Easier: How to Backup Data to AWS S3 [2 Methods]

What Is Amazon S3 Backup

Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) is a highly scalable, secure, and durable cloud storage solution offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). S3 backup refers to the process of securely storing data in Amazon S3 to safeguard it against loss, corruption, or accidental deletion. This backup solution provides businesses with peace of mind knowing that their critical data is protected in the cloud.

When using AWS Backup for Amazon S3, you can perform the following actions:

• Create continuous and periodic backups for Amazon S3.
• Continuous backups enable point-in-time restore, while periodic backups meet long-term data retention needs.
• Automate backup scheduling and retention through centralized backup policy configuration.
• Restore backups of Amazon S3 data to a specified point in time using AWS Backup.

S3 Backup Types： Continuous backup vs Periodic backups

Within the framework of Amazon S3 backup, two primary approaches emerge: Continuous Backup and Periodic Backups. Each method presents unique advantages and considerations, catering to diverse organizational needs and data management strategies.

✍ Continuous Backups:

After the initial full backup, subsequent changes are continuously tracked in real-time.

Tracked changes enable PITR throughout the continuous backup retention period. Users can restore data to specific points in time.

Each continuous backup retains data changes for up to 35 days.

✍ Periodic (Snapshot) Backups:

AWS Backup scans S3 bucket, captures ACLs, tags, and triggers Head requests for missing objects, ensuring point-in-time consistency.

Timestamps correspond to AWS Backup's completion of bucket traversal, not backup job initiation.

Initial bucket backup is full; subsequent backups are incremental, capturing changes since the last snapshot.

Snapshots from periodic backups can be retained for up to 99 years.

Ultimately, the optimal backup strategy depends on factors such as data criticality, recovery objectives, regulatory compliance, and available resources.

Amazon S3 Storage Classes

AWS provides different storage classes within Amazon S3, each designed to optimize cost and performance based on data access patterns and retention requirements:

☛ S3 Standard: Ideal for frequently accessed data.

☛ S3 Infrequent Access (IA): Suitable for data accessed less frequently but requires rapid access when needed.

☛ S3 Intelligent-Tiering: Automatically moves data between storage tiers based on access patterns, optimizing costs.

☛ S3 Glacier: Designed for long-term archival storage at a low cost.

☛ S3 Glacier Deep Archive:Designed to support data that needs to be accessed only once or twice per year

How to Backup Files to Amazon S3 Easily with AOMEI Cyber Backup

AOMEI Cyber Backup is a professional and reliable backup software designed to safeguard data for businesses and individuals. It offers comprehensive backup solutions that cover both physical and virtual environments.

Key features of AOMEI Cyber Backup include:
🔰 Centralized Management: Allows administrators to manage and monitor backup tasks from a single interface.
🔰 Automated Backups: Schedules backups to run automatically, ensuring data is always protected without manual intervention.
🔰 Flexible Backup Options: Supports full, incremental, and differential backups to save time and storage space.
🔰 Various Storage Options: Backs up data to multiple destinations including local disks, external drives, NAS, and cloud services like Amazon S3.
🔰 High Compatibility: Works with Windows Servers, VMware, and Hyper-V environments, making it a versatile tool for different IT infrastructures.
🔰 Data Recovery: Provides quick and reliable data recovery options to minimize downtime in case of data loss or system failures.

Backup Files to Amazon S3 Easily with AOMEI Cyber Backup

Backing up files to Amazon S3 using AOMEI Cyber Backup is straightforward. Follow these steps to ensure your data is safely stored in the cloud.

1. Click Target Storage > Amazon S3 > Add Target to open the add target page. Enter your Amazon S3 credentials including username, keyword, and bucket name, then click Confirm. Ensure you have the necessary permissions set up in your AWS account.

2. Click Backup Task > Create New Task to starting archiving VMware ESXi backup to Amazon S3. Select VMware ESXi Backup and choose backup content.

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

4. Click "Start Backup" to begin the backup process. It will first create a backup locally or on the NAS and then upload the backup to Amazon S3. According to the 3-2-1 backup rule, this ensures that the security of critical data and business continuity.

How to Backup AWS S3 Data with the CLI

Since AWS announced support for S3 backups, more and more organizations have been backing up their data with S3. This can be done using the AWS CLI, SDK, or the AWS Console. Here, we'll use the AWS CLI to perform AWS S3 backup.

1. If you haven't already, install the AWS CLI on your local machine.

2. Open a command prompt by pressing the Windows Key + r to open the run box and enter cmd and press the OK button.

2. Type aws configure and press enter. When prompted, enter the following:

AWS Access Key ID

AWS Secret Access Key

Default region name

Default output format

3. Use the AWS CLI to create a bucket in Amazon S3 and copy a file to the bucket.

4. To upload the file my first backup.bak located in the local directory (C:\users) to the S3 bucket my-first-backup-bucket, you would use the following command:

5. To download my-first-backup.bak from S3 to the local directory we would reverse the order of the commands as follows:

Conclusion

Amazon S3 backup offers businesses a reliable and scalable solution to protect their critical data in the cloud. By understanding the different backup types, storage classes, and considerations for AWS S3 backup, organizations can develop a robust backup strategy that ensures data security, compliance, and accessibility. Embrace the power of Amazon S3 backup today and safeguard your most valuable asset with AOMEI Cyber Backup.