General FAQs related to SnapLock

Following are some general questions about SnapLock.

Is it possible to change any attributes on a WORM file before or after expiration?

Before the retention date is reached:

In Data ONTAP versions earlier than 7.0, no changes are possible.
In Data ONTAP 7.0 or later, after a file on a SnapLock volume is committed to WORM status, there is only one attribute that can be modified—the retention date of the file can be extended. The retention period can never be shortened by pulling the retention date closer.
Note: This does not compromise the WORM protection on the file in any way, but enables the retention period to be extended before the file expires. This is an important feature in cases such as legal holds on certain records.

After the retention date is reached (that is, the file has expired):

In Data ONTAP versions earlier than 7.0, no changes are possible.
In Data ONTAP 7.0 or later, after the file has expired (reached its retention date), two changes are possible:
- The retention date of the file can be extended (pushed further out into the future). This will reenable WORM protection on the file as if it were being committed for the first time.
- The write permissions on the file can be reenabled, and you can delete the file. However, you cannot modify the file contents.

Does SnapLock require any kind of proprietary API?

No. SnapLock is based purely on the open file protocol interfaces and does not require the use of any kind of proprietary API. You can perform SnapLock-specific operations, such as setting file retention periods and committing files to the WORM state, through regular file system operations available on all clients. Similarly, applications can use the regular programmatic library interfaces they would use for file operations on any other kind of storage system. Optionally, the Data ONTAP API has a SnapLock interface that an application can use, if desired.

What types of SnapLock licenses are available in Data ONTAP?

The two types of licenses for SnapLock are:

"snaplock" for SnapLock Compliance
"snaplock_enterprise" for SnapLock Enterprise

These licenses do not determine the type of existing volumes. That is, volumes remember their SnapLock type regardless of the installed license.