-2

just need a quick info on two questions but very related.

1 if we use rds on amazon aws, what happens if some of the machines rds is running on crash? i mean what happens with the data? is it gone?

2 if we use rds on amazon aws via beanstalk, and decide to stop them is the database gone, i mean data, is it gone?

thnx a lot, simple yes/no will do, but if you can give more info or a solution to mitigate these issues if any of the answers is unfavorable, that would be great.

b0x0rz
  • 101
  • 1
  • 1
  • 5

2 Answers2

4

1 - The RDS service automatically manages failing machines and moves your data to a new machine with the same name so it looks like nothing happened. This is part of the service you're paying for when you use AWS RDS instead of just installing your database of choice inside a regular EC2 instance.

That having been said, you may want to look into Multi-Availability Zone deployment for your DB instances, which runs and updates a passive copy of the database so there is less interruption of service while automatic repairs occur. It basically costs double.

By default, RDS instances automatically take daily backups and keep running logs so you can restore your data to any point in time within your retention period. I think the default retention period is 1 day, but you can set it up to 35 days.

You can also create manual snapshots of your database at any time that do not expire. The snapshots are stored in S3 until you delete them, and you pay only S3 storage costs to maintain them.

2 - I'm less familiar with Beanstalk services, but I believe there are ways not to lose the data. One idea is that you can configure a database instance to take a final snapshot when the instance is deleted. Then, when the whole Beanstalk deletes, the database data should be safely stored in S3.

Another idea would be to just manually take a snapshot while your Beanstalk is still running.

Hope that helps,

Dave

Dave
  • 76
  • 2
  • yes it does. thnx A LOT – b0x0rz Oct 15 '12 at 12:57
  • Even though the RDS service is great there have been service interruptions in the past and there is a chance you may lose some data, in particular if you're only running in one AZ. From memory the worst thing that happen with the RDS service in the past was that it was unavailable for a number of hours, clients did not lose any data. – Drew Khoury May 13 '13 at 04:03
1

The answer to question #1 was clearly stated earlier. To answer question to, there is a feature within beanstalk to link an rds instance and a beanstalk instance and set them up together, using either the CLI or the console. If the RDS instance is created using this feature, then yes, terminating the beanstalk environment also terminates the linked RDS instance. However, if they are created separately, then the Beanstalk instance can use the RDS but its demise does not cause the demise of the RDS.

CloudWalker
  • 111
  • 6