SnapVX snapshots with snapshot policies allow for 1,024 snapshots per source device and 65 million per PowerMax array. Users can take advantage of the frequency and large snapshot scale in policy-driven snapshots to provide enhanced data resiliency. 

Because secure snaps cannot be maliciously or accidentally deleted before any planned expiration date, they can be used to preserve multiple point-in-time copies from which data can be recovered if a malware or ransomware attack occurs. Snapshot policies can be automated to take secure snaps with a high frequency and a short retention duration for fine granularity, with a lower frequency and longer retention for added security, or a mixture of both. If an attack occurs, the user can review the secure snaps to determine which point in time has the most relevant and up-to-date copy of data without malware impact. When the precise point in time is identified, restoring critical data can be done almost instantaneously by bringing application data back to the original state before any attack. 

Secure snaps also provide an additional layer of security in the case of multiple attacks and can be used for forensic work to help determine what happened during the attack and when it originally occurred. With the lower frequency and longer retention period, secure snaps can be used to validate data and data change rate to help identify any suspicious activity.

Traditional snapshots can be set with a scheduling frequency rate and retention policy that works best for the organization. These snapshots can be used for daily business continuity, such as development, operations, and data analytics. They can also assist in any forensic analysis and can be compared against secure snaps to help determine what changed and when the change began. Unlike secure snaps, traditional snapshots can be deleted or fail in array resource constraint situations. However, the data on an existing snapshot cannot be changed and could be used for additional recovery options. 

Both secure and traditional snaps are a powerful tool that can be used to help protect and restore data rapidly, to minimize any impact of a malware or ransomware attack. The large scalability of snapshots can be easily managed using snapshot policies for scheduling frequency and retention time duration to fit any size organization. 

The following list is an operational example of the frequency, retention, and scale out of the value of SnapVX secure snaps. The numbers are based on an average of 5,000 production volumes in a PowerMax array.

• Secure snaps every 10 minutes with a 48-hour retention

• 288 per volume point-in-time copies
• Fine-grain protection and recovery

• Secure snaps every 60 minutes with a 7-day retention

• 168 per volume point-in-time copies
• Extended protection and data validation

Total = 2,040,000 secure point-in-time copies

Figure 3.        Frequency, retention, and scale out of secure snaps