AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – AssociateReliability and Business ContinuityMedium
A SysOps Administrator is designing a backup strategy for an application that uses Amazon EC2 instances with attached Amazon EBS volumes. The application requires consistent backups of all EBS volumes attached to an instance at a specific point in time, without stopping the instance. What is the most efficient and consistent method to achieve this?
- ADetach the EBS volumes, then create snapshots, and reattach them.
- BUse AWS Backup to create a backup plan for the EC2 instance.
- CUse `dd` command to copy data to Amazon S3 from within the instance.
- DCreate individual snapshots for each EBS volume manually.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. Use AWS Backup to create a backup plan for the EC2 instance.
AWS Backup allows you to create backup plans that automatically create crash-consistent snapshots of all EBS volumes attached to an EC2 instance. For Windows instances, it can even achieve application-consistent backups using VSS. This is the most efficient and consistent method without downtime.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. Detaching and reattaching EBS volumes would cause significant downtime for the application, which is explicitly against the requirement of 'without stopping the instance'.
- C. Using the `dd` command to copy data to S3 from within the instance might not guarantee consistency, especially for active applications, and is not an efficient method for volume-level backups.
- D. Creating individual snapshots manually for each EBS volume might result in inconsistency across volumes if they are interdependent, as the snapshots wouldn't be taken at the exact same moment.
AWS Backup for EC2/EBS
AWS Backup automates the creation of crash-consistent snapshots for all EBS volumes attached to an EC2 instance, providing a centralized and efficient backup solution without requiring instance downtime.
- Centralized backup service.
- Automates snapshot creation for EC2 instances and attached EBS volumes.
- Achieves crash-consistency (application-consistency with VSS for Windows).
- No instance downtime required.
- Supports scheduled backups and retention policies.
Memory trick: AWS Backup: Your one-stop shop for consistent EBS snapshots without stopping your EC2.