(Note: this won't make sense to you unless you already understand snapshots. Read here for a common sense explanation of how WAFL handles snapshots).
Fractional Reserve: the amount of space that is reserved for your snapshots to grow. In NetApp's words,
"A volume option that enables you to determine how much space Data ONTAP reserves for Snapshot copy overwrites for LUNs, as well as for space-reserved files when all other space in the volume is used. Fractional reserve is generally used for volumes that hold LUNs with a small percentage of data overwrite."
Snapshot Reserve: In NetApp's words, "a set percentage of disk space for Snapshot copies."
The concept here is that a snapshot can become as large as the original dataset in the volume (100%), and space needs to be reserved for that. Remember that the space occupied by data in the volume is the sum of the existing LUNS/Qtrees and any snapshots that exist in that volume. Empty space in the volume is ignored by snapshots.
Consequently, the Fractional Reserve is between 0% and 100% the size of the original space taken up by data in the volume for each snapshot, plus any space reserved for thick-provisioned LUNs.
Say volume volx is 20GB and has a single thin provisioned LUN with 6GB of data. If there is one snapshot of volx, the volume fractional reserve need not be larger than 6GB. This is not to say that 6GB is required, it is just the ceiling.
The best explanation on fractional reserve I've seen yet is by Chris Kranz: http://communities.netapp.com/groups/chris-kranz-hardware-pro/blog/2009/03/05/fractional-reservation--lun-overwrite
Quick comparison between Fractional Reserve and Snap Reserve:
With fractional reserve, changes to existing data (aka data overwrite) will be written first to blank space, and then to the fractional reserve space. When a LUN is space-reserved (aka fully allocated or thick), fractional reserve is where there is space specifically reserved for that LUN.
If fractional reserve is set to 100%, the fractional reserve space will be the sum of:
1) The size of all space-reserved LUN's
2) The max size of all snapshots
With snap reserve, new data cannot be written to the space reserved. It is solely for changes to existing data. This means if all the open space is occupied, the LUN cannot grow even if the snap reserve is not full. At that point the data in the LUN can change, but the space taken up by the LUN cannot change.
If you are using Qtrees, it makes sense to use snap reserve. If you are using LUNs, go with fractional reserve.
Fractional Reserve: the amount of space that is reserved for your snapshots to grow. In NetApp's words,
"A volume option that enables you to determine how much space Data ONTAP reserves for Snapshot copy overwrites for LUNs, as well as for space-reserved files when all other space in the volume is used. Fractional reserve is generally used for volumes that hold LUNs with a small percentage of data overwrite."
Snapshot Reserve: In NetApp's words, "a set percentage of disk space for Snapshot copies."
The concept here is that a snapshot can become as large as the original dataset in the volume (100%), and space needs to be reserved for that. Remember that the space occupied by data in the volume is the sum of the existing LUNS/Qtrees and any snapshots that exist in that volume. Empty space in the volume is ignored by snapshots.
Consequently, the Fractional Reserve is between 0% and 100% the size of the original space taken up by data in the volume for each snapshot, plus any space reserved for thick-provisioned LUNs.
Say volume volx is 20GB and has a single thin provisioned LUN with 6GB of data. If there is one snapshot of volx, the volume fractional reserve need not be larger than 6GB. This is not to say that 6GB is required, it is just the ceiling.
The best explanation on fractional reserve I've seen yet is by Chris Kranz: http://communities.netapp.com/groups/chris-kranz-hardware-pro/blog/2009/03/05/fractional-reservation--lun-overwrite
Quick comparison between Fractional Reserve and Snap Reserve:
With fractional reserve, changes to existing data (aka data overwrite) will be written first to blank space, and then to the fractional reserve space. When a LUN is space-reserved (aka fully allocated or thick), fractional reserve is where there is space specifically reserved for that LUN.
If fractional reserve is set to 100%, the fractional reserve space will be the sum of:
1) The size of all space-reserved LUN's
2) The max size of all snapshots
With snap reserve, new data cannot be written to the space reserved. It is solely for changes to existing data. This means if all the open space is occupied, the LUN cannot grow even if the snap reserve is not full. At that point the data in the LUN can change, but the space taken up by the LUN cannot change.
If you are using Qtrees, it makes sense to use snap reserve. If you are using LUNs, go with fractional reserve.
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