The ability to create and manage snapshots of existing volumes is among the most fundamental features commonly offered by enterprise-class storage systems today. The IBM XIV Storage System has taken this concept one step further, offering a completely innovative approach to snapshot creation and management. The XIV system offers clear advantages over alternative approaches currently available in the industry.

In this whitepaper, we describe the XIV snapshot architecture and explain its underlying advantages in terms of performance, ease of use, flexibility and reliability. We explain how these advantages are achieved by harnessing the power afforded by the system’s unique overall grid architecture.