diff --git a/server/etcdserver/api/membership/cluster.go b/server/etcdserver/api/membership/cluster.go
index e35375a22c6a..0104b801511b 100644
--- a/server/etcdserver/api/membership/cluster.go
+++ b/server/etcdserver/api/membership/cluster.go
@@ -899,7 +899,7 @@ func (c *RaftCluster) Store(store v2store.Store) {
 		if m.ClientURLs != nil {
 			mustUpdateMemberAttrInStore(c.lg, store, m)
 		}
-		c.lg.Info(
+		c.lg.Debug(
 			"snapshot storing member",
 			zap.String("id", m.ID.String()),
 			zap.Strings("peer-urls", m.PeerURLs),
diff --git a/server/etcdserver/server.go b/server/etcdserver/server.go
index fed5f75b1ab8..41ce5dd66703 100644
--- a/server/etcdserver/server.go
+++ b/server/etcdserver/server.go
@@ -109,6 +109,7 @@ const (
 	readyPercentThreshold = 0.9
 
 	DowngradeEnabledPath = "/downgrade/enabled"
+	memorySnapshotCount  = 100
 )
 
 var (
@@ -291,8 +292,9 @@ type EtcdServer struct {
 	clusterVersionChanged *notify.Notifier
 
 	*AccessController
-	// forceSnapshot can force snapshot be triggered after apply, independent of the snapshotCount.
+	// forceDiskSnapshot can force snapshot be triggered after apply, independent of the snapshotCount.
 	// Should only be set within apply code path. Used to force snapshot after cluster version downgrade.
+	// TODO: Replace with flush db in v3.7 assuming v3.6 bootstraps from db file.
 	forceDiskSnapshot bool
 	corruptionChecker CorruptionChecker
 }
@@ -1195,9 +1197,15 @@ func (s *EtcdServer) ForceSnapshot() {
 }
 
 func (s *EtcdServer) triggerSnapshot(ep *etcdProgress) {
-	if !s.shouldSnapshot(ep) {
+	if !s.shouldSnapshotToDisk(ep) {
+		if ep.appliedi > ep.memorySnapshotIndex+memorySnapshotCount {
+			s.snapshot(ep, false)
+			s.compactRaftLog(ep.appliedi)
+			ep.memorySnapshotIndex = ep.appliedi
+		}
 		return
 	}
+	//TODO: Remove disk snapshot in v3.7
 	lg := s.Logger()
 	lg.Info(
 		"triggering snapshot",
@@ -1209,11 +1217,11 @@ func (s *EtcdServer) triggerSnapshot(ep *etcdProgress) {
 	)
 	s.forceDiskSnapshot = false
 
-	s.snapshot(ep)
+	s.snapshot(ep, true)
 	s.compactRaftLog(ep.appliedi)
 }
 
-func (s *EtcdServer) shouldSnapshot(ep *etcdProgress) bool {
+func (s *EtcdServer) shouldSnapshotToDisk(ep *etcdProgress) bool {
 	return (s.forceDiskSnapshot && ep.appliedi != ep.diskSnapshotIndex) || (ep.appliedi-ep.diskSnapshotIndex > s.Cfg.SnapshotCount)
 }
 
@@ -2134,20 +2142,21 @@ func (s *EtcdServer) applyConfChange(cc raftpb.ConfChange, confState *raftpb.Con
 }
 
 // TODO: non-blocking snapshot
-func (s *EtcdServer) snapshot(ep *etcdProgress) {
-	d := GetMembershipInfoInV2Format(s.Logger(), s.cluster)
-	// commit kv to write metadata (for example: consistent index) to disk.
-	//
-	// This guarantees that Backend's consistent_index is >= index of last snapshot.
-	//
-	// KV().commit() updates the consistent index in backend.
-	// All operations that update consistent index must be called sequentially
-	// from applyAll function.
-	// So KV().Commit() cannot run in parallel with toApply. It has to be called outside
-	// the go routine created below.
-	s.KV().Commit()
-
+func (s *EtcdServer) snapshot(ep *etcdProgress, toDisk bool) {
 	lg := s.Logger()
+	d := GetMembershipInfoInV2Format(lg, s.cluster)
+	if toDisk {
+		// commit kv to write metadata (for example: consistent index) to disk.
+		//
+		// This guarantees that Backend's consistent_index is >= index of last snapshot.
+		//
+		// KV().commit() updates the consistent index in backend.
+		// All operations that update consistent index must be called sequentially
+		// from applyAll function.
+		// So KV().Commit() cannot run in parallel with toApply. It has to be called outside
+		// the go routine created below.
+		s.KV().Commit()
+	}
 
 	// For backward compatibility, generate v2 snapshot from v3 state.
 	snap, err := s.r.raftStorage.CreateSnapshot(ep.appliedi, &ep.confState, d)
@@ -2159,23 +2168,25 @@ func (s *EtcdServer) snapshot(ep *etcdProgress) {
 		}
 		lg.Panic("failed to create snapshot", zap.Error(err))
 	}
+	ep.memorySnapshotIndex = ep.appliedi
 
 	verifyConsistentIndexIsLatest(lg, snap, s.consistIndex.ConsistentIndex())
 
-	// SaveSnap saves the snapshot to file and appends the corresponding WAL entry.
-	if err = s.r.storage.SaveSnap(snap); err != nil {
-		lg.Panic("failed to save snapshot", zap.Error(err))
-	}
-	ep.diskSnapshotIndex = ep.appliedi
-	ep.memorySnapshotIndex = ep.appliedi
-	if err = s.r.storage.Release(snap); err != nil {
-		lg.Panic("failed to release wal", zap.Error(err))
-	}
+	if toDisk {
+		// SaveSnap saves the snapshot to file and appends the corresponding WAL entry.
+		if err = s.r.storage.SaveSnap(snap); err != nil {
+			lg.Panic("failed to save snapshot", zap.Error(err))
+		}
+		ep.diskSnapshotIndex = ep.appliedi
+		if err = s.r.storage.Release(snap); err != nil {
+			lg.Panic("failed to release wal", zap.Error(err))
+		}
 
-	lg.Info(
-		"saved snapshot",
-		zap.Uint64("snapshot-index", snap.Metadata.Index),
-	)
+		lg.Info(
+			"saved snapshot to disk",
+			zap.Uint64("snapshot-index", snap.Metadata.Index),
+		)
+	}
 }
 
 func (s *EtcdServer) compactRaftLog(snapi uint64) {
@@ -2192,11 +2203,10 @@ func (s *EtcdServer) compactRaftLog(snapi uint64) {
 	}
 
 	// keep some in memory log entries for slow followers.
-	compacti := uint64(1)
-	if snapi > s.Cfg.SnapshotCatchUpEntries {
-		compacti = snapi - s.Cfg.SnapshotCatchUpEntries
+	if snapi <= s.Cfg.SnapshotCatchUpEntries {
+		return
 	}
-
+	compacti := snapi - s.Cfg.SnapshotCatchUpEntries
 	err := s.r.raftStorage.Compact(compacti)
 	if err != nil {
 		// the compaction was done asynchronously with the progress of raft.
@@ -2206,7 +2216,7 @@ func (s *EtcdServer) compactRaftLog(snapi uint64) {
 		}
 		lg.Panic("failed to compact", zap.Error(err))
 	}
-	lg.Info(
+	lg.Debug(
 		"compacted Raft logs",
 		zap.Uint64("compact-index", compacti),
 	)
diff --git a/tests/integration/v3_watch_restore_test.go b/tests/integration/v3_watch_restore_test.go
index f7e2e4b4730b..56b84f0bd9a5 100644
--- a/tests/integration/v3_watch_restore_test.go
+++ b/tests/integration/v3_watch_restore_test.go
@@ -110,7 +110,9 @@ func TestV3WatchRestoreSnapshotUnsync(t *testing.T) {
 	//
 	// Since there is no way to confirm server has compacted the log, we
 	// use log monitor to watch and expect "compacted Raft logs" content.
-	expectMemberLog(t, clus.Members[initialLead], 5*time.Second, "compacted Raft logs", 2)
+	// In v3.6 we no longer generates "compacted Raft logs" log as raft compaction happens independently to snapshot.
+	// For now let's use snapshot log which should be equivalent to compaction.
+	expectMemberLog(t, clus.Members[initialLead], 5*time.Second, "saved snapshot to disk", 2)
 
 	// After RecoverPartition, leader L will send snapshot to slow F_m0
 	// follower, because F_m0(index:8) is 'out of date' compared to