Snapshots are kept in the virtualization platform and are not exported with the backup. It allows quick recovery of a VM without the need to restore and import data backup to the hypervisor. Snapshots cannot replace backup, but allow to increase RPO when used together with backups. Snapshot chains may impact VM performance and occupy significant additional space depending on the storage setup in the environment, so we recommend keeping low values for the number of kept snapshots in the policy, i.e. less than 3 and check the documentation of your environment and storage setup for aspects related to possible implications of keeping snapshots.