How to Backup to Amazon S3 [2 Methods]

The difference between Amazon S3 and AWS backup

Amazon S3 and AWS Backup are both services offered by Amazon Web Services that are designed to help you store and protect their data. However, they differ in their primary functionalities and the level of control they provide over data management.

Amazon S3 is a scalable and highly durable object storage service. It is designed for storing and retrieving any amount of data from anywhere on the web. S3 provides a simple and cost-effective storage solution, including backup and restore operations.

AWS Backup is a centralized backup service that simplifies and automates the backup management process across various AWS services, including Amazon EBS volumes, Amazon RDS databases, Amazon DynamoDB tables, AWS Storage Gateway, and more.

In summary, while Amazon S3 is a versatile object storage service suitable for various use cases, AWS Backup is a dedicated backup service that offers centralized management, automated backups, and application-consistent recovery capabilities across multiple AWS services.

What should you pay attention to when you back up to S3

By considering these factors when backing up to Amazon S3, you can aligns with your specific needs and requirements.

• Data Transfer Costs: Amazon S3 charges for both data transfer into and out of the storage service. It's essential to understand the associated costs, especially if you have large amounts of data or frequent backups.
• Security and Access Control: Ensure that your data is securely transferred and stored in S3. Utilize SSL/TLS encryption for data in transit and enable server-side encryption for data at rest.
• Storage Classes: Amazon S3 offers various storage classes, each with different durability, availability, performance, and cost characteristics. Understand the requirements of your data and select the appropriate storage class accordingly.
• Versioning: Enable versioning on your S3 bucket to retain multiple versions of an object. This can be useful for recovering from accidental deletions or overwrites.
• Disaster Recovery: Consider replicating your backups across multiple AWS regions or implementing cross-region replication to enhance data durability and enable disaster recovery capabilities.>
• Monitoring and Alerting: Set up monitoring and alerting mechanisms to proactively detect any issues with your backup processes or S3 storage.

How to back up to Amazon S3

Amazon S3 allows you to backup almost any kind of data, such as synology backup to Amazon S3, backup SQL Server to Amazon S3, etc. Here are two methods for you to choose from, so you can make the right choice for your situation.

Method 1. Back up data to Amazon S3 using AWS Backup

1. To backup a temporary file, create a new S3 bucket or use an existing one. There is a file called S3_temp_file.txt in the S3 bucket S3-aws-backup-demo.

Note: Versioning ought to be enabled in the bucket you're planning to backup.

2. Navigate to AWS Backup from your AWS console and go to Dashboard.

3. You can create an on-demand backup or a backup plan on the dashboard. Select Create an on-demand backup.

4. Select S3 under resource type.

5. You have the option to select all buckets or a specific bucket under the bucket name.

6. Check the box that says "Create backup now". This will immediately begin the backup. If you don't want to back up immediately, choose another time.

7. Choose an appropriate option from Retention period dropdown menu.

8. Choose Backup vault to encrypt objects with S3. You can choose one from the list or make your own. Click Create new Backup vault, enter the Backup vault name, and the encryption key.

9. You can choose any existing role that has the necessary rights to backup and restore S3 buckets under the IAM role option. You can alternatively choose Default role, which will generate a new role for you with the appropriate rights.

10. Enter the Key and Value and click on Add tag to add some tags to the backup.

11. Click on Create an on-demand backup.

12. Depending on the size of the buckets you're backing up, the task will take some time. While AWS is backing up the chosen buckets, the status will read "running". The job status will change to Finished after the backup is finished.

13. To view the backup point you created, go to the Protected resources. The S3 files may be restored at any moment up until the designated retention period using this backup point.

Method 2. Back up data to Amazon S3 using AWS CLI

The AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) provides a set of commands for interacting with AWS services, including S3. You can use the CLI to upload files and directories to S3, download them, and manage S3 objects and buckets.

At first, you should create an AWS IAM user account, then you can use this user account to securely access AWS services using the AWS CLI.

✥ Prerequisite: Install and configure the AWS CLI

Now you need to install the AWS CLI to perform backup to Amazon S3 Windows. Below are full instructions based on Windows system.

1. Download and run the Windows installer (64-bit, 32-bit).

Note: Users of Windows Server 2008 v6.0.6002 will need to use a different install method, listed in the AWS Command Line Interface User Guide.

2. Press the Windows Key + r to open the run box and enter cmd and click OK.

3. Enter the command aws configure. Then enter the following when prompted:

AWS Access Key ID [None]: the Access Key Id from the credentials.csv file

AWS Secret Access Key [None]: the Secret Access Key from the credentials.csv file

Default region name [None]: us-east-1

Default output format [None]: json

✥ Using the AWS CLI with Amazon S3

1. If you currently have a bucket created that you want to use, creating another one is not necessary. To make a new bucket named my-first-backup-bucket type, enter the following:

aws s3 mb s3://my-first-backup-bucket

Note: Due to several limitations on bucket naming, such as the requirement that bucket names be globally unique (i.e., no two AWS users may have the same bucket name), attempting the command above will result in a BucketAlreadyExists error.

2. The following command would be used to upload the file my first backup.bak from the local directory (C:users) to the S3 bucket my-first-backup-bucket:

aws s3 cp “C:\users\my first backup.bak” s3://my-first-backup-bucket/

3. By reversing the order of the commands, you may download my-first-backup.bak from S3 to the local directory as follows:

aws s3 cp s3://my-first-backup-bucket/my-first-backup.bak ./

4. Use the following command to remove my-first-backup.bak from your my-first-backup-bucket bucket:

aws s3 rm s3://my-first-backup-bucket/my-first-backup.bak

Conclusion

Backing up data is vital to protect against data loss and ensure business continuity. Amazon S3 offers a reliable and scalable solution for data backup in the cloud. By following the steps outlined in this guide, you can securely back up your data to Amazon S3 and take advantage of its durability, availability, and cost-effectiveness.

Please remember to monitor your S3 costs and consider implementing versioning or lifecycle policies to optimize your backup to amazon S3 Windows.