Snapshots and Backup

5 minutes 5 Questions

In Amazon ElastiCache, snapshots are point-in-time backups of cache clusters that are stored in Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3). Snapshots can be used for data recovery or to migrate data across regions or accounts, and they also provide a way to comply with data backup and archiving policies. Y…

AWS Solution Architect: Amazon ElastiCache - Snapshots and Backup

Introduction:
Amazon ElastiCache is a web service that makes it easy to set up, manage, and scale a distributed in-memory cache environment in the cloud. Snapshots and backups are crucial aspects of this service.

Why It's Important:
Snapshots and backups in Amazon ElastiCache are significant for data recovery and maintaining business continuity. They help prevent loss of data in case of system failures or disasters by providing a way to restore data.

What It Is:
Snapshot is a point-in-time copy of data. In ElastiCache, you can create a snapshot of your cache cluster for backup or migration purposes. Backup, on the other hand, refers to the process of creating such snapshots periodically.

How It Works:
For ElastiCache for Redis, you can manually create a snapshot or configure automatic snapshots as per your backup strategy. Amazon ElastiCache then creates an Amazon S3 bucket to store these snapshots.

Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Snapshots and Backup:
- Understand the difference between manual and automatic snapshots in ElastiCache.
- Know how to restore an ElastiCache cluster from a snapshot.
- Remember, you can only copy a snapshot to the same AWS region.
- Understand the cost and duration related to ElastiCache snapshots.
Always consider question's context and remember real-world application of concepts.

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AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Snapshots and Backup Example Questions

Test your knowledge of Snapshots and Backup

Question 1

A company's RDS instance stores user data that requires daily backups. The CTO prefers automated backups instead of manual snapshots. How can a daily backup solution be implemented with minimal risks?

Schedule an EBS volume snapshot script to run daily. Enable RDS automated backup and configure the backup window for an appropriate duration during low-traffic periods. Create an AWS Lambda function to generate manual RDS snapshots daily. Configure cross-region replication for the RDS instance every day.

Correct Answer: Enable RDS automated backup and configure the backup window for an appropriate duration during low-traffic periods.

RDS automated backup simplifies daily backup operations for an RDS instance with minimal impact on performance. Configuring the backup window during low-traffic periods avoids resource contention. Manual snapshots (like Lambda functions), EBS snapshots, cross-region replication, multi-AZ, and EC2 migration do not provide the same level of efficiency and are more complex solutions.

Question 2

A company runs its web application on Amazon EC2 instances with application data stored on Amazon EBS volumes. They want to improve their backup and recovery strategy to meet RPO/RTO goals while minimizing performance impact on production. Which approach is best?

Switch to instance store volumes for a faster backup process. Migrate the website to an on-premises server. Manually create new EC2 instances every weekend to help spread the load. Create EBS snapshots of the volumes during low-traffic periods (ideally automated via AWS Backup/DLM). EBS snapshots are stored in Amazon S3 by AWS and provide incremental, point-in-time backups for fast recovery.

Correct Answer: Create EBS snapshots of the volumes during low-traffic periods (ideally automated via AWS Backup/DLM). EBS snapshots are stored in Amazon S3 by AWS and provide incremental, point-in-time backups for fast recovery.

The best way to improve backup and recovery for EC2 instances that use EBS volumes is to take regular EBS snapshots, preferably scheduled during low-traffic windows to minimize performance impact. EBS snapshots are incremental, point-in-time backups stored by AWS in Amazon S3, which reduces backup time and storage costs and allows fast, reliable restores to new volumes. This approach can be automated with AWS Backup or EBS Snapshot Lifecycle Manager and can include application-consistent snapshots if needed. Switching to instance store is not appropriate because instance store is ephemeral and not a durable backup solution. Migrating on premises does not inherently improve backup and recovery and introduces operational complexity. Manually creating new EC2 instances to handle load is unrelated to backup and recovery and does not protect data.

Question 3

An auditing company runs multiple Amazon RDS for SQL Server instances. They must retain cross-Region backups to meet compliance and want a native, fully managed solution that automatically copies automated backups and transaction logs to a secondary AWS Region with minimal operational overhead. Which approach should they use?

Create manual snapshots of the RDS instances and store them in an S3 bucket in different regions. Enable RDS cross-region copy for automated backups. Migrate the RDS instances to EC2 instances and enable cross-region snapshot copy for EC2 EBS volumes. Configure Lambda functions to create manual RDS instance snapshots and copy them across regions.

Correct Answer: Enable RDS cross-region copy for automated backups.

Enabling cross-Region automated backups for Amazon RDS for SQL Server is a native, fully managed capability that automatically copies automated backups and transaction logs to a secondary AWS Region. This supports compliance and disaster recovery with minimal operational overhead and without custom code. Manual snapshots stored in S3 are not supported for RDS in the manner described; RDS snapshots are service-managed objects, not user-managed S3 files. Building a Lambda-based solution introduces custom automation that does not provide managed, continuous transaction log copying for point-in-time recovery like automated backups. Migrating to EC2 solely to use EBS snapshot copy is unnecessary, increases operational burden, and changes the service model.

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