Merging snapshot data back to an original disk also negatively affects VM performance, and VMware's Fault Tolerance feature doesn't support snapshots.įor long-term protection and better disaster recovery preparation, use backups instead of snapshots. Once you run out of data store space, VMs begin to shut down and stop working.
Snapshots work well for making short-term copies of VMs, but the longer you keep them, the more disk space they take up on your data stores. You should avoid using snapshots as backups for a few reasons. From this interface, you can revert to or delete the snapshots you have taken.Īlthough both preserve the state of a VM, snapshots and backups are not equal.
You can manage snapshots via VMware Snapshot Manager. If you want to revert to an older snapshot, use Snapshot Manager and select Go To to select the specific snapshot you want to revert to. When you choose Revert to Snapshot via the vSphere Client or Snapshot Manager, it simply reverts to the most recent snapshot you took.
When you revert back to a snapshot, the system discards the current disk and memory states, and the VM to which the snapshot corresponds reverts to the state at which the snapshot was taken. You can manage your snapshots via the vSphere Client by connecting to either an ESX server or vCenter Server. Snapshots protect in the event of an error or failure so you can easily revert to the prior state of a VM. VMware supports a maximum number of 32 snapshots in a chain but doesn't recommend having much more than two or three or keeping them for longer than 72 hours, because snapshots can eat up storage resources and snapshot files only grow over time. By default, the owner of a VM can create a snapshot of that VM, but usually only a system admin can delete snapshots. You can create or delete snapshots, and decide who else has the ability to do so, via the vSphere management client, the ESX service console or the vSphere command-line interface (CLI). What are VMware snapshots?Ī VMware snapshot is essentially a short-term image of a VM that preserves the power state and data files - such as disks, memory and virtual network interface cards - of that VM at a specific time. You have to also ensure you manage the snapshots of your VM disk files carefully, as they can eat up significant storage resources. Snapshots alone do not provide adequate backup capabilities in the long term, however. So, when problems arise, you can easily revert a VM to its snapshot state, and even automate snapshot management - creation, reversion and removal - using PowerCLI. You can use VMware snapshots as temporary backups during upgrades and patches.
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