Cost-Optimized Disaster Recovery (DR) Strategies for AWS RDS

When designing a Disaster Recovery (DR) strategy for AWS RDS, it’s crucial to balance cost and recovery time objectives (RTO). Running high-availability solutions like Multi-AZ or cross-region read replicas can be expensive, while relying on manual snapshots alone may increase downtime. So, what’s the best cost-effective approach? Let’s explore!

Why Optimize RDS DR Costs?

AWS RDS instances continue to accrue costs even when idle. A stopped instance still incurs EBS storage charges, and active Multi-AZ deployments effectively double your RDS costs. By choosing the right DR strategy, businesses can reduce AWS spending by up to 90% while maintaining recoverability.

Best Practices for Cost-Effective AWS RDS DR

1. Automated Backups (Lowest Cost, Basic DR)

✅ Pros:

• AWS automatically takes daily snapshots and allows point-in-time recovery for up to 35 days.
• No additional cost apart from storage used.

🚫 Cons:

• Limited retention period (not for long-term DR).
• Regional-only — won’t help in a full-region failure.