Comparing automatic and manual snapshots

Automatic snapshot naming — Automatic snapshot names follow the pattern rds:<cluster-name>-yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mm, with yyyy-mm-dd-hh-mm representing the date and time the snapshot was created.

Created automatically on a schedule — When you create or modify a cluster, you can set the backup retention period to an integer value from 1 to 35 days. By default, new clusters have a backup retention period of 1 day. The backup retention period defines the number of days that automatic snapshots are kept before being automatically deleted. You can't disable automatic backups on Amazon DocumentDB clusters.

In addition to setting the backup retention period, you also set the backup window, the time of day during which automatic snapshots are created.

Deleting automatic snapshots — Automatic snapshots are deleted when you delete the automatic snapshot's cluster. You can't manually delete an automatic snapshot.

Incremental — During the backup retention period, database updates are recorded so that there is an incremental record of changes.

Restoring from an automatic snapshot — You can restore from an automatic snapshot using the AWS Management Console or the AWS CLI. When you restore from a snapshot using the AWS CLI, you must add instances separately after the cluster is available.

Sharing — You can't share an Amazon DocumentDB automated cluster snapshot. As a workaround, you can create a manual snapshot by copying the automated snapshot, and then share that copy. For more information about copying a snapshot, see Copying Amazon DocumentDB cluster snapshots. For more information about restoring a cluster from a snapshot, see Restoring from a cluster snapshot.

You can restore from any point within the backup retention period — Because database updates are incrementally recorded, you can restore your cluster to any point in time within the backup retention period.

When you restore from an automatic snapshot or from a point-in-time restore using the AWS CLI, you must add instances separately after the cluster is available.

Created on demand — Amazon DocumentDB manual snapshots are created on demand using the Amazon DocumentDB Management Console or AWS CLI.

Deleting a manual snapshot —A manual snapshot is deleted only when you explicitly delete it using either the Amazon DocumentDB console or AWS CLI. A manual snapshot is not deleted when you delete its cluster.

Full backups — When a manual snapshot is taken, a full backup of your cluster's data is created and stored.

Manual snapshot naming — You specify the manual snapshot name. Amazon DocumentDB does not add a datetime stamp to the name, so you must add that information if you want it included in the name.

Restoring from a manual snapshot —You can restore from a manual snapshot using the console or the AWS CLI. When you restore from a snapshot using the AWS CLI, you must add instances separately after the cluster is available.

Service Quotas — You are limited to a maximum of 100 manual snapshots per AWS Region.

Sharing — You can share manual cluster snapshots, which can be copied by authorized AWS accounts. You can share encrypted or unencrypted manual snapshots. For more information about copying a snapshot, see Copying Amazon DocumentDB cluster snapshots.

You restore to when the manual snapshot was taken —When you restore from a manual snapshot, you restore to when the manual snapshot was taken.

When you restore from a snapshot using the AWS CLI, you must add instances separately after the cluster is available.