In an AWS cloud environment, organizations increasingly rely on EC2 instances to host applications and services. As the amount of data increases, how to effectively back up this data to ensure its security and reliability becomes a critical task in enterprise IT management. AWS provides 2 backup solutions: AWS Backup for EC2 and EBS Snapshot. These 2 services have different features and application scenarios, and enterprises need to decide which one to use based on their actual needs.
In this article, we will analyze the differences between AWS backup for EC2 and EBS snapshots, helping you understand how to choose the right solution for your needs.
AWS backup for EC2
AWS backup for EC2 is a centralized backup service provided by AWS designed to simplify enterprise backup and recovery management for a variety of AWS resources, including EC2 instances, EBS volumes, RDS databases, and more. AWS allows you to create backups for your EC2 instances and their attached EBS volumes, and manage them through a centralized console.
Key Features:
1. Comprehensive Backup: AWS not only backs up the data of EBS volumes, but also the entire EC2 instance, including the operating system, configuration, and other related data.
2. Centralized management: All backup operations can be centrally managed through the AWS console, supporting automated backups across multiple AWS services, suitable for large-scale environments.
3. Automation and strategizing: You can configure automated policies for your backups to ensure regular, continuous backups and perform periodic recovery tests based on your backup policies.
4. Cross-resource support: In addition to EC2 instances and EBS volumes, AWS supports other AWS services such as RDS, DynamoDB, EFS, and more, helping organizations centrally manage backup needs across all resources.
Applicable Scenarios:
It is suitable for scenarios where you need to back up an entire EC2 instance and all its configurations.
It is useful in enterprise environments that need to centrally manage backups of multiple AWS services (e.g. RDS, EFS, etc.).
It is suitable for compliance-critical industries that require regular backup and recovery testing.
AWS backup for EBS snapshots
EBS snapshots are incremental backups of EBS volumes attached to EC2 instances. Snapshots capture the state of a volume's data at a point in time and store it in Amazon S3. EBS snapshots are incremental and will only back up data that has changed since the last snapshot, optimizing the use of storage space.
Key features:
1. Incremental backup: EBS snapshots back up only the data that has changed since the last snapshot, saving storage space and backup time.
2. Flexible recovery: EBS snapshots can be recovered as new EBS volumes, which you can mount to other EC2 instances or restore across regions as needed.
3. Simple operation: Snapshots can be created manually through the AWS console, CLI or API, or automatically through timed tasks.
4. Storage-focused: EBS snapshots are primarily backups of the data in the EBS volume, excluding the operating system and other configurations of the EC2 instance.
Applicable scenarios:
It is used in scenarios where you need to backup and restore EBS volume data without backing up the entire EC2 instance.
It is used for cross-region data migration, disaster recovery, and storage-level protection.
It is suitable for application scenarios where only storage data needs to be protected without full instance backup.
AWS backup for EC2 vs EBS
Specificities
| EC2
| EBS snapshots
|
Backup scope
| Backs up the entire EC2 instance (including operating system, configuration, and data) | Backs up only the data in the EBS volume, not the EC2 instance |
Backup type
| Full backup for extensive resource management | Incremental backup to save storage space and time |
Recovery method
| Recover the entire EC2 instance and its configuration | Recover as a new EBS volume, mounted to the EC2 instance |
Management
| Centralized management to allow you to manage backups of multiple AWS services | Based on EBS volume management and can be operated via console, CLI or API |
Automation Support
| Support for automated backup and recovery strategies | Automatic snapshots can be set up with a timed task |
How to choose AWS backup for EC2 vs EBS
If you need a complete backup of your entire EC2 instance, including operating system and application configurations, AWS backup for EC2 is a more appropriate choice.
If your needs are limited to backing up data from EBS volumes and you need efficient and flexible data recovery, EBS snapshots are a simpler and faster solution.
For most organizations, AWS backup EC2 vs EBS are not mutually exclusive and can complement each other for different needs. For example, organizations can use AWS Backup for EC2 to back up their entire EC2 instance, while utilizing EBS snapshots for incremental backup and flexible recovery of EBS volumes. With the right choice and use of both backup solutions, organizations can optimize the use and management of cloud resources while ensuring data security.
However, in addition to the backup tools that come with AWS, many organizations can also leverage third-party backup solutions to further enhance data protection and recovery, such as Vinchin Backup & Recovery, a backup solution that can be used in conjunction with AWS to optimize the backup and recovery process while keeping data secure.
Secure your EC2 instances with Vinchin
Vinchin Backup & Recovery specializes in the backup of EC2 instances and S3 storage, providing an efficient and powerful backup and recovery solution for organizations that need to protect EC2 instance data. Compared to AWS' built-in backup tools, Vinchin offers an easy-to-use process, fast recovery, and support for agentless incremental backups. For AWS EC2, Vinchin offers flexible recovery options, including full recovery and file-level recovery, to help organizations recover quickly in the event of data loss or other failures.
When a full recovery takes too long, you can choose to restore specific files or folders to the production host without having to restore the entire instance, greatly improving recovery efficiency. Vinchin also supports bi-directional cross-platform recovery, allowing you to restore EC2 instances from AWS to other platforms, such as VMware, Hyper-V, Proxmox, and other virtualization platforms, to meet the needs of migrating between platforms.
Vinchin Backup & Recovery's operation is very simple, just a few simple steps.
1.Just select VMs on the host
2.Then select backup destination
3.Select strategies
4.Finally submit the job
Vinchin provides solutions that help enterprises maintain data security and business continuity in multi-platform environments while optimizing backup and recovery processes. Vinchin offers a free 60-day trial for users to experience the functionality in a real-world environment. For more information, please contact Vinchin directly.
Differences between AWS backup for EC2 vs EBS FAQs
Q: How to Clone and Restore AWS EC2 Instance?
A: To clone an AWS EC2 instance, first create an AMI (Amazon Machine Image) of the instance, and then use this AMI to launch a new EC2 instance. To restore, select the previously created snapshot or AMI to start the new instance or restore the old one.
Conclusion
Choosing between AWS Backup for EC2 vs EBS snapshots depends on your backup needs. AWS Backup is ideal for full EC2 instance backups, while EBS snapshots are more efficient for backing up only EBS volume data. These solutions can complement each other, optimizing data protection and recovery. Additionally, third-party solutions like Vinchin can further enhance backup and recovery processes, offering flexible recovery options and cross-platform support to ensure comprehensive data security and business continuity.
