Snapshots¶
A snapshot is a point-in-time snapshot of a filesystem on a volume.
Snapshots are pretty much instant because they don’t move any data but only creates a checkpoint from where it tracks changes. A revert to a snapshot is also fast.
Snapshots are hierarchal in the sense that each snapshot will reference the previous snapshots.
The most common use-case for a snapshot is for testing out something in a production system. For example upgrades or other invasive actions and if something goes wrong you can revert to the snapshot.
Tip
We recommend that you are restrictive in the usage of snapshots and instead use best practices to test your changes before doing any invasive actions.
Important
A snapshot is NOT a backup. While it might be tempting to take recurring snapshots for safety, all data for snapshots is in the same storage platform as your primary data and does not protect you in case of an unexpected outage.
If you want to access the data of a snapshot, the recommended approach is to Create a volume from a snapshot and attach it to an instance (or base a new instance of the volume).
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