Azure Managed Disk Snapshots

This document provides a comprehensive guide to creating, managing, and using snapshots of Azure Managed Disks. Snapshots are point-in-time copies of a disk that can be used for backups, disaster recovery, or creating new disks.

What are Disk Snapshots?

A snapshot is a full, read-only copy of a disk at a specific point in time. Snapshots are stored as a managed disk in your Azure subscription. They are independent of the source disk and can be used to create new managed disks of the same size and configuration.

When to Use Snapshots

• Backup and Recovery: Create regular snapshots to back up your data. In case of data loss or corruption, you can restore your disk from a snapshot.
• Disaster Recovery: Replicate snapshots to different Azure regions for disaster recovery scenarios.
• Migrating Data: Create a snapshot and then create a new disk from it to migrate data between environments or subscriptions.
• Testing and Development: Use snapshots to create test environments without affecting your production data.

Creating a Disk Snapshot

You can create snapshots using the Azure portal, Azure CLI, Azure PowerShell, or REST API.

Using Azure Portal

1. Navigate to your managed disk in the Azure portal.
2. In the Overview section, click on Create snapshot.
3. Fill in the required details:
• Name: A unique name for your snapshot.
• Resource group: The resource group to store the snapshot in.
• Storage type: Choose Standard HDD, Standard SSD, or Premium SSD.
• Encryption: Configure encryption settings if needed.
4. Click Review + create and then Create.

Using Azure CLI

az snapshot create --resource-group MyResourceGroup --name MySnapshotName --source MyDiskName
            

Using Azure PowerShell

New-AzSnapshotConfig -SourceDiskId $disk.Id -StorageAccountType Standard_LRS -CreateOption Copy
New-AzSnapshot -Snapshot $snapshotConfig -SnapshotName "MySnapshotName" -ResourceGroupName "MyResourceGroup"
            

Managing Disk Snapshots

Once created, you can view, delete, or use snapshots to create new disks.

Viewing Snapshots

You can find your snapshots under the Snapshots service in the Azure portal. They will also appear as managed disks in your subscription.

Deleting Snapshots

Snapshots incur storage costs. Delete them when they are no longer needed.

To delete a snapshot:

1. Navigate to the snapshot in the Azure portal.
2. Click the Delete button.
3. Confirm the deletion.

Creating a Disk from a Snapshot

You can create a new managed disk from a snapshot. This new disk will be a full copy of the snapshot's data.

Using Azure Portal

1. Navigate to the snapshot in the Azure portal.
2. Click on Create disk.
3. Configure the new disk settings (name, size, resource group, etc.).
4. Click Review + create and then Create.

Using Azure CLI

az disk create --resource-group MyResourceGroup --name MyNewDisk --source MySnapshotName
            

Snapshot Storage

Snapshots are stored as managed disks and consume storage space. The cost depends on the size of the snapshot and the storage type (Standard HDD, Standard SSD, Premium SSD).