RDS Snapshots Restore

Question

Hi all, from my understanding, the initial RDS snapshot taken is a full backup of the RDS  and subsequent snapshots are of the incremental changes from the time of the last snapshot. When it comes to restoring from the snapshots though, we only need to restore from the last snapshot taken to restore the full RDS instance. Is this understanding correct? And if so, how is it that we can take the latest snapshot to restore the RDS even though it only took incremental changes?

Mahaboob Basha · Answer

Hello,
Yes, you are correct. Here's a short explanation:

**Initial Snapshot:** The first RDS snapshot is a full backup.

**Subsequent Snapshots:** These are incremental, capturing only changes since the last snapshot.

**Restoration:** When restoring, you only need the latest snapshot. AWS automatically uses the latest snapshot and all prior incremental changes to restore the full RDS instance.

For more information refer this:-
[https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_RestoreFromSnapshot.html]()

Riku_Kobayashi · Answer

Hello.

When restoring from the latest snapshot, RDS reconstructs the complete state of the database by combining the first full snapshot and all incremental changes up to the last snapshot. I think it can be done.  
In other words, if there are three snapshots, I believe that the data from the first to third snapshots is internally combined to create the complete database state as of the most recent snapshot.  
This process itself is managed by AWS, so the detailed process was not described in the documentation.  
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/USER_WorkingWithAutomatedBackups.html

mahankali vamseekrishna · Answer

Hello

**Initial Snapshot**: The first snapshot of an RDS instance is a complete backup of all the data.

**Subsequent Snapshots:** After the initial snapshot, all following snapshots are incremental, meaning they only record the changes made since the previous snapshot.

**Restoration**: When you need to restore the RDS instance, you only require the most recent snapshot. AWS will automatically combine this latest snapshot with all previous incremental changes to reconstruct the entire RDS instance.

Here we can find the additional details:
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/CHAP_Tutorials.RestoringFromSnapshot.html

RDS Snapshots Restore

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