Automatic Snapshots in AWS with Three Step-by-Step Guide

An AWS snapshot is a backup of data stored in an Amazon Elastic Block Storage (EBS) volume at a specific point in time. Users can create a copy of the data contained in an EBS volume from a snapshot and then restore the volume later.

How to Create Automatic Snapshots in AWS

Setting up automatic snapshots in AWS (Amazon Web Service) is a great way to ensure data backup and disaster recovery for EC2 instances or EBS volumes. AWS provides a variety of ways to automate the snapshot process using AWS services such as Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM), AWS Backup, or Lambda functions. Next are three ways to automate snapshots in AWS.

Way 1. Using DLM to Create Snapshots

Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM) is a native AWS tool designed to automate the creation, retention, and deletion of EBS snapshots. It’s the most straightforward way to automate EBS volume snapshots.

The following are steps to configure DLM:

1. Activate the AWS Management Console, and navigate to Elastic Block Store.

2. Select Lifecycle Manager under Snapshots.

3. Create a lifecycle policy in Create new lifecycle Policy. This defines the snapshot schedule, retention rules, and volumes to be backed up.

4. Once configured, DLM will automatically execute snapshots based on the set schedule.

📌Note: For step 3, this lifecycle policy only applies to resources in the selected AWS account and region.

Way 2. Using AWS Backup to Create Snapshots

AWS Backup is a centralized service for managing backups of multiple AWS resources, including EBS volumes, Amazon RDS databases, and Amazon S3. It provides a unified interface to create and automate backup schedules, which include automatic snapshots.

Following are steps to create snapshots via AWS Backup:

1. Create a backup plan in the AWS Backup Console.

2. Define the backup frequency, retention rules, and resources to be backed up.

3. Assign the backup plan to the necessary resources.

4. AWS Backup will then manage automatic snapshots based on the backup plan.

*This picture shows taking snapshots of an Amazon RDS instance at scheduled intervals using the AWS Backup Plan and Backup Library and replicating the snapshots to the disaster recovery area.

Way 3. Using Lambda to Create Snapshots

For organizations with more specific backup needs, AWS Lambda provides a serverless solution to automate snapshots. You can use Amazon CloudWatch Events to trigger Lambda functions at defined intervals and write scripts to take snapshots of specified resources.

Steps to automate snapshots using Lambda:

1. Search Lambda in the AWS Management Console search bar, and create a function.

2. Use CloudWatch Events to schedule the Lambda function to run at specific intervals.

3. After doing the above steps, you can optionally integrate with Amazon SNS to receive notifications of snapshot success or failure.

Addition: Benefits of Automatic Snapshots in AWS

Following the above steps to securely create an AWS snapshot brings many benefits. Next are these benefits:

☀ Data Recovery: Snapshots ensure that a backup of your data exists in the event of accidental deletion, corruption, or system failure.

☀ Disaster Recovery: With snapshots, you can maintain a regular backup schedule, ensuring that an up-to-date copy of your data is available in the event of an emergency.

☀ Scaling and Migration: Snapshots allow for easy migration and replication of data between AWS regions or accounts, helping with load balancing and scaling.

☀ Cost-effective Backup: Because snapshots are incremental backups, they minimize the amount of data stored, which reduces storage costs.

Create Regular Backup for Data Protection Instead of Snapshots

AWS snapshots are valuable for backups, but they have limitations. They are tied to specific volume types and sizes, which can present challenges when restoring to a different configuration, and creating automated snapshots in AWS can impact volume performance. So here's where it becomes clear that regular backups are the best choice for protecting data.

AOMEI Cyber Backup gives you the ability to automate the creation of backups, as well as the ability to easily restore data from AWS. And it is highly scalable without affecting the performance as the backups increase.

AOMEI Cyber Backup is a free backup and recovery software that provides you with these benefits:

✨Fast and Complete Recovery: With standalone backups. You can quickly restore virtual machines from Amazon S3 minimizing downtime and data loss.
⏰Scheduled Backup: Automatically backup VMware ESXi to Amazon S3, reducing the risk of manual intervention and oversight.
🎈Centralized Management: Manage backups from a single user-friendly interface, simplifying the backup process.
🎇Multiple Storage Options: Backup your data to multiple destinations, including local disks, external hard drivers, NAS and cloud service (e.g. Amazon S3).

Click the following button to download the free version AOMEI Cyber Backup.

4 Steps to Easily Automate VMware Backup to AWS

Step 1. Bind Device

Navigate to Source Device > VMware > + Add VMware Device. Then enter device and user information and click Confirm.

Step 2. Create New Task

Navigate to Backup Task > + Create New Task. And then setup Task Name, Backup Type, Device, Target, Archive, and Schedule.

Target: You can select to backup to a local path, or to a network path.

Archive:  Check Archiving backup versions to Amazon S3 and click Select to choose the added Amazon S3.

Schedule: You can perform full, differential, or incremental backup.

Step 3. Start Backup

Click Start Backup and select Add the schedule and start backup now, or Add the schedule only.

Step 4. Restore from Amazon S3

Click Backup Management > Restore > + New Restore and click Restore from Amazon S3.

Conclusion

With features such as incremental backups, automatic scheduling, cross-region and cross-account support, and secure encryption, automatic snapshots in AWS ensure that your data is always protected and ready for recovery. These benefits make snapshots an essential part of any cloud-based disaster recovery and data management strategy, with AOMEI Cyber Backup as an adjunct to further ensure data security.