Implementing EBS Snapshot Lifecycle Policy for Enhanced EC2 Backup Strategy

Correct Answer - A, B.

EBS Snapshot Lifecycle policy, as a backup strategy, can bring lots of benefits for EC2 users.

About the details, please refer to https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/snapshot-lifecycle.html.

Option A is CORRECT: Because EC2 EBS volumes can have a routine backup which helps on the quality audit.

Option B is CORRECT: Because this is the major benefit of the life cycle policy, preserving important data and EBS volumes can be easily restored via the snapshots.

Option C is incorrect: The snapshot lifecycle policy can reduce storage costs by deleting outdated backups.

However, the snapshots themselves still have costs.

Option D is incorrect: Because you can create up to 100 lifecycle policies per Region.

As an AWS solutions architect, you have noticed issues with the backup strategy of EC2 instances and the lack of snapshot lifecycle management. You want to persuade your team lead to approve your suggestion of implementing a proper EBS Snapshot Lifecycle policy. To do so, you can use the following two arguments:

1. A snapshot lifecycle policy helps to retain backups as required by auditors or internal compliance.

One of the main reasons to implement an EBS Snapshot Lifecycle policy is to ensure compliance with regulations and internal policies. Many organizations have to comply with specific regulatory requirements, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS, which mandate a minimum retention period for backups. Failing to meet these requirements can lead to hefty fines and damage to the company's reputation. By implementing a snapshot lifecycle policy, you can ensure that backups are retained for the required period and deleted when they are no longer needed, thus avoiding compliance issues.

2. An EBS Snapshot Lifecycle helps to protect valuable data by enforcing a regular backup schedule.

Another crucial reason to implement a snapshot lifecycle policy is to ensure that backups are taken regularly and automatically. Without a proper backup schedule, data loss can occur due to hardware failures, human errors, or malicious attacks. By setting up a snapshot lifecycle policy, you can ensure that backups are taken automatically according to a predefined schedule, thus minimizing the risk of data loss. Moreover, you can configure the policy to keep a certain number of snapshots, so you can roll back to a specific point in time if needed.

It is also worth noting that implementing an EBS Snapshot Lifecycle policy can help reduce storage costs. While creating snapshots manually can be convenient, it can lead to the accumulation of unnecessary snapshots, which can increase storage costs. On the other hand, a snapshot lifecycle policy can help you manage the number of snapshots and delete them when they are no longer needed, thus reducing storage costs. However, this argument is not as strong as the two mentioned above.

Lastly, it is important to clarify that you can create multiple lifecycle policies to manage different volumes or instances, but there is a limit to the number of policies you can create.