What strategies can I use for cost-effective, cross-Region recovery and point-in-time restoration of my Amazon RDS for SQL Server DB instance?

Short description

To recover and restore your Amazon RDS for SQL Server DB instance across Regions, you can use Amazon RDS automated backups or AWS Backup.

The cost of your recovery strategy increases with the retention period, how frequently you create snapshots, and how many RDS DB instances are running. In most cases, automated backup replication and AWS Backup are similar in cost.

Note: You can use read replicas to keep copies of data in other Regions. However, you incur ongoing costs to maintain multiple DB instances.

Resolution

Amazon RDS automated backups

Replicate automated backups to initiate cross-Regions copies of daily snapshots and continuous transaction log backups. The log retention is 0–35 days for point-in-time recovery (PITR).

When you create an DB instance, turn on automated backup and cross-Region backup replication as a DB Instance setting.

For an existing database instance, turn on cross-Region backup.

AWS Backup

Use AWS Backup to copy backups to multiple Regions on demand or automatically as part of a scheduled backup plan. The retention period is up to 100 years.

Test your backups

Your backup strategy must include tests of your backups. Tests can increase the predictability of recovery times. For more information, see Step 9. Test data recovery capabilities.