per day, and kept those captured changes for 7 days.

The new snapshot policy captures 14 daily and 6 weekly snapshots. This should provide additional time for users to recover from accidental file operations such as deletions.

See the storage guide for additional details.