Snapshots

HBase and HDFS snapshots can be created with Cloudera Manager or by using the command line.
  • HBase snapshots allow you to create point-in-time backups of tables without making data copies, and with minimal impact on RegionServers. HBase snapshots are supported for clusters running CDH 4.2 or higher.
  • HDFS snapshots allow you to create point-in-time backups of directories or the entire filesystem without actually cloning the data. These snapshots appear on the filesystem as read-only directories that can be accessed just like any other ordinary directories. HDFS snapshots are supported for clusters running CDH 5 or higher. CDH 4 does not support snapshots for HDFS.