Ensuring RDS DB Instances Are in a Backup Plan Rule
This rule focuses on ensuring that RDS DB instances are included in a backup plan.
| Rule | RDS DB instances should be in a backup plan |
| Framework | CISA-cyber-essentials |
| Severity | ✔ High |
RDS DB Instances Backup Plan for CISA-Cyber-Essentials
The Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has outlined a set of essential cybersecurity practices to help organizations safeguard their systems. Part of these essentials includes ensuring that critical data is backed up. For Amazon RDS DB instances, this means implementing a consistent backup strategy that aligns with CISA recommendations.
Importance of Backup for Compliance
Regular backups protect data from being lost due to system failures, cyberattacks, or other unexpected events. Having a backup and recovery plan for RDS is critical for business continuity and may be a requirement for various compliance regimes, including CISA-cyber-essentials.
Amazon RDS Backup Features
Amazon RDS automatically creates and stores database backups and transaction logs:
- Automated Backups: RDS creates a daily snapshot of your database and captures transaction logs as changes are made to the database. These are retained for a user-defined period, typically between 0 and 35 days.
- DB Snapshots: These are user-initiated backups of your instance that are retained until you manually delete them.
Troubleshooting Backup Issues
Common Backup Problems
- Incomplete or failed backups
- Insufficient retention period
- Backup and recovery performance issues
Troubleshooting Steps
- 1.Verify Backup Settings: Check that automated backups are enabled with the right retention period.
- 2.Monitor Backup Jobs: Use Amazon CloudWatch alarms to monitor backup events and receive notifications if backups fail.
- 3.Review Logs: Check RDS event logs for any errors during backup windows.
- 4.Storage Space: Ensure there is enough allocated storage space for snapshots, as backups can fail if there is insufficient space.
Ensuring RDS Instances are in a Backup Plan
Step-by-Step Guide for Backup Plan
- 1.
Set Automated Backup Retention Period:
- Use the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or RDS API to set the retention period for automated backups.
- The CLI command to modify the retention period is:
aws rds modify-db-instance \ --db-instance-identifier your-instance-identifier \ --backup-retention-period number-of-days \ --apply-immediately
- 2.
Create DB Snapshots Regularly:
- Use the console or CLI to initiate DB snapshots.
- CLI command to create a DB snapshot:
aws rds create-db-snapshot \ --db-snapshot-identifier my-snapshot-identifier \ --db-instance-identifier your-instance-identifier
- 3.
Monitor Backups with Amazon CloudWatch:
- Create CloudWatch alarms to monitor backup events.
- Use CloudWatch metrics to determine if the backup operations are being performed as expected.
- 4.
Test Restores Periodically:
- Regularly test restoring from a backup to ensure data integrity and measure recovery time.
- CLI command to restore from a snapshot:
aws rds restore-db-instance-from-db-snapshot \ --db-instance-identifier new-instance-identifier \ --db-snapshot-identifier my-snapshot-identifier
- 5.
Review and Document:
- Document your backup procedures and policies.
- Regularly review your backup strategy to ensure compliance with the latest CISA guidelines.
Additional Best Practices
- Implement Multi-Region Backups: For extra redundancy, consider copying snapshots to another region.
- Encryption: Ensure backups are encrypted to protect sensitive information.
- Clean Up Old Snapshots: Regularly delete outdated snapshots to manage costs.
By maintaining robust and effective backup practices for your RDS DB instances, you'll comply with CISA's Cyber Essentials and protect your organization's data integrity. This not only aids in SEO by clearly outlining steps and best practices for users searching for compliance-related information, but it also ensures your content is informative and actionable.