New Cloned Volume Has Low Usage/Size, Is It Safe To Delete The Original?

[supraedd101]

Hello,

We needed to get a copy of live data on Array 1 for testing on Array 2.

The original data was on an online volume on array 1. This volume replicated to array 2 (offline). So we cloned the offline volume on array 2 to create a new volume with the data on (and made that online)

The original volume and replicated volume take up about 18GB. The cloned version is only 3mb! But when I connect the volume to a server, all the data is there.

Have I done anything wrong? And the plan is to delete the original data soon, if I delete the original volume on array 1 and the replicated version, will I loose data on the clone?

Thanks,

Edd...

[david_tan2]

Hi Eddie,

The 3 mb space used by the clone reflects the data that has changed from the snap it was created from so no need to worry there.

If you delete the parent volume the 18gb space should rollup into the clone.

If you are concerned try doing it on a test volume first.

Cheers

[supraedd101 · Accepted solution]

Thanks David, I also put this to support and they came back with a different answer which contradicts yours. So I certainly will be setting up a couple of test volumes and replicating/cloning/deleting etc to see what happens.

From support:

2: The replicated volume on array 2 contains the snapshot from which the clone was created, therefore the clone is dependent on that volume/snapshot existing. You cannot delete the volume on array 2 while the clone is still existent.

[david_tan2]

Hi Edd,

Sorry - support is right, I was wrong. I was thinking of snapshots on a volume not clones. When an snap is deleted the common used blocks rolls up into the next snapshot.I should have tried it before replying on the bus :)

The clone shows both the base snap and parent volume and an error is returned if you try to delete either the parent volume or the snap! You can offline the parent vol, but this doesn't help you much. What I did find however, was I can create a volcoll for the cloned volume and replicate that to another array. The replica of the clone does not have any parent and can be promoted and brought online to become an independent volume (It also shows correct size and space used). Would this work for you?