RDS instance backup retention exceeds 7 days on a non-production instance
- Severity
- Low
- Service
- RDS
- Check ID
- RDS_LONG_BACKUP_RETENTION
What this check finds
This RDS instance has a backup retention period greater than 7 days but is not tagged as a production workload. Backup storage is charged at $0.095/GB-month per additional day beyond the first snapshot. Extended retention on non-production databases is rarely justified and adds unnecessary cost.
Passing looks like: RDS backup retention right-sized.
How to fix it
Reduce the backup retention period to 1–3 days for non-production instances.
AWS CLI
aws rds modify-db-instance --db-instance-identifier DB_ID --backup-retention-period 3 --apply-immediatelyTag production instances with Environment=production to suppress this check.
Names in capitals are placeholders for your own resource. Review a command before you run it.
AWS console
RDS → Databases → select → Modify → Backup → Backup retention period.
Compliance
This is a cost check. It flags spend that buys nothing, which no compliance framework asks about, so it is not mapped to a control.
Checked on every scan
KloudLytics runs this check each time it scans a connected AWS account, through a read-only role, and lists every affected resource with its region. On Pro and Business a fix is written for the specific resource rather than the general case above. The exact access it needs
More RDS checks
- HighAurora/RDS cluster storage is not encrypted at rest
- HighRDS automated backups are disabled
- HighRDS instance does not have automatic minor version upgrades enabled
- HighRDS instance has zero database connections for 7 days
- HighRDS instance storage is not encrypted at rest
- HighRDS security group allows broad CIDR ingress (broader than /16)
- HighRDS snapshot is public
- MediumAurora/RDS cluster has automated backups disabled