VMware snapshots and AWS snapshots are two different technologies used for data protection and recovery in different environments. Here are the key differences between them:
Environment: VMware snapshots are utilized within VMware virtualization environments, while AWS snapshots are used in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure.
Scope: VMware snapshots operate at the virtual machine (VM) level. They capture the state of a VM at a specific point in time, including its disk, memory, and configuration settings. In contrast, AWS snapshots operate at the storage level, allowing you to capture the state of an entire Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) volume, which can be attached to multiple EC2 instances.
Storage: VMware snapshots are stored within the VMware datastore, typically located on the same storage infrastructure as the VM. AWS snapshots, on the other hand, are stored in Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), a scalable object storage service in the AWS cloud.
Incremental Backups: AWS snapshots are incremental, meaning they only store the changes made since the last snapshot. This allows for efficient storage utilization. In comparison, VMware snapshots are typically implemented as full point-in-time copies of the VM's disk, which can consume significant storage space, especially if multiple snapshots are taken.
Lifespan: VMware snapshots are designed to be short-lived and temporary. They are primarily used for creating a point-in-time recovery option before making changes to a VM, such as patching or updating software. Once the desired changes have been made, the snapshot is usually deleted or consolidated with the base VM disk. AWS snapshots, on the other hand, can be retained for a longer period and used for ongoing backup and disaster recovery purposes.
Management and Portability: VMware snapshots are managed within the VMware vSphere environment and are not easily portable to other virtualization platforms. AWS snapshots, being part of the AWS ecosystem, can be managed through the AWS Management Console, API, or CLI, and they can be easily copied or migrated to different AWS regions or accounts.
It's important to note that while both VMware snapshots and AWS snapshots offer data protection features, they serve different purposes within their respective environments.
