In Portworx, a local snapshot is a point-in-time, read-only image of a volume that resides within the same cluster as the original volume. These snapshots are created using a copy-on-write mechanism, making them instantaneous and space-efficient. They are primarily used for rapid operational recovery, such as restoring data from accidental deletion or application corruption, and for cloning volumes for development, testing, or analytics purposes, all within the local cluster environment.

A. A snapshot stored in a remote data center is referred to as a remote or cloud snapshot, specifically designed for disaster recovery, not a local snapshot.

B. A snapshot automatically backed up to the cloud is a "cloudsnap." While Portworx supports this, it is a distinct feature from a standard local snapshot.

1. Portworx Enterprise Documentation

"Create and use local snapshots": This document explicitly states

"Portworx can take snapshots of your volumes. These snapshots are local to a cluster... A local snapshot is a point-in-time copy of a volume that you can use to create a clone of that volume." This confirms that the snapshot's location is the same cluster.

2. Portworx Enterprise Documentation

"Volume Snapshots": The overview section distinguishes between different types of snapshots: "These snapshots can be local to a cluster or pushed to a cloud provider." This clearly separates the concept of a "local" snapshot from one stored remotely in the cloud.

3. Portworx Enterprise Documentation

"pxctl volume snapshot create": The command reference for creating snapshots shows options for local creation. The documentation for cloudsnaps (--cloudsnap) demonstrates that sending a snapshot to a remote location requires specific

separate parameters

reinforcing that the default snapshot is local to the cluster.