Aurora MySQL Cross-Region Backup Limitations

Question

Hello,

We noticed the new post on support for cross-region RDS for MySQL backups here:
https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2023/02/amazon-rds-mysql-dr-capabilities-cross-region-automated-backups/

I am curious about any capability our organization might have to automatically apply continuous cross-region backups for all Aurora clusters on a per-account level for DR purposes. I believe Aurora cross-region replication is a separate and unrelated topic here (docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/AuroraUserGuide/AuroraMySQL.Replication.CrossRegion.html).

It isn't clear whether the post above applies to Aurora MySQL or just RDS for MySQL. A few questions:
1. Does the blog post apply only to RDS for MySQL or also for Aurora MySQL?
2. I see the blog post applies to built-in RDS backups. Does it also apply to backups made with AWS Backup?
3. The AWS Backup "Copy to destination" field "info" tooltip states that backups for RDS still do not support continuous backups for RDS. The blog post seems to say that transaction logs can now be replicated, though. Is the tooltip correct, or out of date?
    
    ![AWS Backup "Copy to destination" tooltip](/media/postImages/original/IMmSuSyJAHT96awK6u-pM0rg)
4. Is there currently any way to do continuous cross-region backups (i.e., with PITR) for all Aurora MySQL clusters *at the account level*? Again, separate from replication on a per-cluster basis. If not, is there any way to do such backups on a per-cluster level without using replicas?

TIA,

Mike

Answer

**1. Does the blog post apply only to RDS for MySQL or also for Aurora MySQL?**
      This post is for RDS MySQL [Automated Backups](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_ReplicateBackups.html#AutomatedBackups.PiTR)

**2. I see the blog post applies to built-in RDS backups. Does it also apply to backups made with AWS Backup?**
From [AWS Backup documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/aws-backup/latest/devguide/whatisbackup.html#features-by-resource) *Destination copies from S3 buckets and RDS databases with PITR are not Point-in-Time restorable (PITR).*

**3. The AWS Backup "Copy to destination" field "info" tooltip states that backups for RDS still do not support continuous backups for RDS. The blog post seems to say that transaction logs can now be replicated, though. Is the tooltip correct, or out of date?** 
the feature is available on RDS backups, from [documentation](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/Concepts.RDS_Fea_Regions_DB-eng.Feature.CrossRegionAutomatedBackups.html) *When backup replication is configured for a DB instance, RDS starts a cross-Region copy of all snapshots and transaction logs when they're ready.*

**4. Is there currently any way to do continuous cross-region backups (i.e., with PITR) for all Aurora MySQL clusters at the account level? Again, separate from replication on a per-cluster basis. If not, is there any way to do such backups on a per-cluster level without using replicas?**
Besides the aurora replica, you can create:
* Instance replica using the [binary logging](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/AuroraUserGuide/AuroraMySQL.Replication.CrossRegion.html) 
* Export the snapshots to [S3](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/AuroraUserGuide/aurora-export-snapshot.html) 
* Create a [headless replica](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/database/achieve-cost-effective-multi-region-resiliency-with-amazon-aurora-global-database-headless-clusters/) to have the data replicated without the instance

Aurora MySQL Cross-Region Backup Limitations

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