--- name: FileStorage-ordering-snapshots title: Ordering snapshots space for File Storage for Classic description: To create snapshots of your storage volume, either in an automated way or manually, you need to purchase space to hold them. You can purchase snapshot capacity during the initial volume purchase or later by using these steps. last-updated: 2026-06-08 --- > ## Documentation Index > The table of contents for this documentation set is at https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/FileStorage?format=markdown > The index for all IBM Cloud docs is at: https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/llms.txt > Use these files to discover more information as needed. # Ordering snapshots space for File Storage for Classic {: #ordering-snapshots} To create snapshots of your storage volume, either in an automated way or manually, you need to purchase space to hold them. You can purchase snapshot capacity during the initial volume purchase or later by using these steps. {: shortdesc} ## Determining how much snapshot space you need {: #preorderdetermination} Generically speaking, snapshot space is used by snapshots based on two key factors: - How much your active file system changes over time. - How long you plan to retain snapshots. The way to calculate the amount of space that you need is **(Rate of Change)** x **(number of hours/days/weeks/months data is retained)**. The first snapshot uses a negligible amount of space as it's just a copy of the metadata (pointers) that indicates the active file system blocks. {: note} A volume with numerous changes and a lengthy retention period needs more space than a volume with moderate changes and a moderate retention schedule. An example for the first type is a high change rate database. An example for the second type is a VMware® datastore. If you take 12 hourly snapshots of 500 GB of actual data, and the change rate is 1% between each snapshot, you end up with 60 GB for snapshots. *(5-GB Rate of Change) x (12 hourly snapshots) = (60 GB of used space)* Conversely, if that 500 GB of actual data, with 12 hourly snapshots, saw 10% of change every hour, the snapshot space that is used is 600 GB. *(50-GB Rate of Change) x (12 hourly snapshots) = (600 GB of used space)* So when you determine how much Snapshot space you need, consider the rate of change carefully. It's a huge influence on how much snapshot space you need. A bigger volume is more likely to change more often. However, a 500-GB volume with 5 GB of change and a 10-TB volume with 5 GB of change use the same amount of snapshot space. Additionally, for most workloads, the larger a volume is the less space needs to be set aside initially. It's primarily due to the underlying data efficiencies, and the nature of how snapshots work in the environment. ## Available snapshot space capacity {: #snapshotspaceforshare} The size of the snapshot space that you can order depends on the size of your volume. The size of the snapshot space cannot exceed the size of the volume. The following table shows the snapshot capacity that is available for specific volume sizes. | Volume capacity | Available Snapshot capacity | |----------------------|------------------------------------------| | 10 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB | | 50 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB | | 100 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB | | 200 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB | | 300 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB | | 400 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB, \n 350 GB, 400 GB | | 500 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB, \n 350 GB, 400 GB, 450 GB, 500 GB | | 600 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB, \n 350 GB, 400 GB, 450 GB, 500 GB, 600 GB | | 700 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB, \n 350 GB, 400 GB, 450 GB, 500 GB, 600 GB, 700 GB | | 800 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB, \n 350 GB, 400 GB, 450 GB, 500 GB, 600 GB, 700 GB | | 900 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB, \n 350 GB, 400 GB, 450 GB, 500 GB, 600 GB, 700 GB | | 1000 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB, \n 350 GB, 400 GB, 450 GB, 500 GB, 600 GB, 700 GB, 1000 GB | | 2000 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB, \n 350 GB, 400 GB, 450 GB, 500 GB, 600 GB, 700 GB, 1000 GB, 2000 GB | | 3000 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB, \n 350 GB, 400 GB, 450 GB, 500 GB, 600 GB, 700 GB, 1000 GB, 2000 GB | | 4000 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB, \n 350 GB, 400 GB, 450 GB, 500 GB, 600 GB, 700 GB, 1000 GB, 2000 GB, 4000 GB | | 5000 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB, \n 350 GB, 400 GB, 450 GB, 500 GB, 600 GB, 700 GB, 1000 GB, 2000 GB, 4000 GB | |12000 GB | 5 GB, 10 GB, 20 GB, 40 GB, 60 GB, 80 GB, 100 GB 150 GB, 200 GB, 250 GB, 300 GB, \n 350 GB, 400 GB, 450 GB, 500 GB, 600 GB, 700 GB, 1000 GB, 2000 GB, 4000 GB | {: caption="This table shows the available snapshot space in increments for different volume capacities." caption-side="bottom"} ## Ordering Snapshot space in the console {: #ordersnapshotUI} {: ui} 1. Log in to the [IBM Cloud® console](https://cloud.ibm.com/login){: external} and click the menu icon ![Menu icon](../icons/icon_hamburger.svg "Menu"). 2. Select **Infrastructure** ![VPC icon](../icons/vpc.svg) > **Classic Infrastructure**. 3. Access your Storage through **Storage** > **File Storage for Classic**. 4. Click **Actions** ![Actions icon](../icons/action-menu-icon.svg "Actions"), then click **Add Snapshot Space**. 5. Select the amount of space that you need and the payment method. 6. Click **Continue**. 7. Enter any Promo Codes that you have and click **Recalculate**. The **Charges for this order** and **Order Review** have default values. Discounts are applied when the order is processed. {: note} 8. Check the box to confirm that you read and understood the terms and conditions and click **Place Order**. Your snapshot space is provisioned in a few minutes. ## Ordering Snapshot space from the CLI {: #ordersnapshotCLI} {: cli} Before you begin, decide on the CLI client that you want to use. * You can either install the [IBM Cloud CLI](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cli?format=markdown){: external} and install the SL plug-in with `ibmcloud plugin install sl`. For more information, see [Extending IBM Cloud CLI with plug-ins](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cli?topic=cli-plug-ins&format=markdown). * Or, you can install the [SLCLI](https://softlayer-python.readthedocs.io/en/latest/cli/){: external}. ### Provisioning from the IBMCLOUD CLI {: #orderingsnapthroughICCLI} Use the `ibmcloud sl file snapshot-order` command to provision snapshot space for your volume. The following example creates a 1000 GB snapshot space for the file share, which is identified by its ID `560156918`. ```sh ibmcloud sl file snapshot-order 560156918 -s 1000 -t 4 ``` {: pre} For more information about all of the parameters that are available for this command, see [ibmcloud sl file snapshot-order](https://cloud.ibm.com/docs/cli?topic=cli-sl-file-storage-service&format=markdown#sl_file_snapshot_order){: external}. ### Provisioning from the SLCLI {: #orderingsnapthroughSLCLI} Use the `slcli file snapshot-order` command to provision snapshot space for your volume. ```sh $ slcli file snapshot-order --help Usage: slcli file snapshot-order [OPTIONS] VOLUME_ID Options: --capacity INTEGER Size of snapshot space to create in GB [required] --tier [0.25|2|4|10] Endurance Storage Tier (IOPS per GB) of the file volume for which space is ordered [optional, and only valid for endurance storage volumes] --upgrade Flag to indicate that the order is an upgrade -h, --help Show this message and exit. ``` {: codeblock} ## Ordering Snapshot space with the API {: #ordersnapshotAPI} {: api} You can use the [`order_snapshot_space` method](https://softlayer-python.readthedocs.io/en/latest/api/managers/SoftLayer.managers.FileStorageManager/#SoftLayer.managers.FileStorageManager.order_snapshot_space){: external} in the SL API Python client to order more capacity to store snapshots. ## Ordering Snapshot space with Terraform {: #ordersnapshotTerraform} {: terraform} When you provision a storage volume with Terraform, use the `ibm_storage_file` resource and specify the `snapshot_capacity` argument. The following example defines 10 GB snapshot space. ```terraform resource "ibm_storage_file" "fs_endurance" { type = "Endurance" datacenter = "dal09" capacity = 20 iops = 0.25 # Optional fields allowed_virtual_guest_ids = ["28961689"] allowed_subnets = ["10.146.139.64/26"] allowed_ip_addresses = ["10.146.139.84"] snapshot_capacity = 10 hourly_billing = true } ``` {: codeblock} If you want to increase the snapshot space, update the `snapshot_capacity` argument with a larger number and apply the changes. For more information about the arguments and attributes, see [ibm_storage_file](https://registry.terraform.io/providers/IBM-Cloud/ibm/latest/docs/resources/storage_file){: external}.