🚨 AWS 132: Data Time Travel - RDS Snapshots and Restoration

Source: Dev.to

🕒 Safeguarding Data: Snapshotting and Restoring Amazon RDS

Hey Cloud Builders 👋

Welcome to Day 32 of the #100DaysOfCloud Challenge!

Today we’re performing a high‑stakes task for the Nautilus Development Team. Before a major infrastructure update we must ensure our data is backed up and restorable. We’ll take a manual DB Snapshot of the existing database and restore it to a brand‑new instance to validate our recovery pipeline.

This task is part of my hands‑on practice on the KodeKloud Engineer platform, which I highly recommend for anyone looking to master real‑world DevOps scenarios.

🎯 Objective

• Capture a manual snapshot of devops-rds named devops-snapshot.
• Restore the snapshot to a new instance named devops-snapshot-restore.
• Upgrade/configure the restored instance to use the db.t3.micro class.
• Verify that both the snapshot and the new instance reach the Available state.

💡 Why Backup & Restore is Non‑Negotiable

Data loss is the ultimate nightmare for any organization. Manual snapshots allow you to freeze your data at a specific point in time before risky operations.

🔹 Key Concepts

• DB Snapshot – A storage‑level backup of your entire DB instance, not just individual databases. Manual snapshots are retained until you explicitly delete them.
• Point‑in‑Time Restore – While we are using a manual snapshot today, RDS also supports restoring to any second within your retention period (automatic backups).
• Instance Decoupling – When you restore a snapshot, AWS creates a new DB instance. This lets you test updates on the restored version without affecting the original production database.

🛠️ Step‑by‑Step: The Restoration Workflow

We’ll move logically from Snapshotting → Restoration → Configuration.

🔹 Phase A: Capture the Snapshot

🔹 Phase B: Restore to New Instance

(Follow the RDS console wizard to select the snapshot and initiate a restore.)

🔹 Phase C: Instance Sizing & Validation

• Instance Class: Ensure you select db.t3.micro during the restore wizard to keep it consistent with our dev requirements.
• Launch: Keep other settings (VPC, Security Groups) default or match the original.
• Wait: The restoration process involves provisioning new hardware and copying data, so it may take 5–10 minutes.

✅ Verify Success

1. Check the Dashboard: Navigate to the RDS Databases list.
2. Confirm: 🎉 Once devops-snapshot-restore shows a status of 🟢 Available, your data recovery drill is a success!

📝 Key Takeaways

• 🚀 Manual Control: Unlike automated backups, manual snapshots are never deleted by AWS automatically.
• 🕒 I/O Suspension: On single‑AZ instances, taking a snapshot can cause a brief I/O suspension. Always perform manual snapshots during maintenance windows!
• 📣 Clean Up: Restoring a snapshot creates a second database. Once testing is done, remember to delete the restored instance to save costs.

🚫 Common Mistakes

• Patience: Trying to restore a snapshot while it is still in the “Creating” phase.
• Naming Collisions: Using the same name as an existing instance for the restored DB.
• Instance Type: Forgetting to change the instance class during restore, which might default to a larger, more expensive type.

🌟 Final Thoughts

You’ve just verified a Disaster Recovery (DR) plan! This ability to clone databases is the foundation for Blue/Green deployments and safe database migrations. You can now sleep easier knowing your data is safe and restorable.

🌟 Practice Like a Pro

If you want to try these tasks yourself in a real AWS environment, check out:

👉 KodeKloud Engineer – Practice Labs

It’s where I’ve been sharpening my skills daily!