User guide

To disable automated snapshots, set the retention period to zero. If you disable automated snapshots,
Amazon Redshift stops taking snapshots and deletes any existing automated snapshots for the cluster.
Only Amazon Redshift can delete an automated snapshot; you cannot delete them manually. Amazon
Redshift deletes automated snapshots at the end of a snapshot’s retention period, when you disable
automated snapshots, or when you delete the cluster. If you want to keep an automated snapshot for a
longer period, you can create a copy of it as a manual snapshot. The automated snapshot is retained
until the end of retention period, but the corresponding manual snapshot is retained until you manually
delete it.
Manual Snapshots
Regardless of whether you enable automated snapshots, you can take a manual snapshot whenever
you want. Amazon Redshift will never automatically delete a manual snapshot. Manual snapshots are
retained even after you delete your cluster.
Because manual snapshots accrue storage charges, it’s important that you manually delete them if you
no longer need them. If you delete a manual snapshot, you cannot start any new operations that reference
that snapshot. However, if a restore operation is in progress, that restore operation will run to completion.
Copying Snapshots to Another Region
You can configure Amazon Redshift to automatically copy snapshots (automated or manual) for a cluster
to another region. When a snapshot is created in the cluster’s primary region, it will be copied to a
secondary region; these are known respectively as the source region and destination region. By storing
a copy of your snapshots in another region, you have the ability to restore your cluster from recent data
if anything affects the primary region.You can configure your cluster to copy snapshots to only one
destination region at a time. For a list of Amazon Redshift regions, see Regions and Endpoints in the
Amazon Web Services General Reference.
When you enable Amazon Redshift to automatically copy snapshots to another region, you specify the
destination region where you want snapshots to be copied. In the case of automated snapshots, you can
also specify the retention period that they should be kept in the destination region. After an automated
snapshot is copied to the destination region and it reaches the retention time period there, it is deleted
from the destination region, keeping your snapshot usage low.You can change this retention period if
you need to keep the automated snapshots for a shorter or longer period of time in the destination region.
The retention period that you set for automated snapshots that are copied to the destination region is
separate from the retention period for automated snapshots in the source region.The default retention
period for copied snapshots is seven days. That seven-day period only applies to automated snapshots.
Manual snapshots are not affected by the retention period in either the source or destination regions, and
they remain until you manually delete them.
You can disable automatic snapshot copy for a cluster at any time. When you disable this feature,
snapshots are no longer copied from the source region to the destination region. Any automated snapshots
copied to the destination region are deleted as they reach the retention period limit, unless you create
manual snapshot copies of them.These manual snapshots, and any manual snapshots that were copied
from the destination region, are retained in the destination region until you manually delete them.
If you want to change the destination region that you copy snapshots to, you have to first disable the
automatic copy feature and then re-enable it, specifying the new destination region.
Copying snapshots across regions incurs data transfer charges. Once a snapshot is copied to the
destination region, it becomes active and available for restoration purposes.
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Amazon Redshift Management Guide
Manual Snapshots