Allow manually triggering SmartGuard

[TimButterfield]

I like the daily, weekly, and monthly snapshots created with SmartGuard. What I don't like is the apparent randomness of when it happens such as if I have not started that VM in some time. I don't want to skip it and yet I also don't have an option to delay it for a little while. So, I feel forced to perform it at the moment it appears just to have something even if it is not always helpful.

Here are a couple of example scenarios why it may not be helpful at that very moment:

• If the snapshot was created while I was in the middle of concentrating on solving something within an application, restoring to that snapshot in the future may restore that application state, but it does not restore my mental state to exactly what I was doing at the time. I have to resume my work after having forgotten some of the details.

• If I had to log into some server to begin a large download, restoring to that snapshot does not automatically log me in on that server. So, the no longer in process download will fail as the login context may have expired long ago.

Since the snapshot is of the current state of the VM, I prefer it to be created when the VM is otherwise idle. Because of this, I will often start the VM, then let it sit and wait in hopes the SmartGuard will eventually happen so I can begin to actively use the VM. This wastes quite a bit of time just to ensure a usable snapshot is created by SmartGuard. While I could create a manual snapshot, I don't always have a need for that and will still get notification of the SmartGuard snapshot also. So, it is preferred to have just the one instead of duplicating disk space usage to have the manual plus the daily SmartGuard. Just one or the other is sufficient for the day.

Suggestion:

Add a menu item to 'Check SmartGuard' that is enabled if the SmartGuard has not been created for that calendar day. If it is enabled, I can click the menu item to create that SmartGuard snapshot, get that process out of the way, and then begin to use the VM.

Or, if the menu item were 'Run SmartGuard' and always enabled, I could have the SmartGuard snapshot created at the end of a session also instead of the additional manual snapshot. If in the same day, it could just replace the prior SmartGuard snapshot for the day. This would provide the convenience of SmartGuard snapshots without the duplication of additional manual snapshots that have to be cleaned up in future.