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Snapshots create a slight increase the overall CPU load on the system and increase the overall drive IOPS in the storage pool. Snapshots also use pool capacity to store the older data being tracked by the snapshot, which increases the amount of capacity used in the pool until the snapshot is deleted. Although these overhead costs are small, consider the overhead of snapshots when planning both performance and capacity requirements for the storage pool.
Before enabling snapshots on a storage object, it is recommended to monitor the system and ensure that existing resources can meet the additional workload requirements. (See the section “Hardware Capability Guidelines” and Table 2 in the Dell Unity XT: Best Practices Guide.) Enable snapshots on a few storage objects at a time, and then monitor the system to be sure it is still within the recommended operating ranges before enabling more snapshots. Additional information can be found in the Dell Unity XT: Snapshots and Thin Clones white paper.