US Patent 9092500 Utilizing snapshots for access to databases and other applications

A method and system for utilizing snapshots to provide copies of a database or other application or large data structure to computing devices receives a request for access to a copy of a database, and performs a snapshot of a storage volume containing the requested database. The system then clones the snapshot and mounts the snapshot to a computing device, thus enabling the computing device to access a copy of the database. In some examples, the system automatically updates copies of a database on a scheduled basis (e.g., daily or weekly basis) to refresh a database regularly.