Retention periods in CloudWatch refer to the duration that CloudWatch will store historical data for a particular metric. By default, CloudWatch retains metric data for 15 months. However, the granularity of the data retention varies depending on the age of the data. CloudWatch retains data points …Retention periods in CloudWatch refer to the duration that CloudWatch will store historical data for a particular metric. By default, CloudWatch retains metric data for 15 months. However, the granularity of the data retention varies depending on the age of the data. CloudWatch retains data points with a one-minute granularity for 15 days, data points with a five-minute granularity for 63 days, and data points with a one-hour granularity for 455 days (around 15 months). CloudWatch Logs, on the other hand, have a default retention period of 'Never Expire', but you can set a custom retention period, ranging from 1 day to 10 years for log data, depending on the needs of your organization. It is essential to set appropriate retention periods to manage storage costs while ensuring data is available for analysis and historical trends.
Guide on AWS CloudWatch Retention Periods
AWS CloudWatch is an important monitoring service provided by AWS for the resources and applications that run on the Amazon Web Services environment. One key feature of CloudWatch is the CloudWatch Retention Periods.
What is CloudWatch Retention Period? CloudWatch Retention Period refers to the length of time that CloudWatch retains the data about the events and metrics. By default, CloudWatch keeps the data for 15 months. You can also modify the retention policies according to your requirements.
Why is it Important? CloudWatch Retention Periods are important for managing data storage and cost effectively. Long retention periods allow for historical trend analysis, while shorter periods can be cost-effective if you're frequently logging data.
How it works? When you the send data to CloudWatch, it is automatically assigned to the default retention period. You can change it by manually selecting a different retention period varying from 1 hour to 15 months.
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on CloudWatch Retention Periods 1. Understand the default retention period in CloudWatch which is 15 months. 2. Remember that retention periods can be customized according to requirements. 3. Be aware of cost implications when configuring longer retention periods. 4. Know how to change the retention periods for the data.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect - CloudWatch Retention Periods Example Questions
Test your knowledge of CloudWatch Retention Periods
Question 1
You have just deployed a new application with CloudWatch agent installed on each EC2 instance. You noticed that the CloudWatch logs retention is set to default. What is the default retention period for CloudWatch logs?
Question 2
You need to retain Amazon CloudWatch Logs beyond their configured retention period for long-term archival and later auditing. You will export the logs using a CloudWatch Logs export task or a subscription through Kinesis Data Firehose. Which AWS service is the recommended destination for this long-term archive?
Question 3
A business requirement mandates that all application logs must be retained for a minimum of 45 days. Which of the following retention periods should be configured to ensure compliance?
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