From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Received: from mx3.redhat.com (mx3.redhat.com [172.16.48.32]) by int-mx1.corp.redhat.com (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id m45Eji1E013774 for ; Mon, 5 May 2008 10:45:44 -0400 Received: from smtp05.atlngahp.sys.nuvox.net (smtp-out5.atlngahp.sys.nuvox.net [70.43.63.23]) by mx3.redhat.com (8.13.8/8.13.8) with ESMTP id m45EjTYZ000418 for ; Mon, 5 May 2008 10:45:32 -0400 Received: from smtp.media-brokers.com (70.43.81.99.nw.nuvox.net [70.43.81.99]) by smtp05.atlngahp.sys.nuvox.net (8.13.1/8.13.1) with ESMTP id m45EjMvL014134 for ; Mon, 5 May 2008 10:45:24 -0400 Received: from [192.168.1.110] (sjester.atl.media-brokers.com [192.168.1.110]) by smtp.media-brokers.com (Postfix) with ESMTPSA id 1451D3797C6 for ; Mon, 5 May 2008 10:45:22 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <481F1D81.2010503@Media-Brokers.com> Date: Mon, 05 May 2008 10:45:21 -0400 From: Charles Marcus MIME-Version: 1.0 Subject: Re: [linux-lvm] Temporary shapshots References: <1c748a490805050730w3c303bf4y77c624ab0669641a@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <1c748a490805050730w3c303bf4y77c624ab0669641a@mail.gmail.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Reply-To: LVM general discussion and development List-Id: LVM general discussion and development List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , List-Id: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format="flowed" To: LVM general discussion and development On 5/5/2008 10:30 AM, Larry Dickson wrote: >>> To use temporary storage for snapshot, a special command for lvm >>> would be more appropriate --- a command that would setup snapshot >>> and write nothing about it to metadata, so that the snapshot would >>> be forgotten on next reboot --- then, you can setup the snapshot on >>> any device outside the volume group. You can already do this with >>> dmsetup. >> This is an excellent idea - and not just for ramdisks. The hardest >> part of using snapshots for backups is making sure they are deleted >> afterward. Not having to check at reboot would be one less 'i' to >> dot. > I love this idea because it nicely covers one of the main purposes of > snapshotting, namely, making backups at a well-defined time point. > Would there ever be any use of a temporary read-write snapshot? If > not, perhaps making it read-only would simplify the design. Ditto... I feel much better now about using snapshots after realizing the OP's problem was due to the use of a RAMdisk for a snapshot volume (combined with an unclean shutdown), but anything that makes these safer and easier gets my vite... -- Best regards, Charles