Snapshot Backup

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What Does Snapshot Backup Mean?

A snapshot backup is a type of backup copy used to create the entire architectural instance/copy of an application, disk or system. It is used in backup processes to restore the system or disk of a particular device at a specific time.

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A snapshot backup can also be referred to as image backup.

Techopedia Explains Snapshot Backup

Snapshot backups are primarily used to restore a system, virtual machine and disk or drive to an operational state and to serve as the system’s restore point when the snapshot was taken. It is not equivalent to a backup copy and it doesn’t store the data itself but just defines where and how the data was stored and organized. Typically, the snapshot is created using disk/system imaging or system restoration and recovery software. However, most backup software can also take snapshot backups and restore the system using the snapshots.

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Margaret Rouse
Technology expert
Margaret Rouse
Technology expert

Margaret is an award-winning writer and educator known for her ability to explain complex technical topics to a non-technical business audience. Over the past twenty years, her IT definitions have been published by Que in an encyclopedia of technology terms and cited in articles in the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine, and Discovery Magazine. She joined Techopedia in 2011. Margaret’s idea of ​​a fun day is to help IT and business professionals to learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages.