# How backups and snapshots protect your data

> What backups and snapshots are, how they differ on Container Apps and Cloud Compute, and how to keep a copy that outlives a service.

Source: https://www.coritan.com/docs/learn/backups-and-snapshots/

Data can be lost to a mistake, a bad update, an attack or a failed disk. A copy taken beforehand lets you go back. Coritan keeps two kinds of copy, which differ in what they hold and where they are kept:

*Snapshot*
: The state of a disk, or of a server's files, at one moment. It is quick to take and quick to go back to, which suits a restore point before a risky change.

*Backup*
: A copy kept apart from what it protects, so that it survives when the original is rebuilt or damaged.

## On Cloud Compute

An instance has both kinds.

- A *snapshot* lives on the same storage as the instance's disk, and an instance holds 8 at a time. Rebuilding or cancelling the instance deletes its snapshots ([Take and roll back instance snapshots](/docs/cloud-compute/snapshots/)).
- A *backup* is a compressed archive of the whole disk, kept apart from it, and an instance holds 16. Backups survive a rebuild, and cancelling the instance deletes them ([Back up and restore an instance](/docs/cloud-compute/backups/)).

## On Container Apps

A server has *snapshots*: archives of its files, kept in your account's snapshot storage. A snapshot stays on your account after you delete the server, and you can restore it onto another of your servers. Your account's *snapshot allowance* sets how much room they may take ([How snapshot storage works](/docs/snapshots/storage-allowance/)).

Snapshots have replaced backups on Container Apps. A server keeps the backups it already had, and you cannot take new ones ([Snapshots and backups compared](/docs/snapshots/snapshots-and-backups/)).

Neither a snapshot nor a backup holds the databases on a server's **Databases** tab. Export those with a plugin or a MySQL client ([Create and manage server databases](/docs/managed-containers/databases/)).

## Keep a copy somewhere else

A copy on a service goes with that service: cancelling an instance deletes its snapshots and its backups. For data you cannot afford to lose, keep another copy away from it as well:

- Download a server snapshot's archive from the **Snapshots** page, and lock the snapshots you want to keep so that nobody deletes them by mistake ([Lock, download and delete snapshots](/docs/snapshots/manage-snapshots/)).
- Copy files from an instance to a bucket in Object Storage with an S3 tool such as rclone ([Connect an S3 client](/docs/object-storage/connect-an-s3-client/)).

## Next steps

- [Store files and backups](/docs/get-started/store-files-and-backups/)
- [Take a server snapshot](/docs/managed-containers/snapshots/)
- [Back up and restore an instance](/docs/cloud-compute/backups/)
- [How snapshot storage works](/docs/snapshots/storage-allowance/)