Archive snapshots to reduce snapshot storage costs - Elastic Compute Service

To reduce snapshot storage costs, you can archive standard snapshots that you do not need to access frequently but need to retain for an extended period of time to generate archive snapshots.

For the differences between standard and archive snapshots, see Overview of snapshots.

Limits

Archive snapshots cannot be restored to standard snapshots.
A standard snapshot must have been retained for at least 14 days after creation before it can be archived.
Shared snapshots, snapshots managed by Alibaba Cloud services, snapshots in cloud boxes, and snapshots being archived cannot be archived.
Archive snapshots cannot be copied.
Note
You can indirectly copy an archive snapshot by creating a disk from it, attaching the disk to an Elastic Compute Service (ECS) instance, and then creating a snapshot from the disk.
Other limits are the same as those for standard snapshots.

Archive a snapshot

Use the ECS console

Go to ECS console - Snapshots.In the top navigation bar, select the resource group and region of the target snapshot.
On the Disk Snapshots tab, find the snapshot you want to archive and choose > Archive Snapshot in the Actions column.
In the Archive Snapshot dialog box, specify a retention period for the snapshot.
The total retention period of an archive snapshot includes the standard tier retention period (the standard snapshot's storage duration) and the archive tier retention period (the number of days for which the archive snapshot is retained).
Important
The minimum archive tier retention period for an archive snapshot is 60 days (1,440 hours). If you delete an archive snapshot before the 60-day retention period ends, you are charged both archive snapshot storage and archive snapshot early deletion fees.
- Standard Tier: the standard tier retention period, which cannot be modified. The standard snapshot must have been retained for at least 14 days before it can be archived.
- Archive Tier: Specify the archive tier retention period for the snapshot.
  - Retained For: Specify a retention period in days as needed. The minimum archive tier retention period is 60 days. If you delete the archive snapshot within 60 days, you are charged an early deletion fee. Archive snapshots are automatically deleted after their retention periods end.
  - Permanently Retained: The archive snapshot is permanently retained. When the maximum number of archive snapshots is reached, no additional snapshots can be archived.
Select I am aware of the minimum retention period of archive snapshots and understand that the archive operation is irreversible. Archive snapshots cannot be restored as standard snapshots and click Confirm. The system automatically triggers an archive task. After the snapshot is archived, the snapshot type changes from Standard Snapshot to Archive Snapshot.

Call an API operation

Call the ModifySnapshotCategory operation to archive snapshots.

Important

The minimum archive tier retention period for an archive snapshot is 60 days (1,440 hours). If you delete an archive snapshot before the 60-day retention period ends, you are charged both archive snapshot storage and archive snapshot early deletion fees.

More information

Billing

You are charged archive snapshot storage fees based on the size and usage duration of archive snapshots. For more information about the billing of archive snapshots, see Snapshots.

Use an archive snapshot

Archive snapshots cannot be copied. Other operations on archive snapshots are the same as those on standard snapshots.