Snapshots

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1.3.0

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Snapshots

A key feature for reproducible research and a more documented, tractable workflow

This page describes snapshots conceptually. 
What is snapshotting?
Snapshotting is a key feature of Nuvolos. Snapshotting creates a complete, immutable, persistent, restorable, and shareable copy of the current state of your workflow. Snapshotting is a key component to speeding up the dissemination of scientific results.
Completeness
Nuvolos ensures that the copy of the current state is complete. This means that your files, database tables, application data, and application setting and dependencies all get saved as a unit.
Immutability
Nuvolos ensures that the copy created of your work cannot be modified after the fact.
Persistence
Nuvolos ensures that the copy created by snapshotting will be available either until a project gets explicitly deleted or as long as the subscription exists.
Restorability
Nuvolos makes it possible to restore a snapshot to the current state of a project. This makes it possible to pick up work at a later time without additional due diligence needed.
Shareability
Nuvolos makes it possible to share a snapshot with a colleague or a student. 
Why is snapshotting useful?
To demonstrate the usefulness of the feature, consider the following use cases:
Reproducible Research
One of Nuvolos' goals is to help the scientific community advance towards an era of completely reproducible research. By creating a snapshot of your work, you can be sure that your code will produce the exact same results, no matter who runs it.
Setting up a course
You can set up a course by first building and testing your material. Once you are done, you can create a snapshot and then distribute this snapshot to all students taking the course with you. The students will receive the entire computing environment just as you have set it up, so they can get to work immediately.
Onboarding a new member to a research project
Once the new research project members are invited to Nuvolos, you can distribute the current state of your project to them and they can start their work, without the need to spend valuable time worrying about setting up their infrastructure just the right way.
Create an audit trail for assignments
Students also have the ability to take snapshots of their work. A snapshot is always time-stamped and greatly simplifies the handling in assignments. The student does not need to worry whether their work is reproducible, and the educator does not have to worry about managing a myriad of files and e-mails.

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Outline

What is snapshotting?

Why is snapshotting useful?

Reproducible Research

Setting up a course

Onboarding a new member to a research project

Create an audit trail for assignments