Monitoring AWS Backup metrics with CloudWatch
Monitor metrics with CloudWatch
You can use CloudWatch to monitor AWS Backup metrics. The AWS/Backup namespace allows you
to track the following metrics. AWS Backup emits updated metrics to CloudWatch every 5 minutes.
The purpose of this documentation page is to provide you with the reference materials to
use CloudWatch to monitor AWS Backup. To learn how to monitor a metric using CloudWatch, see the blog Amazon CloudWatch Events and Metrics for AWS Backup
| Category | Metrics | Example dimensions | Example use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jobs | Number of backup, restore, and copy jobs across each state, including
Different job types have different available states. |
Resource type, vault name. The vault name of copy jobs is that of their destination vault. |
Monitor the number of failed backup jobs within one or more specific backup vaults. When there are more than five failed jobs within 1 hour, send an email or SMS using Amazon SNS or open a ticket to the engineering team to investigate. Reporting criteria: There is a nonzero value |
| Recovery points | Number of warm and cold recovery points across each state:
MODIFIED, COMPLETED, PARTIAL,
EXPIRED, DELETED. |
Resource type, vault name. | Track the number of deleted recovery points for your Amazon EBS volumes, and separately track the number of warm and cold recovery points in each backup vault. Reporting criteria: There is a nonzero value |
The following table lists all the metrics available to you.
| Metric | Description |
|---|---|
NumberOfBackupJobsCreated |
The number of backup jobs that AWS Backup created. |
NumberOfBackupJobsPending |
The number of backup jobs about to run in AWS Backup. |
NumberOfBackupJobsRunning |
The number of backup jobs currently running in AWS Backup. |
NumberOfBackupJobsAborted |
The number of user cancelled backup jobs. |
NumberOfBackupJobsCompleted |
The number of backup jobs that AWS Backup finished. |
NumberOfBackupJobsFailed |
The number of backup jobs that AWS Backup scheduled but did not start. Often caused by scheduling a backup job during or 1 hour before a database resource or 4 hours before or during a Amazon FSx maintenance window or automated backup window and not using AWS Backup to perform continuous backup for point-in-time restores. See Point-in-Time Recovery for a list of supported services and instructions on how to use AWS Backup to take continuous backups, or reschedule your backup jobs. |
NumberOfBackupJobsExpired |
The number of backup jobs that AWS Backup attempted to delete based on your backup retention lifecycle, but could not delete. You are billed for the storage that expired backups consume and should delete them manually. |
NumberOfCopyJobsCreated |
The number of cross-account and cross-Region copy jobs that AWS Backup created. |
NumberOfCopyJobsRunning |
The number of cross-account and cross-Region copy jobs currently running in AWS Backup. |
NumberOfCopyJobsCompleted |
The number of cross-account and cross-Region copy jobs that AWS Backup finished. |
NumberOfCopyJobsFailed |
The number of cross-account and cross-Region copy jobs that AWS Backup attempted but could not complete. |
NumberOfRestoreJobsPending |
The number of restore jobs about to run in AWS Backup. |
NumberOfRestoreJobsRunning |
The number of restore jobs currently running in AWS Backup. |
NumberOfRestoreJobsCompleted |
The number of restore jobs that AWS Backup finished. |
NumberOfRestoreJobsFailed |
The number of restore jobs that AWS Backup attempted but could not complete. |
NumberOfRecoveryPointsCompleted |
The number of recovery points that AWS Backup created. |
NumberOfRecoveryPointsPartial |
The number of recovery points that AWS Backup started to create but could not finish. AWS retries the process later, but because the retry occurs at the later time, it retains the partial recovery point. |
NumberOfRecoveryPointsExpired |
The number of recovery points that AWS Backup attempted to delete based on your backup retention lifecycle, but could not delete. You are billed for the storage that expired backups consume and should delete them manually. |
NumberOfRecoveryPointsDeleting |
The number of recovery points that AWS Backup is deleting. |
NumberOfRecoveryPointsCold |
The number of recovery points that AWS Backup tiered to cold storage. |
More dimensions are available beyond those listed in the table. To view all the
dimensions of a metric, type the name of that metric into the AWS/Backup
namespace of the Metrics section of the CloudWatch console.
Differences with the AWS Backup dashboard
The AWS Backup console has its own dashboard, which you can view by choosing
Dashboard in the navigation pane. This dashboard shows metrics for
the last 24 hours. The CloudWatch dashboard shows metrics over a longer period of time. For
specifics, see What is the retention period of all metrics?
The AWS Backup dashboard also shows you metrics at a point in time. CloudWatch shows you metrics over a period of time. For example, suppose that you have nine jobs completed and one job in progress over the last 4 hours. The AWS Backup dashboard would show you nine jobs completed and one job in progress. CloudWatch would show you 10 jobs in progress if you view running jobs metrics during the last 4 hours.
We recommend that you use the dashboard that enables you to most easily detect potential issues.
