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Faster Backups, Smarter: DR- Leveraging AWS Time-Based Snapshot Copy for Business Continuity

Faster Backups, Smarter: DR- Leveraging AWS Time-Based Snapshot Copy for Business Continuity

In this blog, we explore how AWS Time-Based Snapshot Copy enhances disaster recovery (DR) by ensuring predictable Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) while reducing costs. We compare it with other DR strategies like AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS) and Cross-Region Backups, highlighting its cost-effectiveness and efficiency. Learn how this new feature helps businesses achieve faster RTOs, seamless data replication, and better price performance, making it a valuable addition to AWS backup and DR solutions

Published Feb 3, 2025
Time-Based Snapshot Copy for Amazon EBS: A Cost-Effective DR Solution
Introduction
Disaster Recovery (DR) is a critical requirement for businesses to meet compliance standards and ensure operational continuity. AWS offers multiple DR solutions, both native and third-party, to simplify the process. Among them, AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS) is a robust option, offering a full DR lifecycle with features such as recovery priorities, recovery groups, and reverse replication. However, DRS incurs costs for each protected server.
For businesses seeking a cost-effective DR strategy, AWS Backup and EBS Snapshot Copies provide alternatives, each with its own trade-offs. With the recent introduction of Time-Based Snapshot Copy, AWS now offers a solution that ensures predictable Recovery Point Objectives (RPOs) while reducing costs.

What is Time-Based Snapshot Copy?
Time-Based Snapshot Copy for Amazon EBS allows users to replicate snapshots within or across AWS Regions within a specified timeframe. Unlike traditional snapshot copies, which operate asynchronously, this feature ensures consistent, predictable RPOs by completing snapshot transfers within a user-defined duration (ranging from 15 minutes to 48 hours, in 15-minute increments).
This capability significantly improves DR strategies by providing guaranteed snapshot availability at the DR site within the stipulated time, ensuring data readiness for recovery.

How Time-Based Snapshot Copy Enhances Disaster Recovery
  • Predictable RTO: Since Time-Based Snapshot Copy ensures snapshot availability within a set timeframe, organizations can establish a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) as low as 15 minutes, making it suitable for critical workloads.
  • Size-Agnostic Replication: Regardless of data size, AWS ensures snapshots are copied within the defined period, eliminating uncertainties around backup availability.
  • Seamless DR Drill & Recovery: Once the snapshot is available in the DR region, it can be restored instantly in case of a DR drill or actual disaster.

Implementation Guide
For a step-by-step guide on implementing Time-Based Snapshot Copy, refer to the AWS official blog:
🔗 AWS Blog on Time-Based Snapshot Copy

Limitations of Time-Based Snapshot Copy
While this feature enhances DR strategies, there are a few limitations to consider:
  1. No Continuous Replication: Time-Based Snapshot Copy does not support scheduled continuous replication.
  2. EBS-Only Support: It works exclusively with EBS snapshots, making it unsuitable for complex architectures involving PaaS services.
  3. Limited Service Compatibility: Services like RDS and EMR, which rely on EBS as a backend, do not currently support Time-Based Snapshot Copy.

Cost Optimization: Comparing DR Strategies
Let’s compare the cost of different AWS DR approaches for a 500 GB workload:
1. AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS)
  • Compute Cost: $0.028 per server per hour
  • Storage Cost: $0.08 per GB per month
  • Total Cost:
    • Compute: $0.028 × 24 hrs × 30 days = $20.16
    • Storage: 500 GB × $0.08 = $40
    • Total: $60.16 per month
2. Cross-Region Backup
  • Storage Cost: $0.05 per GB per month
  • Data Transfer Cost: ~$0.02 per GB
  • Total Cost:
    • Storage: 500 GB × $0.05 = $25
    • Data Transfer: 500 GB × $0.02 = $10
    • Total: $35 per month
3. Time-Based Snapshot Copy
  • Storage Cost: $0.05 per GB per month
  • Copy Operation Cost: ~$0.01 per GB
  • Total Cost:
    • Storage: 500 GB × $0.05 = $25
    • Copy Operation: 500 GB × $0.01 = $5
    • Total: $30 per month
🔹 Observation: Time-Based Snapshot Copy emerges as a more cost-effective DR strategy than DRS ($60.16/month) and Cross-Region Backup ($35/month) while ensuring predictable snapshot availability.

Conclusion
AWS Time-Based Snapshot Copy is a powerful addition to the DR toolkit, enabling businesses to achieve predictable RPOs at lower costs. While it may not replace full-fledged DR solutions like DRS, it serves as an efficient backup and recovery mechanism for workloads that rely on EBS snapshots.
For organizations seeking a cost-efficient DR solution with a predictable RTO, Time-Based Snapshot Copy offers a compelling alternative to traditional backup and replication methods.
 

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