SYSTEM AND METHOD THAT DETERMINES A SIZE OF METADATA-BASED SYSTEM SNAPSHOTS

A size of a metadata-based system snapshot is determined based on performing incremental calculations in background mode to assure accurate size reporting without producing considerable workload. Snapshot sizes are relative to each other. For example, a size of a first snapshot is set when a second snapshot is generated. Moreover, a size of the latest snapshot is relative to a current tree version and a size of an older snapshot is relative to a snapshot that follows it. An aggregated size of all system snapshots can be determined by adding the individual snapshot sizes. This provides simplicity during snapshot management.