What should the solutions architect do to meet this requirement with the LEAST amount of effort?
Take a snapshot of the EBS storage that is attached to each EC2 instance. Create an AWS CloudFormation template to launch new EC2 instances from the EBS storage.
Take a snapshot of the EBS storage that is attached to each EC2 instance. Create AWS Elastic Beanstalk to set the environment based on the EC2 template and attach the EBS storage.
Use AWS Backup to set up a backup plan for the entire group of EC2 instances. Use the AWS Backup API or the AWS CLI to speed up the restore process for multiple EC2 instances.
Create an AWS Lambda function to take a snapshot of the EBS storage that is attached to each EC2 instance and copy the Amazon Machine Images (AMIs). Create another Lambda function to perform the restores with the copied AMIs and attach the EBS storage.
Explanations:
Taking snapshots of the EBS volumes and creating a CloudFormation template to launch new EC2 instances from the snapshots does not fully automate recovery. It would require significant manual effort and is not as efficient as a more centralized backup solution.
Using AWS Elastic Beanstalk to manage the EC2 instances with attached EBS storage does not provide a solution for disaster recovery. Elastic Beanstalk is designed for application deployment, not for backing up EC2 instances and EBS volumes.
AWS Backup allows for centralized backup management and recovery. It can automate the backup of EC2 instances and EBS volumes, and the restore process can be expedited through APIs or CLI, providing an efficient and scalable solution for disaster recovery.
Although using Lambda to take snapshots and copy AMIs is a feasible approach, it is more complex and introduces overhead compared to using AWS Backup. AWS Backup offers a more automated, centralized, and easier-to-manage solution for backing up EC2 instances and EBS volumes.
From my perspective, the answer is:
Use AWS Backup to set up a backup plan for the entire group of EC2 instances. Use the AWS Backup API or the AWS CLI to speed up the restore process for multiple EC2 instances.