Protection Concepts
The Protection section of the Dashboard provides two data protection mechanisms: point-in-time snapshots and external backups.
Snapshots
A snapshot captures the state of a Volume at a specific moment in time. Snapshots are stored within the cluster and can be used to restore a Volume to a prior state.
| Property | Details |
|---|---|
| Scope | Per-Volume |
| Creation | Manual (on demand) or automatic via a snapshot policy |
| Restore | Reverts the Volume to the snapshot state (replaces current data) |
| Retention | Configurable: maximum number of snapshots or maximum age in days |
Snapshots are listed with their creation time, size, and source (manual or policy-driven).
Backups
A backup exports Volume data to an external destination, providing off-cluster protection. Backups can run on a recurring schedule and support incremental transfers to minimize bandwidth.
| Property | Details |
|---|---|
| Scope | Per-Volume |
| Mode | full — transfers all data; incremental — transfers only changes since the last backup |
| Schedule | Recurring interval (in minutes) |
| Target | Remote storage destination outside the cluster |
| Lag | Time elapsed since the last successful sync |
| Failover | The backup target can be promoted if the primary cluster becomes unavailable |
Use snapshots for fast, frequent recovery points within the cluster. Use backups for off-cluster durability and disaster recovery.