Today Linux-KVM published a post that shows the basics of a new feature coming with Fedora 18, the ability to take online snapshots of virtual disks with no downtime.
An online snapshotting feature, already available in libvirt with command line-only support, represents a fundamental element in a production environment and will help KVM to shorten the distance with the professional market.
This feature is partially available in Fedora 17 and will be fully supported in the next release.
This was a preview of the planned live snapshotting feature in development and scheduled for release with Fedora 18. Some of these features are already available in Fedora 17 as demonstrated but won’t be fully available until the next release. Live disk snapshotting will be a huge benefit and time saver for backing up KVM virtual machines online and adds production level features to KVM for free. Online backups could be scheduled and run automatically with such a feature. Adding this feature to libvirt tools like virt-manager and RHEV will be sure to follow.