A snapshot is a point-in-time copy of a volume’s data. Snapshots let you reuse that data: as the starting point of a new volume, or as the source of an image that you launch instances from. A snapshot depends on its volume’s stored data, so a volume can’t be deleted while any of its snapshots exists.
The following diagram shows the path from a volume to a usable clone source and what you can create from it.
Key concepts
Snapshot states
A snapshot reports a status for the copy itself and a protectionStatus. Only a snapshot that is COMPLETED and PROTECTED can be used as a clone source. See Snapshot states.
Protection
An explicit step after creation that makes a snapshot usable as a clone source. A protected snapshot can’t be deleted until you unprotect it. See Create and protect a snapshot.
Crash consistency
A snapshot of an attached volume is taken while the instance runs. It captures the disk as a sudden power-off would.
What you can do
- Create and protect a snapshot
- Create a volume from a snapshot
- Create an image from a protected snapshot (a compute operation)
- Delete a snapshot
Limits and quotas
The number of snapshots is capped per organization and, where set, per project. Completed snapshots are billed for the size of the volume they were taken from. See Limits and Pricing.