AWS · Managed Relational Database
Amazon RDS / Aurora Backup and Recovery
Built for cloud teams
SecureVault Standard, SecureVault Archive, managed AWS automated backups, and granular record retrieval. One policy and three backup types covering operational recovery, ransomware recovery, and long-term archival across all your relational databases.
Storage tier
Restore type
Cross-region
Cross-account
Why Clumio for Amazon RDS / Aurora
Why pick Clumio for Amazon RDS / Aurora
AWS automated backups cap retention at 35 days, live inside your account, and don’t help if the account itself is compromised. One Clumio policy handles operational recovery, ransomware recovery, and long-term archival, across both RDS instances and Aurora clusters.
RECORD-LEVEL QUERY
Granular Record Retrieval
Query a SecureVault Archive backup for individual records and get a downloadable CSV. No full instance restore required. Files stay available for 24 hours. Useful for audits and selective compliance lookups against deep archives.
LONG-TERM TIER
Up to 90% cheaper for archival
SecureVault Archive holds weekly, monthly, or yearly backups for years of retention at up to 90% lower cost than Standard tier (source: https://www.commvault.com/clumio/workloads/amazon-rds). Use when retention is > 3 months. Includes built-in compliance reporting; thaw period of up to 48 hours before record retrieval.
AIR-GAPPED VAULT
Survives account compromise
SecureVault backups sit in Clumio’s immutable, off-account vault. If the source AWS account is compromised, or an admin deletes the RDS instance, the backup is still there and still restorable into any account.
SNAPSHOT CONVERSION
Convert existing AWS snapshots
If you’re sitting on years of manual or automated AWS RDS snapshots, Clumio can convert them into SecureVault backups, so you don’t have to start from scratch. Useful for orgs migrating off snapshot-only strategies that have already accumulated history.
ONE POLICY
Unified across RDS and Aurora
One policy covers MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server, and Aurora (MySQL and PostgreSQL clusters), across accounts and regions. Tag-based protection rules attach to new databases automatically, so there’s no per-engine drift.
MANAGED PITR
Continuous PITR, past 35 days
Add AWS automated backups to your Clumio policy and Clumio manages the AWS-side PITR configuration. Continuous PITR alongside SecureVault gives you AWS-native recovery for the near term and air-gapped retention beyond the AWS 35-day cap.
New to Clumio?
Set up your AWS account first
This page assumes a connected AWS account and at least one protection group. If you haven’t done that yet, the Getting Started guide walks you through sign-up, account connection, and your first backup in under 15 minutes.
02 · Backup
How to back up Amazon RDS / Aurora
Apply one Clumio policy to your RDS instances and Aurora clusters. The policy can drive SecureVault Standard, SecureVault Archive, and Clumio-managed AWS automated backups (for PITR) simultaneously.
Create a backup policy
A Clumio RDS policy defines frequency and retention for each enabled backup type. Add the RDS asset type to a new or existing policy, then configure SecureVault frequency, retention, and tier. AWS automated backups (PITR) are toggled and Clumio takes over their AWS-side configuration once enabled.
Protect → Backup policies →
Pick the right RPO across the three backup types
Different backup types satisfy different RPO needs. AWS automated backups deliver continuous PITR within their retention window, useful for any-second-recovery against operational mistakes. SecureVault Standard supports frequencies from hourly through yearly for air-gapped operational coverage. SecureVault Archive runs weekly, monthly, or yearly for compliance retention.
If you enable AWS automated backups inside a Clumio policy, Clumio resynchronizes daily with AWS and will alert if the PITR configuration is changed directly in the AWS console. Manage the schedule from one place to avoid the alert.
Choose your tiers (Standard, Archive, or both)
SecureVault Standard
Air-gapped backup optimized for operational recovery. Best for retention windows under 3 months. Fast restore directly to a new instance or cluster, same account or cross-account / cross-region.
SecureVault Archive
Lower-cost long-term tier for compliance and archival use. Best for retention > 3 months. Unlocks Granular Record Retrieval (query individual records via CSV). Requires up to a 48-hour thaw before records can be retrieved.
AWS automated backups are a third option in the same policy, with Clumio managing the AWS-side PITR config. A common setup is PITR plus one or both SecureVault tiers, depending on the retention horizon.
Choose a region (in-region or out-of-region)
By default Clumio stores SecureVault backups in the same region as the source database. You can target a different region for cross-region durability, which adds AWS data-transfer cost. The destination is set on the policy.
N/A — no Heads up callout in current HTML for RDS step 04.
Apply the policy with protection rules
Once the policy is saved, use protection rules to apply it to RDS resources. Rules can target databases by AWS tag, by account, or by region, so newly-created RDS instances and Aurora clusters get protected automatically without manual assignment. The seed backup runs first; subsequent backups are incremental.
03 · Restore
How to restore Amazon RDS / Aurora
An RDS restore comes down to three choices: when to recover from, what to recover, and where it lands.
WHENPick the recovery point
Three sources of recovery points, chosen from the protection-history calendar.
Pick any timestamp within the AWS PITR window for continuous, second-granular recovery. Best for operational mistakes caught quickly. Requires AWS automated backups enabled in the Clumio policy.
Air-gapped point-in-time copy outside your AWS account. Fast restore directly to a new instance or cluster. Best for ransomware and account-compromise scenarios.
Pick an Archive dot for long-retention compliance restores or record-level queries. Requires a thaw period of up to 48 hours; Clumio emails you when the data is ready to retrieve.
WHATPick the granularity
From individual records up to the entire instance or cluster.
Query a SecureVault Archive backup with SQL-style filters, preview matched rows, and download the result as a CSV. Files are available for 24 hours after retrieval. No full instance restore required.
Restore the entire RDS instance or Aurora cluster from any unexpired backup. Configure target subnet group, parameter group, KMS key, and other instance settings before confirming.
N/A — RDS restores either use Granular Record Retrieval (record-level) or full instance/cluster restore. No intermediate granularity.
WHEREPick the destination
RDS restores always create a new instance; there is no in-place rollback.
Restore to a new RDS instance or Aurora cluster in the source account. Pick the target region (defaults to the source), modify the instance name and configuration as needed, then confirm.
Restore to a target AWS account, useful for ransomware recovery, environment promotion, or staging refreshes. The target account must have a Clumio connector installed and at least one prior RDS instance in the destination region. No dependency on the source account being healthy.
05 · Common questions
Frequently asked questions
Questions from engineers setting up Amazon RDS / Aurora protection or troubleshooting restores.
How does Clumio compare to AWS automated backups or AWS Backup for RDS?
AWS automated backups cap retention at 35 days and live inside the source account, so they don’t help during account compromise. Clumio closes both gaps — SecureVault stores backups in an immutable, air-gapped vault outside your AWS account, and the Archive tier holds multi-year retention at up to 90% lower cost than Standard.
How long does the initial seed backup take for an RDS instance?
Yes. Cross-account restore is supported for Amazon S3. Pick the target account during restore setup — the account must have a Clumio connector installed and trust established. No dependency on the source account being healthy.
Can I restore an RDS instance to a different AWS account?
Seed time depends on database size and instance class. Typical production RDS instances seed in hours. Subsequent backups are incremental-forever, finishing in minutes at typical change rates.
What is the RPO for Amazon RDS / Aurora with Clumio?
RPO is set by your policy schedule. Clumio supports frequent snapshots to minimize data loss; confirm the available schedule frequency for your engine and instance type with the engineering team.
Does Clumio support Aurora Serverless?
Confirm Aurora Serverless support with the engineering team before relying on Clumio for protection. Standard Aurora provisioned clusters are supported; Serverless v2 compatibility should be verified for your specific configuration.
Will a Clumio restore create a new RDS instance or restore into the existing one?
Clumio restores are out-of-place — a new RDS instance or Aurora cluster is created at the destination you specify. This avoids disrupting the running database. You redirect application traffic or swap endpoints as part of your runbook.
Are RDS Multi-AZ deployments backed up differently?
No. Clumio protects the primary database regardless of Multi-AZ configuration. The Multi-AZ standby provides high availability, not backup isolation — Clumio’s air-gapped backup remains outside your account in both cases.
06 · Related resources
Go deeper
Blog posts and reference material for teams building on Clumio Amazon DynamoDB protection.
Ebook
Removing Data Protection Roadblocks for Amazon RDS
Where native RDS protection falls short (35-day cap, shared security sphere, compliance gaps), and the architecture Clumio uses to fill those gaps.
datesheet
Clumio Backup as a Service for Amazon RDS
Amazon RDS liberates organizations from setting up and managing what is arguably the most complex and difficult to manage layer of enterprise applications – the database.
Analyst Report
The Total Economic Impact™ of Clumio
Forrester Consulting’s commissioned TEI study on the quantified cost savings and business benefits of moving AWS backup workloads to Clumio. Includes a composite-customer financial model.