What backup strategy works best for EC2 instances running Microsoft SQL Server?

A third-party platform may be worthwhile if you need SQL-aware recovery, centralized MSP reporting, simpler restores, or protection across multiple cloud and on-premises environments. Products such as Commvault, Rubrik, Cohesity, and Veeam can provide that layer. Whatever tool you choose, keep at least one backup copy outside the primary AWS environment so an account compromise or regional problem does not affect every copy.

Before choosing a backup product, decide whether these databases really need to remain on EC2. Moving SQL Server to RDS can simplify maintenance, patching, and database backups, although it usually costs more and may involve compatibility or licensing tradeoffs. If SQL must stay on EC2, use a process that coordinates SQL backups or quiesces the workload before creating EBS snapshots; otherwise, a snapshot may only be crash-consistent.

For ordinary EC2 workloads, treat the instance as replaceable: automate rebuilding it, keep persistent application data on services such as EFS where appropriate, and back up that data separately. That approach avoids relying on a full machine image as the only recovery method. You can still retain EBS snapshots for quick rollback, but they should be part of a broader recovery plan.

AWS Backup is probably the simplest native starting point. You can define backup plans, schedules, retention, and vaults centrally, then manage restores through the console or CLI. EBS snapshots are useful, but by themselves they are generally block-level images and do not understand SQL Server transactions or application state. For stronger protection, keep recovery copies in a separate account or organization and consider immutable backup storage.