A Snapshot is a copy made of your Volume at a specific moment in time. It contains the full directory structure of the Volume. Snapshots can be used as incremental backups of your Volumes, as restore points for your data, as long-term storage for your data, or as starting points for new Cloud Block Storage (CBS) Volumes. Snapshots are stored in Rackspace Cloud Files.

Snapshots only take up as much storage space as the data that fills them. So if you have a 1 TB Volume, but only 500 GB of data on it, your Snapshot will only be 500 GB. However, when you create new Volumes from a Snapshot, the new Volume must be the same size as the original Volume from which you made the Snapshot. The new Volume must also be in the same region. It can, however, have a different type.

On this Page:

• Create a Snapshot
• Create a new Volume from Snapshot
• Delete Snapshot

Create a Snapshot

It is a good idea to detach your Volume from your Server before you take a Snapshot. This is the safest method to prevent your Server from writing information while you are backing it up. That could get your data out of sync and could create a problem. To detach your Volume, see the instructions on "Detatch and Delete Volumes". You can always re-attach the Volume by following the "Attach Volume to a Server" Steps on the Create/Attach Volume page.

More advanced users may sync the filesystem in order ensure the integrity of the data on your snapshots. Performing a sync will flush file system buffers and write the data out to disk. If you are unfamiliar with how to sync your filesystem, consider detaching your volume prior to snapshotting.

There are two ways to create a Snapshot, from the Actions button or from the Storage Snapshots screen.

1. From the Actions button on the list of Cloud Block Storage Volumes
   • Click the "Actions" button on the Volume Details screen.
     or
   • Click the Action button (the cog) next to the Volume name in the Block Storage Volumes screen.
2. Click the "Create Snapshot" link.
3. Give the Snapshot a name. The default is the Volume's name with the numbered snapshot (for instance, My-CBS-Volume-3 for the third snapshot).
4. Click the "Create Snapshot" button.
   Note: Snapshots for Volumes with large amounts of new data will take longer to create.

Alternatively:

1. From the Storage Snapshots screen, click the "Create Snapshot" button.
   The "Volume to Snapshot" menu displays.
2. Click the circle next to the Volume to take a Snapshot.
3. Give the Snapshot a name. The default is the Volume's name with the numbered snapshot (for instance, My-CBS-Volume-3 for the third snapshot).
4. Click the "Create Snapshot" button.
   Note: Snapshots for Volumes with large amounts of new data will take longer to create.

Create Volume from Snapshot

The Volume you create from a Snapshot must be the same size and in the same region as the original Volume. However, you may choose a different type.

1. From the "Block Storage Snapshots" screen, click the Action button (the cog) next to the Snapshot.
2. Click the "Create Volume" link.
3. Give your Volume a name (using alphanumeric and underscore and dash characters, please).
4. Select a Volume Type:
   • Standard - This is a standard SATA drive for users who need additional storage on their Cloud Server.
   • High Performance - This is an SSD drive, which offers a higher performance option for databases and high performance applications.
5. Click the "Create Volume" button.

The larger your Volume, the longer it may take to create.

Delete Snapshot

1. From the "Block Storage Snapshots" screen, click the Action button (the cog) next to the Snapshot.
2. Click the "Delete Snapshot" link.