How snapshots work

A snapshot holds a node or a volume as it was when you took it. It stays in your account as a saved point you can build from, next to the resource it came from.

What a snapshot holds

• A node snapshot holds the node’s root disk. When you take it, you can include one, several, or all of the node’s attached volumes, so one snapshot covers the node and its extra storage together.
• A volume snapshot holds the data on that one volume.

Using a snapshot

To get a volume’s data back, open the volume’s Snapshots tab and choose Create Volume from the snapshot’s Actions menu once the snapshot reads Complete. You get a new volume with the data as it was at that point, and the original volume stays as it is. See Create a volume snapshot.

To build nodes from a node snapshot, choose Save as Image on it. The image is tied to the moment the snapshot was taken, and you launch new nodes from it like any saved image. See Create an image from a snapshot.

When you can take one

A node snapshot works on nodes in the C3, M3, SDC3, GDC3, E1, and E1WC families, while the node is Running or Powered off, and unlocked. On a prepaid account, your infra-credit balance needs to be zero or more. While the snapshot is being taken, leave the node as it is: reinstalling, rebooting, or locking it can wait until the snapshot finishes.

If a volume is exporting to Object Storage, take its snapshot once the export finishes. To detach a volume, let any snapshot in progress on it finish first.

Encryption

A snapshot of an encrypted volume is encrypted too, and a snapshot of an unencrypted volume is not. When you create a new volume from a snapshot, choose encryption again at creation if you want it on the new volume. See Encrypt a volume.

What a snapshot costs

You pay per GB per hour for the storage each snapshot uses, for as long as you keep it. The price shows before you confirm, for a node snapshot and a volume snapshot alike. For current rates, see E2E’s pricing page. A lifecycle rule keeps the cost in check by clearing out scheduled snapshots once they reach an age you set; see Snapshot schedules and lifecycle rules.

Keeping and deleting snapshots

A snapshot stays in your account until you delete it or a lifecycle rule clears it out. Deleting a snapshot leaves the node or volume it came from as it is.

To hold on to a snapshot, lock it. A locked node snapshot stays until you take the lock off, whether the delete would come from you or from a lifecycle rule; see Delete a snapshot. On a volume, Lock is in the snapshot’s Actions menu, and locking a scheduled snapshot keeps its lifecycle rule from deleting it.

Deleting a volume deletes its snapshots along with it. To keep the data from one of them, create a new volume from it first. See Delete a volume.

Snapshots and changes to the resource

A few changes start with clearing a snapshot out of the way:

• To upgrade a volume, delete its snapshots, or create a new volume from one and upgrade that. See Upgrade a volume.
• To change a node’s plan, delete its snapshot first. See Upgrade a node’s plan.
• To increase an E1 or E1WC node’s root storage, delete the root disk’s snapshots first. See Increase a node’s root storage.