Sanoid is a policy-driven tool for ZFS backup automation, snapshot management, dataset replication, and storage monitoring. It manages the automated lifecycle of filesystem snapshots by translating configurable retention policies into specific creation and pruning commands.
The tool provides asynchronous incremental replication of datasets between local or remote hosts using secure tunnels. It differentiates itself by using a structured configuration system to apply standardized snapshot policies across nested filesystem hierarchies through recursive dataset traversal.
The software covers storage capacity management by thinning old snapshots to reclaim disk space and uses interval-based retention logic to maintain recovery points across hourly, daily, and monthly schedules. It also includes observability capabilities for reporting pool health, capacity, and snapshot integrity to external monitoring systems.
Sanoid supports custom automation through lifecycle hooks that trigger external shell scripts during snapshot and pruning events.