Snapshots give quick restore points on the same storage; useful for rollbacks. Backups should be copied off-server and retained longer. Use both: snapshots for recent recovery, backups for disaster recovery.
Snapshots
- What they are: Point-in-time copy of a volume or dataset, often copy-on-write so they are fast and space-efficient.
- Where they live: On the same storage system (or same provider). Not off-site; if the array or DC fails, snapshots can be lost.
- Use for: Quick rollback after a bad deploy or config change. Short-term recovery (e.g. "restore to yesterday"). Not a substitute for off-site backup.
Backups
- What they are: Copy of data (full or incremental) to another system, region, or provider. Retained according to policy (e.g. 30 days, 7 years).
- Where they live: Different storage, another region, or tape/archive. Survives loss of primary site.
- Use for: Disaster recovery, compliance, long-term retention. Test restore regularly.
Use both
- Snapshots: Fast, same storage; for recent rollback and short-term recovery.
- Backups: Off-server, longer retention; for DR and compliance. Optionally, export snapshots to backup storage (e.g. object storage in another region) to automate.
Summary
Snapshot = quick point-in-time on same storage; backup = copy off-server, retained longer. Use snapshots for rollback and recent recovery; use backups for DR and long-term.
