Centralizing Control of Your Backup Plans with AWS Backup

If you’re running workloads on AWS, you’ve probably thought about backup strategy at some point. AWS Backup lets you centralize your backup plans across regions and automate recovery without cobbling together scripts or third-party tools. This post covers what it does, why you might want it, and how to get started.

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What is AWS Backup?

AWS Backup is a managed service that handles backup and recovery for AWS resources. It covers Amazon EBS volumes, Amazon RDS databases, Amazon DynamoDB tables, and several other services. You define policies, and AWS Backup executes them on a schedule.

Source: https://aws.amazon.com/backup/

Challenges on-premises

Before AWS Backup existed, companies with their own data centers had a headache on their hands. Backing up data meant buying hardware, paying for software licenses, hiring people to set things up, and maintaining all of it. The process took time and money, and it was easy to let backups slip when the person who set them up moved on.

Benefits of Centralizing Control of Your Backup Plans with AWS Backup

AWS Backup

AWS Backup simplifies this. From a single console, you can create backup plans that span multiple regions. The service runs backups on a schedule automatically, so you don’t have to remember to trigger them. You can also set up lifecycle policies to move older backups to cheaper storage tiers.

Benefits of Centralizing Control of Your Backup Plans with AWS Backup

1. Automated Backups: Once you set up a backup plan, AWS Backup runs it on your schedule. No manual triggering required. If something goes wrong, you can restore from a known-good point without scrambling.

2. Cost Savings: You pay for what you use. By using lifecycle policies to shift old backups to S3 Glacier, you can cut storage costs significantly. A backup that’s 90 days old doesn’t need to sit on expensive Standard storage.

3. Enhanced Security: AWS Backup encrypts your data by default. You can also copy backups across regions for extra redundancy, which helps if your primary region has issues.

4. Cross-Region Disaster Recovery: If you need to recover in a different region, AWS Backup can copy backups there. This matters for compliance and for real disaster recovery scenarios.

These benefits add up if you’re managing backups across several services and accounts.

Lifecycle Policies

Lifecycle policies let you move backups between storage tiers automatically. After a set period, older backups can transition from S3 Standard-IA to S3 Glacier. This reduces storage costs for data you need to keep but don’t need to access frequently.

For example, you can set a policy to move backups older than 90 days from S3 Standard-IA to S3 Glacier. The retrieval costs for Glacier are lower than Standard-IA, so keeping long-term backups there saves money. You define the rules, and AWS Backup handles the transitions.

Supported Services

AWS Backup supports several AWS services:

• EBS Volumes: Back up Amazon EBS volumes automatically
• RDS Databases: Back up RDS databases including Aurora clusters
• DynamoDB Tables: Back up DynamoDB tables with point-in-time recovery
• EFS File Systems: Back up Amazon EFS
• Aurora: Back up Aurora clusters (covered under RDS)
• Storage Gateway: Back up on-premises data through AWS Storage Gateway

On-premise:

• AWS Storage Gateway: Back up on-premises data using AWS Backup.

Getting Started with AWS Backup

How to configure backup plans, schedules, and policies

Open the AWS Backup console and click “Backup” on the left-hand side. From there, you can create a new backup plan or modify an existing one.

To create a backup plan, click “Create Backup Plan.” Give it a name, then select which resources you want to back up. You can choose specific resource types (like all RDS instances) or tag-based selection.

Once you’ve picked your resources, decide between scheduled or on-demand backups. Scheduled backups run at intervals you define. On-demand backups you trigger manually or through an event.

Next, set your backup window and retention period. The retention period determines how long AWS keeps each backup before deleting it. You can retain backups for up to 10 years, depending on your needs. Finally, add any tags you want for organization, then click “Create.”

Assign a backup Plan to Resources using Tags

Tags help you organize and manage your backups. During backup plan creation, you can assign tags to resources. Later, you can add or edit tags from the “Tags” tab in the AWS Backup console.

Tags are useful for cost allocation, filtering backups by environment (prod vs dev), or grouping by application. Instead of selecting individual resources, you can assign a plan to all resources with a specific tag.

AWS Backup

Tags make it easier to manage multiple backup plans from one view. You can filter by tag to find backups quickly, which helps when you need to restore something in a hurry.

Backup Vaults

A backup vault is a container where AWS Backup stores your backups. You can create multiple vaults to organize backups by purpose, application, or department.

For example, you might create a separate vault for each application. This keeps things clean and makes it easier to track which backups belong where. If you need to delete a vault, you can do so without affecting others.

Vaults also support encryption with customer-managed keys (CMK) for additional control over who can access your backups.

Backup Retention Policies

Retention policies define how long AWS keeps each backup. You set this at the backup plan level, and all backups created under that plan follow the same rule.

You can retain backups for up to 10 years. Once a backup passes its retention period, AWS deletes it automatically. This keeps costs predictable and prevents backups from piling up forever.

Assign a Backup Plan using the Resource ID

When you create a backup plan, you can assign specific resources by their resource ID. Each resource in AWS has a unique ARN (Amazon Resource Name).

From the “Backup Plans” tab, click “Assign Resources.” You’ll see a list of resources registered with AWS Backup in your account. Select the ones you want to include in the plan and confirm. The plan will apply to those resources going forward.

Using IAM Role

AWS Backup uses IAM roles for authorization. When you set up cross-account backup or need specific permissions, you create an IAM role with the right policies. This lets you control who can create, restore, or delete backups.

For most use cases, AWS Backup’s default permissions work fine. If you’re doing something more advanced, like cross-account backups, you’ll need to set up IAM roles manually.

AWS Backup - Command Line

You can manage backups from the AWS CLI instead of the console. Here’s how to trigger an on-demand backup:

aws backup start-on-demand-backup --resource-arn <ResourceARN> --backup-plan-arn <BackupPlanARN>

Replace <ResourceARN> with the ARN of the resource you want to back up, and <BackupPlanARN> with the ARN of the backup plan you want to use.

AWS SDK Support

AWS Backup works with the AWS SDKs, so you can manage backups programmatically. Here’s an example using Python (boto3):

import boto3

backup_client = boto3.client('backup')

response = backup_client.create_backup_plan(
    BackupPlan={
        'BackupPlanName': <BackupPlanName>,
        'Rules': <RuleList>
    },
    CreatorRequestId='string',
    Region='<RegionName>'
)

print(response)

Replace <BackupPlanName> with a name for your plan, <RuleList> with your backup rules, and <RegionName> with your AWS region.

With the SDK, you can automate backup management, integrate it into your existing tools, or build custom reporting.

Best practices for ensuring your data is backed up correctly

AWS Backup

A few things worth keeping in mind:

1. Have a plan: Document which resources need backups, how often, and how long to retain them.
2. Test restores: Backups only matter if you can restore from them. Test this periodically.
3. Use multiple strategies: Consider both cloud backups and on-premises copies for critical data.
4. Automate everything: Once a plan is manual, it’s easy to skip. Automate it.
5. Monitor success and failure: Set up notifications so you know when backups fail.
6. Encrypt sensitive data: Use AWS’s encryption options, especially for compliance requirements.
7. Tag resources consistently: This makes it easier to manage and find backups later.
8. Review policies regularly: As your environment changes, update your backup strategy.

Conclusion

AWS Backup won’t solve every backup problem you have, but it handles the AWS side of things well. It automates scheduling, enforces retention policies, and lets you manage everything from one place. If you’re already using several AWS services and not backing them up consistently, it might be worth a closer look.

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