Question

I just created my first database instance on the Amazon RDS service. I was wondering…

1) Is there a way to have Amazon automatically back up my data in a way that it persists even if the instance is deleted?

2) Is it possible to share tables across multiple instances?

3) When I first connected to the instance, I found there were three databases: the one I specifically created, innob, and mysql. Should I continue using the one I created or one of the others? Are there cost implications?

THANK YOU.

Answer 1

1) Is there a way to have Amazon
automatically back up my data in a way
that it persists even if the instance
is deleted?

Yes, Amazon can automatically backup your data

Amazon RDS can automatically back up
all of your DB Instances. You can set
the backup parameters when you create
a DB Instance. However, if you don’t
set the backup retention period,
Amazon RDS sets a default period for
you. You can modify the backup
parameters whenever you want.

See here

Also, there are DB snapshots which are are user-initiated backups of a DB Instance. DB Snapshots are retained until they are deleted by the user. See here.

2) Is it possible to share tables across multiple instances?

Yes, the instances must be in the same security group.

3) When I first connected to the
instance, I found there were three
databases: the one I specifically
created, innob, and mysql.

The innodb and mysql tables are needed for mysql to run. You should use the one you created.