Disk snapshots

In Yandex Cloud, a disk snapshot is a copy of the disk file system made at a certain point in time.

You can use disk snapshots for various purposes, e.g.:

• Migrating data from one disk to another, for example, to a disk in a different availability zone.
• Creating a disk backup before performing operations that may damage your data.
• Disk versioning by creating snapshots on a regular basis.

A disk snapshot only contains the data that was written to the disk at the time its snapshot was created. If the disk is attached to a running VM, the OS and app cache will not be included in the snapshot. For more information about preparing a VM for disk snapshot creation and ensuring the integrity of the snapshot data, see this guide.

You can create disk snapshots both manually and automatically, based on a schedule.

A single snapshot can only be created for one disk at a time.

You can create snapshots of network disks and drives, such as HDDs, SSDs, and non-replicated SSDs, as well as ultra high-speed network storages with three replicas (SSD).

For non-replicated SSDs and ultra high-speed network storages with three replicas (SSD), the snapshot time is not determined.

To create snapshots of local disks residing on dedicated hosts, use Yandex Cloud Backup. This service supports Ubuntu, CentOS, CentOS Stream, and Windows Server.

You cannot recover a boot disk of an existing VM from a snapshot or image. However, you can create a new VM to recover a boot disk from a snapshot. To recover the boot disk of an existing VM, use Yandex Cloud Backup.

Disk snapshot as a Yandex Cloud resourceDisk snapshot as a Yandex Cloud resource

A disk snapshot is a resource, just like a disk itself. Snapshots are stored in a folder. Access rights to a snapshot are inherited from those to the folder.

A snapshot takes some space in the storage and is kept for an indefinite period of time. Snapshot storage is charged separately. To avoid unnecessary costs, delete unused snapshots. For more information, see Compute Cloud pricing policy.

Snapshot information contains the ID of the disk from which the snapshot was created. The license IDs (product_ids) used to calculate the disk usage cost are also inherited from the source.

Reliable and secure snapshot storageReliable and secure snapshot storage

Snapshots are stored in Yandex Managed Service for YDB, replicated in multiple availability zones, and encrypted at the database level.

The checksum is stored for blocks in the snapshot. This checksum is checked when creating a disk from a snapshot.

To test disk recovery from a snapshot, create a VM with a snapshot disk and check the integrity of your data.

Encrypting snapshotsEncrypting snapshots

To protect critical data in Compute Cloud, we recommend encrypting snapshots with Yandex Key Management Service keys.

For more information, see Encryption in Compute Cloud.

Use casesUse cases

• High-performance computing (HPC) on preemptible VMs
• Creating test VMs with GitLab CI
• Creating a 1C-Bitrix website

See alsoSee also

• Guides on disk snapshots and schedules
• Recovering a disk from a snapshot