Data Snapshot

Category: science

A point-in-time copy of a database’s state.

A snapshot is the "photo." If you need to run a heavy audit report that shouldn't touch the live, changing data, you take a snapshot. It lets you run as long as you want without affecting the users or getting "dirty" data that is changing while you read it.

Common Examples

• The financial department runs their end-of-quarter analytics against a database snapshot, ensuring the report is based on a clean, static state.
• Taking a data snapshot is a common, low-impact strategy for performing deep historical analysis without disrupting the production application.