A Beginner’s Guide to Create AWS Snapshots for Amazon EBS Volumes

Introducing Amazon EBS Snapshots

An EBS snapshot is a point-in-time backup of an Elastic Block Store (EBS) volume. Unlike a complete volume copy, snapshots are incremental. This means that only the data blocks that have changed since your last snapshot are copied and billed. The very first snapshot of a volume is a full backup of all blocks, while subsequent snapshots only capture modified blocks. These snapshots are stored durably in Amazon S3, a highly resilient storage tier that spans multiple availability zones. When you restore a snapshot to a new EBS volume, AWS pulls the necessary blocks behind the scenes, allowing you to mount and access the volume almost immediately.

EBS Snapshots vs. AMIs (Amazon Machine Images)

It is common for beginners to confuse EBS snapshots with AMIs. The table below outlines the primary differences between the two:

Step-by-Step Guide to Manage EBS Snapshots

1. How to Create an EBS Snapshot

To create a point-in-time backup of an active EBS volume, follow these steps in the AWS Management Console:

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon EC2 Console.
2. In the left-hand navigation pane, under the Elastic Block Store section, click on Snapshots.
3. Click on the Create Snapshot button in the top right corner.
4. For Resource Type, choose Volume (you can also select 'Instance' to snapshot all volumes attached to a server).
5. Select the appropriate volume ID for the Volume field.
6. Add a meaningful description and a Name tag (e.g., production-db-backup-daily) to help identify the snapshot later.
7. Click Create Snapshot. The status will transition from pending to completed as data is transferred to Amazon S3.

2. How to Copy an EBS Snapshot (Cross-Region / Cross-Account)

Copying snapshots to different regions is a key component of disaster recovery (DR) strategies. To copy a snapshot:

1. Navigate to the Snapshots screen in the EC2 Console.
2. Select the completed snapshot you wish to copy.
3. Click on the Actions dropdown menu and choose Copy Snapshot.
4. Select your target Destination Region (e.g., us-west-2 for geographic redundancy).
5. Check the Encrypt this snapshot box if you wish to apply AWS KMS encryption to the copy. Select the appropriate KMS Key.
6. Click Copy Snapshot. The new snapshot will appear in the target region with its own unique identifier.

3. How to Share an EBS Snapshot

AWS allows you to share snapshots with other AWS accounts privately, or make them public to the world. To share a snapshot:

1. In the EC2 Console, select the snapshot you wish to share.
2. Click on the Actions menu and select Modify Permissions.
3. Choose Private to share securely. Click Add Account and enter the 12-digit AWS Account ID of the target recipient.
4. Alternatively, choose Public if the snapshot contains open-source datasets or software templates (caution: never share sensitive data publicly).
5. Click Save Changes. The recipient can now locate the shared snapshot under the 'Private Snapshots' filter in their own EC2 console.

Best Practices for EBS Snapshot Management

To optimize costs, security, and performance, adhere to the following best practices:

• Automate with AWS Lifecycle Manager (DLM): Avoid manual snapshots. Set up DLM policies to automatically create, retain, and delete snapshots based on tags.
• Enforce Encryption: Always encrypt snapshots using AWS KMS to protect data at rest and comply with organizational security standards.
• Perform Consistent Backups: To guarantee data consistency, pause database writes or temporarily stop the EC2 instance before taking a snapshot of a high-throughput database volume.