Help Center/ Relational Database Service_RDS for PostgreSQL/ User Guide/ Data Backups/ Instance-Level Backups/ Configuring a Sparse Backup Policy
Updated on 2026-06-15 GMT+08:00
View PDF
Share

Configuring a Sparse Backup Policy

Scenarios

RDS for PostgreSQL supports sparse backups in addition to standard backups. It allows you to flexibly configure backup policies in SaaS scenarios and also allows you to retain as few backup sets as possible to reduce expenses.

Differences Between Standard Backup and Sparse Backup

Table 1 Backup functions

Item

Standard Backup

Sparse Backup

Function description

RDS for PostgreSQL uses standard backup by default. A standard backup saves all data of an instance based on your chosen schedule and backup cycle. Each time a backup task finishes, the system creates a backup and stores it for the duration you specify.

Compared with the default backup policy, sparse backup reduces the backup frequency while maintaining the same retention period for the backups.

After sparse backup is enabled, a standard backup policy is displayed by default. You can add sparse backup policies as needed.

Number of backup policies

An instance has only one backup policy, which cannot be deleted.

The default policy is weekly backup. Select at least one day in a week. The backups can be retained for 1 to 3,660 days.

An instance can have only one standard backup policy and a maximum of nine sparse backup policies. The standard backup policy cannot be deleted, but the sparse backup policies can be deleted.

After enabling sparse backup, you can add sparse backup policies alongside the standard backup policy.

  • The standard backup policy is weekly backup and cannot be deleted. Select at least one day in a week. The backups can be retained for 1 to 3,660 days.
  • There are three types of sparse backup policies. The backups can be retained for 1 to 3,660 days.
    • Weekly: Select at least one day in a week.
    • Monthly: Select at least one day in a month.
    • Yearly: Select a specific day in a year.

Time window

A one-hour period the backup will be scheduled within 24 hours, such as 01:00-02:00 or 12:00-13:00

A one-hour period the backup will be scheduled within 24 hours, such as 01:00-02:00 or 12:00-13:00

Constraints and Billing

Table 2 Constraints and billing

Category

Constraints

Billing

CBR snapshot backup not enabled (physical backups by default)
  • You can only configure an automated backup policy for your DB instance, but not for read replicas.
  • When you delete a DB instance, its automated backups are also deleted but its manual backups are retained.
  • Rebooting the instance is not allowed during full backup. Exercise caution when selecting a backup time window.
  • Performing a full backup may decrease instance throughput and increase replication delay because it occupies node resources, especially disk bandwidth.

Backups are saved as packages in OBS buckets. For the billing details, see How Is RDS for PostgreSQL Backup Data Billed?

CBR snapshot backup enabled
  • You can only configure an automated backup policy for your DB instance, but not for read replicas.
  • CBR snapshot backups depend on the Cloud Backup and Recovery (CBR) service. For details, see What Is CBR?
  • Enabling CBR snapshot backup will incur fees. CBR snapshot backups are billed by actual vault usage, which is calculated by CBR.
  • The backup time is proportional to how much data your instance has. Too much data can decrease the backup efficiency. If you have large amounts of data and want to speed up the backup process, enable CBR.
  • After CBR is enabled, snapshot backup is used. Existing automated and manual backups can still be used to restore data.
  • When you delete a DB instance, its automated backups are also deleted but its manual backups are retained.
  • After CBR is enabled, the next full backup is a snapshot backup. You can use the snapshot backup to restore data.

If CBR is enabled, CBR snapshots are billed as follows:

  • For snapshots created before September 2025: No backup space is provided for free. You are billed for database server backup vaults in CBR on a pay-per-use basis. For details, see How Is CBR Billed?
  • For snapshots created in September 2025 and later: RDS provides free snapshot backup space. After the free space is used up, you are billed for CBR snapshots in RDS on a pay-per-use basis. For details, see RDS Pricing Details.
  • For an instance with CBR snapshot backup enabled, its snapshot backups retained in the recycle bin after the instance is deleted will be billed based on the CBR backup billing rules within the retention period.
  1. Log in to the RDS console.
  2. Click in the upper left corner and select a region.
  3. On the Instances page, click the target instance name.
  4. In the navigation pane on the left, choose Backups & Restorations.
  5. In the upper right corner of the page, choose Modify Backup Policy > Configure Same-Region Backup Policy. On the displayed page, you can view the existing backup policy. If you want to modify the policy, adjust the values of the following parameters:

    Figure 1 Configuring a sparse backup policy
    • Time Window: Set it to a one-hour period the backup will be scheduled, such as 01:00-02:00 or 12:00-13:00. The backup time window indicates when the backup starts. The backup duration depends on the data volume of your instance.

      To minimize the potential impact on services, set the time window to off-peak hours. The backup time window is saved in the UTC time zone of the local browser. It changes with the time zone during the switch between the DST and standard time.

    • Sparse Backup Policy

      The standard backup policy is weekly backup. Select at least one day in a week. The backups can be retained for 1 to 3,660 days.

      You can add multiple sparse backup policies to back up data by week, month, or year. A maximum of 9 sparse backup policies can be added for a DB instance.
      Table 3 Sparse backup policies

      Frequency

      Time

      Retention Period

      Every week

      Select at least one day in a week.

      The retention period specified in a sparse backup policy applies only to the full automated backups associated with this policy. In a sparse backup policy, you can set this period to 1 to 3,660 days.

      The retention period for incremental backups is determined by the standard backup policy and is irrelevant to sparse backup policies.

      If you modify the retention period specified in a policy, the modification will be applied to all the existing full automated backups associated with this policy. The retention period specified in any backup policy does not apply to manual backups.
      • Extending the retention period enhances data availability.
      • Reducing the retention period may cause existing backups to be deleted due to expiration. Exercise caution when performing this operation.

      Every month

      Select at least one day in a month.

      Every year

      Select a specific day in a year.
    • If multiple backup policies need to create backups on the same day, the system generates only one backup on that day. It associates this backup with the policy that has the longest retention period and keeps the backup according to the period specified by that policy.
    • After sparse backup policies are configured, if no backup is generated in the specified backup window of a day (the backup conflicts with other operations or the backup fails), the backup will be skipped.
    • When deleting a sparse backup policy, you can choose whether to retain the backups generated under this policy. If you choose not to keep them, all backups created by this policy will be deleted immediately. If you choose to keep them, all these backups will be retained for the original retention period.

  6. Click OK.
Parent Topic: Instance-Level Backups