What is a recommended method to take a backup of an Amazon EC2 instance using AWS tools?

Creating an AMI (Amazon Machine Image) is a recommended method for taking a backup of an Amazon EC2 instance because it captures the entire state of the instance at a given point in time, including the operating system, application server, and all configuration and data files. An AMI serves as a template that can be used to launch new EC2 instances with identical configurations. This method allows for quick recovery or duplication of an instance, making it highly effective for backup and disaster recovery purposes.

While snapshots are also a common backup method, creating an AMI includes snapshots of the volumes, but it also packages the instance configuration, making it a more comprehensive solution for backup. Using AWS Lambda might be useful for automation tasks but is not directly a backup method for EC2 instances. Exporting to Amazon S3 does not accurately represent the backup of an entire EC2 instance since S3 is primarily for object storage rather than capturing the state of an EC2 instance itself.