Alert: Updating RDS AWS automated backup settings

Symptom

Alert Type: Updating RDS AWS automated backup settings

Cause: The retention settings of RDS AWS automated backups from the RDS entities protected through a Clumio RDS PITR policy have been updated to the intended configuration. This typically happens due to one of the following reasons:

• When an RDS asset is protected by a policy that includes RDS PITR configuration.
• When an existing RDS policy is modified to include PITR or an alternative PITR configuration (such as retention or apply settings).
• When the PITR configuration for a protected RDS asset is updated on the AWS console.

Points to note

• Clumio performs daily periodic synchronization to align the RDS PITR configuration on AWS with the Clumio policy.
• RDS PTIR backups and the configuration synchronization do not count toward compliance considerations. If a user protects a database using an RDS PITR-only policy, the database is marked as compliant immediately.
  A PITR configuration synchronization task may take up to 5 minutes to commence after a database is protected or a policy is updated.
• If the "Enable during maintenance window" option is selected, users may not see the updated RDS PITR configuration to be in effect until the next maintenance window, Maintenance windows occur once a week, and this delay is due to an AWS limitation.
• If the "Enable as soon as the policy is applied" option is chosen, there may be a brief outage in certain cases, particularly when PITR was previously disabled on the database in AWS and is now being enabled. This is due a limitation on the AWS side.

Resolution

• Once an RDS asset is protected with a PITR policy from Clumio, we recommend avoiding any configuration adjustments for RDS AWS automated backup settings on the AWS side, as Clumio conducts daily synchronization of the RDS PITR configuration with the policy.
• It is advised to adjust the policy within Clumio that specifies how RDS PITR should be managed, rather than directly modifying the AWS automated backup retention settings for the RDS assets. This method ensures that changes are implemented consistently and in accordance with the overall configured policy, thus ensuring the desired configuration is preserved and preventing any possible conflicts.

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