Table of ContentsView in Frames

About the Data ONTAP LUN clone split (rapid LUN restore) feature

SnapDrive uses the LUN clone split (rapid LUN restore) feature of Data ONTAP when restoring a LUN.

A LUN clone is a point-in-time, writable copy of a LUN in a Snapshot copy. After the clone is created, all read/write operations are made on the clone and read/write operations are no longer made on the original LUN.

A LUN clone shares space with the original LUN in the backing Snapshot copy. The clone does not require additional disk space until changes are made to it. When Data ONTAP splits the clone from the backing Snapshot copy, Data ONTAP copies the data from the Snapshot copy, and copies the blocks from the original LUN, to the clone. After the splitting operation, the clone becomes a regular LUN, and the original LUN is deleted by Data ONTAP.

Note: If you do not have enough disk space for both the clone and the original LUN, the split will not be initiated and no LUN restoration can occur.

Benefit of using rapid LUN restore

When rapid LUN restore, or LUN cloning, is used by SnapDrive, the clone is split from the backing Snapshot copy in the background, and the restored LUN is available to the Windows host for I/O operations within a few seconds.
Note: You might not be able to delete the Snapshot copy after a restore operation due to the clone split operation. You can delete the Snapshot copies after the clone split operation is complete.