Periodically the snapshot data is required for analysis. The snapshot of data is exported from live system environment so that any reporting can be carried out offline.

The queries required to generate the snapshots will have an impact on the database, but nowhere near as big an impact as running the reporting against it. We can also parameterize the snapshot mechanisms as much as we like, for example, by specifying that we're only interested in how users view certain areas of the site or the profiles of new customers.

This pattern applies only to software.