Method and apparatus for snapshot management

A system, comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• at least one processor that is operatively coupled to the memory, the at least one processor being configured to perform the operations of:
• retrieving a cross-platform version data group (VDG) definition, wherein the VDG definition includes a general portion, a primary device portion, and a secondary device portion, the primary device portion including an identifier of a volume and an identifier of a primary storage system where the volume is stored, the secondary device portion including an identifier of a copy of the volume and an identifier of a secondary storage system where the copy is stored, and the general portion identifying an interval at which a point-in-time event should be generated for creating snapshots of the volume;
• processing the VDG definition to identify the primary storage system and the secondary storage system as targets for creating snapshots of the volume;
• detecting a point-in-time event that is generated in accordance with the interval specified in the general portion of the VDG definition;
• transmitting, to the primary storage system, a first instruction to initialize one or more data structures for a first snapshot of the volume;
• transmitting, to the secondary storage system, a second instruction to initialize one or more data structures for a snapshot of the copy of the volume that is stored in the secondary storage system;
• suspending servicing of input-output (I/O) for the volume by the primary storage system after each of the first and second instructions has been transmitted;
• transmitting to the primary storage system a third instruction to complete the first snapshot of the volume that is stored in the primary storage system;
• transmitting to the secondary storage system a fourth instruction to complete a snapshot of the copy of the volume that is stored in the secondary storage system;
• and
• resuming servicing of I/O by the primary storage system.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing one or more processor-executable instructions, which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the operations of:

• retrieving a cross-platform version data group (VDG) definition, wherein the VDG definition includes a general portion, a primary device portion, and a secondary device portion, the primary device portion including an identifier of a volume and an identifier of a primary storage system where the volume is stored, the secondary device portion including an identifier of a copy of the volume and an identifier of a secondary storage system where the copy is stored, and the general portion identifying an interval at which a point-in-time event should be generated for creating snapshots of the volume;
• processing the VDG definition to identify the primary storage system and the secondary storage system as targets for creating snapshots of the volume;
• detecting a point-in-time event that is generated in accordance with the interval specified in the general portion of the VDG definition;
• transmitting, to the primary storage system, a first instruction to initialize one or more data structures for a first snapshot of the volume;
• transmitting, to the secondary storage system, a second instruction to initialize one or more data structures for a snapshot of the copy of the volume that is stored in the secondary storage system;
• suspending servicing of input-output (I/O) for the volume by the primary storage system after each of the first and second instructions has been transmitted;
• transmitting to the primary storage system a third instruction to complete the first snapshot of the volume that is stored in the primary storage system;
• transmitting to the secondary storage system a fourth instruction to complete a snapshot of the copy of the volume that is stored in the secondary storage system;
• and
• resuming servicing of I/O by the primary storage system.