EBS volumes and snapshots, how often and how long
EBS snapshots are incremental and cheap, but without lifecycle they pile up.
support/cloud-platforms/ebs-snapshotssteps: 4
Try this first
- Use Data Lifecycle Manager (DLM) or AWS Backup for scheduling
- Daily snapshots with 7-day retention is a sane default
- Production DBs: hourly during business hours, daily overnight
- Delete unused volumes (status: available), they also cost
When to bring us in
For cross-region DR, copy snapshots to another region and encrypt with a separate KMS key.
See also
- Everyone logs in with the AWS root accountRoot is for emergencies and billing. Day-to-day work belongs in IAM users or SSO.
- Every developer has AdministratorAccessAdministratorAccess everywhere is convenient now, painful later. Start with role-based policies.
- Everyone has individual IAM users with their own passwordIdentity Center (formerly AWS SSO) links to your IdP and issues temporary credentials per session.
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