# Snapshot start timings **URL:** \ **Category:** General Topics\ **Created:** [November 16, 2023, 5:41am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/snapshot-start-timings/2431 "2023-11-16T05:41:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![junglebell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@junglebell](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/junglebell)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 5:41am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/snapshot-start-timings/2431/1 "2023-11-16T05:41:20Z")
I’m using the repository server and have scheduled snapshots to be taken every hour. It seems regardless of the time snapshot was scheduled, the next snapshot always start at the top of the hour. In some ways it is nice and keeps the tracking clean. However, I am planning to have multiple clients (laptops) run kopia. In that case all these machines will start the snapshot at the same time and potentially create a surge in network traffic at that point in time. Is there a way to change this default behavior and have the next snapshot truly begin after the snapshot interval period. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![dimejo](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/free1/user_avatar/kopia.discourse.group/dimejo/32/287_2.png) [@dimejo](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/dimejo)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2023, 8:55am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/snapshot-start-timings/2431/2 "2023-11-16T08:55:13Z")
The GUI allows to set custom times of day (e.g. 08:43, 12:43) or cron expressions (e.g. `43 */4 * * *`). I personally haven’t used it as most of my clients are headless and are using a systemd-timer with random delay, ---
**Author:** ![junglebell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@junglebell](https://kopia.discourse.group/u/junglebell)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2023, 6:08am UTC](https://kopia.discourse.group/t/snapshot-start-timings/2431/3 "2023-11-18T06:08:50Z")
Thanks @dimejo. I was able to create cron expressions to spread the schedule out. Appreciate the help.