State Snapshot

A State Snapshot is a data capture that represents the complete state of a system, process, or application at a specific moment in time, preserved for recovery, analysis, or historical reference.

• AKA: State Capture, System Snapshot, Point-in-Time State.
• Context:
  • It can typically capture System Variables at snapshot time.
  • It can typically preserve Memory Content through state serialization.
  • It can typically include Timestamp Information for temporal identification.
  • It can typically maintain State Integrity via consistency guarantees.
  • It can typically support State Restoration through deserialization processes.
  • ...
  • It can often compress Snapshot Data for storage efficiency.
  • It can often encrypt Sensitive State for security protection.
  • It can often include Metadata for snapshot context.
  • It can often enable State Comparison through diff operations.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Partial State Snapshot to being a Complete State Snapshot, depending on its capture scope.
  • It can range from being a Lightweight State Snapshot to being a Heavyweight State Snapshot, depending on its data volume.
  • ...
  • It can be created by Checkpoint Systems for recovery purposes.
  • It can be stored in Persistent Storage for long-term retention.
  • It can be analyzed by Diagnostic Tools for troubleshooting.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • System State Snapshots, such as:
    • AI Agent State Checkpoint for AI agent recovery.
    • Virtual Machine Snapshot for VM state capture.
    • Database Snapshot for data consistency.
  • Application State Snapshots, such as:
    • Game State Snapshot for save point.
    • Editor State Snapshot for undo functionality.
    • Session State Snapshot for user continuity.
  • Infrastructure State Snapshots, such as:
    • Container Snapshot for container state.
    • Cluster State Snapshot for distributed system.
    • Configuration Snapshot for setting backup.
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Continuous Recording, which captures ongoing stream rather than point-in-time state.
  • Incremental Backup, which saves changes only rather than complete state.
  • Event Log, which records action sequence rather than state capture.
• See: State Management, Checkpoint System, Data Capture, Recovery Point.

---