Backup and restore is the most basic and cost-effective disaster recovery (DR) strategy in AWS, representing the lowest tier in the DR spectrum. This approach involves regularly backing up your data and applications to a secondary location, typically Amazon S3 or AWS Backup, and restoring them when…Backup and restore is the most basic and cost-effective disaster recovery (DR) strategy in AWS, representing the lowest tier in the DR spectrum. This approach involves regularly backing up your data and applications to a secondary location, typically Amazon S3 or AWS Backup, and restoring them when a disaster occurs.
In this strategy, you create periodic backups of your critical data, including EBS snapshots, RDS automated backups, AMIs for EC2 instances, and database exports. These backups are stored in durable storage services with cross-region replication enabled for geographic redundancy.
Key components include:
1. **Amazon S3**: Provides 99.999999999% durability for storing backups with cross-region replication capabilities.
2. **AWS Backup**: A centralized service that automates backup scheduling across multiple AWS services including EC2, RDS, DynamoDB, and EFS.
3. **EBS Snapshots**: Point-in-time copies of your volumes that can be copied across regions.
4. **RDS Snapshots**: Automated and manual database backups with retention policies.
The recovery process involves provisioning new infrastructure in the recovery region and restoring data from backups. This typically requires several hours to complete, making the Recovery Time Objective (RTO) the longest among DR strategies, often ranging from hours to days. The Recovery Point Objective (RPO) depends on backup frequency, potentially resulting in data loss since the last backup.
Advantages include minimal ongoing costs since you only pay for storage until recovery is needed, and simple implementation using native AWS backup features.
Considerations for implementation:
- Regularly test your restore procedures
- Automate backup processes using AWS Backup or custom scripts
- Store backups in multiple regions
- Document and maintain runbooks for recovery procedures
- Monitor backup job completion and set up alerts for failures
This strategy is ideal for non-critical workloads where extended downtime is acceptable and cost optimization is a priority.
Backup and Restore DR - Complete Guide for AWS SysOps Administrator Associate
What is Backup and Restore DR?
Backup and Restore is a disaster recovery (DR) strategy that involves creating copies of data and systems at regular intervals and storing them in a separate location. When a disaster occurs, these backups are used to restore systems and data to their operational state. This is the simplest and most cost-effective DR strategy in AWS, though it typically has the longest recovery time.
Why is Backup and Restore Important?
• Cost Efficiency: Lowest cost DR option as you only pay for storage of backups, not running infrastructure • Data Protection: Ensures critical data is preserved against accidental deletion, corruption, or disasters • Compliance: Many regulatory requirements mandate regular backups and retention policies • Business Continuity: Provides a safety net to recover operations after catastrophic events • Simplicity: Easier to implement compared to more complex DR strategies like pilot light or warm standby
How Backup and Restore Works in AWS
Key AWS Services for Backup and Restore:
• AWS Backup: Centralized backup service that automates backup scheduling across AWS services including EC2, RDS, DynamoDB, EFS, and Storage Gateway • Amazon S3: Durable storage for backup data with lifecycle policies and cross-region replication • EBS Snapshots: Point-in-time copies of EBS volumes stored in S3 • RDS Automated Backups: Automated daily snapshots with transaction logs for point-in-time recovery • AMIs: Amazon Machine Images capture EC2 instance configurations for rapid restoration • AWS Snowball: For large-scale data transfer to AWS for initial backup seeding
Typical Recovery Process:
1. Identify the most recent valid backup 2. Restore data from S3 or recreate infrastructure from snapshots and AMIs 3. Launch new EC2 instances from AMIs 4. Attach restored EBS volumes 5. Restore databases from snapshots 6. Update DNS records to point to new infrastructure 7. Validate application functionality
Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
• RTO: Typically hours to days for backup and restore (longest among DR strategies) • RPO: Depends on backup frequency - could be hours of data loss based on last backup
Best Practices
• Use AWS Backup for centralized management and policy-based automation • Implement cross-region backup replication for geographic redundancy • Test restore procedures regularly to validate backup integrity • Use S3 lifecycle policies to manage backup retention and reduce costs • Enable versioning on S3 buckets storing backups • Encrypt backups using AWS KMS for security compliance • Document and automate the restoration process using CloudFormation or Infrastructure as Code
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Backup and Restore DR
• Cost Questions: When a question emphasizes lowest cost DR solution, backup and restore is typically the answer • RTO/RPO Questions: Remember backup and restore has the longest RTO (hours to days) but is acceptable when business can tolerate extended downtime • AWS Backup: Look for questions about centralized backup management - AWS Backup is the answer for managing backups across multiple AWS services • Cross-Region: For questions about protecting against regional failures, emphasize cross-region snapshot copying and S3 cross-region replication • Comparison Questions: Know the DR strategy hierarchy: Backup/Restore (cheapest, slowest) → Pilot Light → Warm Standby → Multi-Site (most expensive, fastest) • EBS Snapshots: Remember snapshots are incremental and stored in S3 - only changed blocks are stored after initial snapshot • RDS Questions: Automated backups enable point-in-time recovery; manual snapshots persist after RDS deletion while automated backups do not • Retention: Know default retention periods - RDS automated backups default to 7 days, can extend to 35 days • Encryption: Snapshots of encrypted volumes are encrypted; you cannot create unencrypted snapshots from encrypted volumes • Scenario Recognition: If the scenario mentions acceptable downtime of several hours and budget constraints, backup and restore is appropriate