To reduce storage costs, you can archive standard snapshots that you do not access frequently but must retain for a long time.
For information about the differences between standard snapshots and archive snapshots, see Snapshot types.
Quick overview of archive snapshots
Limitations
Archive snapshots cannot be reverted to standard snapshots.
A standard snapshot must be at least 14 days old before you can archive it.
You cannot archive shared snapshots, snapshots managed by Alibaba Cloud services, snapshots in CloudBox, or snapshots that are currently being archived.
You cannot copy archive snapshots.
To indirectly copy an archive snapshot, create a new disk from the archive snapshot, attach the disk to an instance, and then create a snapshot of the new disk.
Each disk supports a maximum of 10 concurrent archive tasks. This limit includes tasks for manual snapshots, automatic snapshots, snapshots in a snapshot consistency group, and snapshots of images. If this limit is reached, you cannot start new archive operations.
For other limitations, see limits.
Archive a snapshot
Console
Go to the ECS console - Snapshots page. In the upper-left corner, select the appropriate resource group and region.
On the Disk Snapshots tab, find the snapshot that you want to archive. In the Actions column, choose .
In the Archive Snapshot dialog box, set a retention period for the archive snapshot.
An archive snapshot's total retention period is the sum of its time in the standard tier and its configured retention period in the archive tier.
ImportantThe minimum retention period for an archive snapshot in the archive tier is 60 days (1,440 hours). If you delete the snapshot before this 60-day period ends, you are charged an early deletion fee for archive snapshot in addition to the archive snapshot storage fee.
Standard Tier: This parameter is not configurable. A standard snapshot must be retained for at least 14 days before it can be archived.
Archive Tier: You can configure this setting as needed.
Retained For: Set a custom retention period. The minimum retention period is 60 days. Deleting the archive snapshot before this 60-day period ends incurs an early deletion fee. After the retention period ends, the archive snapshot is automatically deleted.
Permanently Retained: The archive snapshot is retained indefinitely. When the maximum number of archive snapshots is reached, subsequent archive tasks fail.
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 OK. An archive task is automatically started. After the snapshot is archived, its type changes from Standard Snapshot to Archive Snapshot.
API
You can also call the ModifySnapshotCategory API operation to archive a snapshot.
The minimum retention period for an archive snapshot in the archive tier is 60 days (1,440 hours). If you delete the snapshot before this 60-day period ends, you are charged an early deletion fee for archive snapshot in addition to the archive snapshot storage fee.
More information
Billing
Archive snapshots incur an archive snapshot storage fee based on their size and storage duration. For more information about billing rules, see Snapshot billing.
Using archive snapshots
With the exception of copying, archive snapshots support the same operations as standard snapshots.