Correct. But as I understand, snapshots in VMware work similar to
transaction logs in databases. The virtual disk file is locked
in its current state and further changes are temporarily written
to separate files until the snapshot is comitted or rolled back.
Yes.
So if you want to backup/copy an entire VM with the guarantee of
consistent hard disk state, you need to shut it down. Copying
a multi gigabyte virtal disk file is bound to take quite some time.
I don't see how you draw that conclusion from the above. You only copy
the frozen state to the backup, which is consistent.
The application is in the middle of writing a to z to a file. You start
the snapshot when its hits f. When you restore the snapshot, the
application will continue as if nothing had happened - it will write g
and onwards. The only time this won't be the case is if the letters
were being sent over the network. In that case its just like if you had
unplugged the network cable - if your application can't handle a network
failure then you shouldn't use snapshots and I'd suggest you fix your
application :-)
