Abstract: In some examples, a method for operating a data management system comprises acquiring a first full image snapshot and a set of incremental files corresponding with different point in time versions of a virtual machine. The method detects that a combined data size for expired snapshots within an archival data source has exceeded a threshold data size in response to detecting that the archival data source does not have access to compute resources. The method determines that a second full image snapshot should be transferred to the archival data source in response to detecting that the combined data size for the expired snapshots within the archival data source has exceeded the threshold data size. A second full image snapshot is generated using the first full image snapshot and one or more of the incremental files and transferred to the archival data source.

Abstract: In some examples, a method for operating a data management system comprises acquiring a first full image snapshot and a set of incremental files corresponding with different point in time versions of a virtual machine. The method detects that a combined data size for expired snapshots within an archival data source has exceeded a threshold data size in response to detecting that the archival data source does not have access to compute resources. The method determines that a second full image snapshot should be transferred to the archival data source in response to detecting that the combined data size for the expired snapshots within the archival data source has exceeded the threshold data size. A second full image snapshot is generated using the first full image snapshot and one or more of the incremental files and transferred to the archival data source.

Abstract: Methods and systems for reclaiming disk space via consolidation and deletion of expired snapshots are described. The expired snapshots may comprise snapshots of a virtual machine that are no longer required to be stored within a data storage domain (e.g., a cluster of data storage nodes or a cloud-based data store). In some cases, rather than storing an incremental file corresponding with a particular snapshot of the virtual machine, a full image of the particular snapshot may be generated and stored within the data storage domain. The generation of the full image may allow a chain of dependencies supporting the expired snapshots to be broken and for the expired snapshots to be deleted or consolidated. The full image of the particular snapshot may be generated using compute capacity in the cloud or may be generated locally by a storage appliance and uploaded to the data storage domain.

Abstract: Methods and systems for reclaiming disk space via consolidation and deletion of expired snapshots are described. The expired snapshots may comprise snapshots of a virtual machine that are no longer required to be stored within a data storage domain (e.g., a cluster of data storage nodes or a cloud-based data store). In some cases, rather than storing an incremental file corresponding with a particular snapshot of the virtual machine, a full image of the particular snapshot may be generated and stored within the data storage domain. The generation of the full image may allow a chain of dependencies supporting the expired snapshots to be broken and for the expired snapshots to be deleted or consolidated. The full image of the particular snapshot may be generated using compute capacity in the cloud or may be generated locally by a storage appliance and uploaded to the data storage domain.