Server Snapshots

Applies To: CLOUD VPS

Taking a server snapshot allows you to save a copy of your server's disk at a particular point in time in your Object Storage (Memstore), our cloud storage solution.

Memstore Required

In order to Take, Store and Manage Snapshots for a Cloud VPS Server you will need to have purchased our Object Storage (Memstore) Product, this is required as it will be used to store your Snapshots. If you do not have our Object Storage product in your account, then you will not be able to use this feature.

The snapshot can be used to re-image an existing server or to order a new one using the snapshot as a disk image. This allows server image customisation and reduces the risk of production systems' maintenance, it can also act as a point in time copy of your server, useful for exports of data and as part of your backup process.

Currently there are two types of snapshots:

1. raw snapshots: creates a raw compressed image of the disk. This is the less efficient method but it's not affected by high I/O levels. (Recommended) 
2. tar snapshots: creates a compact package of only the used disk space. It's only available for Linux Cloud VPS's. Extended file attributes are supported in any snapshot after Jan 13th 2014, POSIX ACLs are not supported.

The snapshots will be uploaded to a "miniserver-snapshots" container (created automatically), in a folder named after the Cloud VPS name and the date and time of the snapshot.

We recommend using a "Raw" Snapshot for general Snapshot use, this will likely cover most eventualities and include everything your require.

Depending on the type of snapshot we can find different files. The most important are the .part directory that includes the different pieces of the snapshot and the manifest file. The manifest file can be downloaded and your Object Storage (Memstore) will merge all the parts automatically.

Block Storage

The Snapshot of your server will only cover the Logical Disks within the server, it does not include any additional attached storage including (but not limited to) the Block Storage, any Network Drives or additional Mount Points.

Documentation

The following pages contain a variety of different documents that will assist you with your Server Snapshots.