RDS & Aurora — Backup and Monitoring

RDS Backups

Automated Backups

Feature	Detail
Frequency	Daily full backup during backup window
Transaction logs	Backed up every 5 minutes
Point-in-time restore	To any time up to 5 minutes ago
Retention	1 to 35 days (set 0 to disable)

Manual DB Snapshots

Feature	Detail
Trigger	Manually by user
Retention	As long as you want (never expires)

Cost Saving Trick

If you use an RDS database only 2 hours/month:

Use the DB for 2 hours
Take a snapshot
Delete the original database
Restore from snapshot when needed again

Snapshot storage costs much less than keeping the DB running (even stopped, you pay for storage).

Aurora Backups

Feature	RDS	Aurora
Automated backups	1-35 days (can disable with 0)	1-35 days (cannot disable)
Point-in-time restore	Yes	Yes
Manual snapshots	Yes, retained indefinitely	Yes, retained indefinitely

Aurora Difference

Aurora automated backups cannot be disabled (unlike RDS where you can set retention to 0).

Restore Options

From Backup/Snapshot

Restoring always creates a new database.

┌──────────────┐     Restore     ┌──────────────┐
│  Snapshot /  │────────────────▶│  NEW Database │
│  Backup      │                 │  (different   │
│              │                 │   endpoint)   │
└──────────────┘                 └──────────────┘

From S3 — RDS MySQL

┌──────────────┐     Upload     ┌────────┐     Restore     ┌──────────────┐
│ On-premises  │───────────────▶│   S3   │────────────────▶│  New RDS     │
│ DB backup    │                │        │                 │  MySQL       │
└──────────────┘                └────────┘                 └──────────────┘

From S3 — Aurora MySQL

┌──────────────┐   Percona     ┌────────┐     Restore     ┌──────────────┐
│ On-premises  │──XtraBackup──▶│   S3   │────────────────▶│  New Aurora  │
│ DB backup    │               │        │                 │  MySQL       │
└──────────────┘               └────────┘                 └──────────────┘

Key Difference

RDS MySQL restore from S3: any backup format
Aurora MySQL restore from S3: must use Percona XtraBackup

Aurora MySQL restore from S3

Aurora MySQL needs a Percona XtraBackup file. RDS MySQL accepts any backup format.

Aurora Database Cloning

Feature	Detail
Purpose	Create a new Aurora cluster from an existing one
Speed	Faster than snapshot + restore
Protocol	Copy-on-write
Initial state	Uses same data volume as original (no data copying)
After updates	New storage allocated, data separated
Use case	Create staging DB from production without impact

Initial (shared volume):          After updates (separated):
┌──────────────┐                  ┌──────────────┐
│  Production  │──shared──┐      │  Production  │──own volume
│  Aurora DB   │          │      │  Aurora DB   │
└──────────────┘          │      └──────────────┘
┌──────────────┐          │      ┌──────────────┐
│  Staging     │──────────┘      │  Staging     │──own volume
│  Aurora DB   │                 │  Aurora DB   │
└──────────────┘                 └──────────────┘

Why Cloning?

Fast and cost-effective. No need to go through snapshot + restore. Perfect for creating staging/test environments from production data.

Aurora cloning with copy-on-write

A clone starts on the same volume as the source. Storage is only allocated as data changes.

Questions & Answers

Q1: How often are RDS automated backups taken?

Answer:

Daily full backup during the backup window, plus transaction logs every 5 minutes. This enables point-in-time restore to any moment up to 5 minutes ago.

Q2: Can you disable automated backups on Aurora?

Answer:

No. Aurora automated backups (1-35 days) cannot be disabled. On RDS, you can disable them by setting retention to 0.

Q3: What happens when you restore from a snapshot?

Answer:

It always creates a new database with a new endpoint. It does not restore into the existing database.

Q4: How can you save costs on an infrequently used RDS database?

Answer:

Take a manual snapshot, then delete the database. Restore from the snapshot when needed. Snapshot storage costs much less than keeping the DB running.

Q5: What is the difference between restoring RDS MySQL vs Aurora MySQL from S3?

Answer:

RDS MySQL: Use any backup format from on-premises
Aurora MySQL: Must use Percona XtraBackup format

Q6: What is Aurora Database Cloning?

Answer:

Creating a new Aurora cluster from an existing one using copy-on-write protocol. Initially shares the same data volume (fast, no copying). New storage is allocated only when updates are made.

Q7: Why is cloning faster than snapshot + restore?

Answer:

Cloning uses copy-on-write. Initially, the clone shares the same data volume as the original — no data needs to be copied. Storage is only allocated when changes are made.

Q8: What is the backup retention range for RDS?

Answer:

1 to 35 days. Set to 0 to disable automated backups entirely.

Q9: What is the main use case for Aurora cloning?

Answer:

Creating a staging or test database from production without impacting the production database and without the overhead of snapshot + restore.

Q10: How long can you retain manual DB snapshots?

Answer:

Indefinitely. Manual snapshots never expire — you retain them for as long as you want (unlike automated backups which expire after the retention period).

Check yourself

Quiz

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