Resize RDS Instance On Schedule

Scale your AWS RDS instances up and down at scheduled times to optimize costs and performance.


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Updated 5th October, 2025

How To Resize RDS Instance On Schedule

Server Scheduler provides a visual time grid to automatically resize RDS instances at scheduled times throughout the week.


If you have predictable traffic patterns, simply choose the times you want your instances to scale up or down, the size you want to go to and Server Scheduler will handle the entire resize process automatically.


Contents

How Scheduled RDS Resizing Works

Server Scheduler integrates with the AWS RDS API to handle instance resizing safely and reliably. Using the API key you provide, our system automatically stops running instances, modifies the instance type, and restarts them according to your predefined schedule. There will be a brief period of downtime while this is happening but this is usually 1-2 minutes and is linked to the size of your database.


Why Resize RDS Instance On Schedule In AWS

Many applications have predictable usage patterns where they need more compute power during business hours and can run on smaller instances during off-peak times, saving up to 70% on costs. A good example is test environments that are not used after everyone finishes work for the day. Manually resizing instances is time-consuming and easy to forget. This is where Server Scheduler comes in with an easy to use time grid to set the time, size and family of instance you want to change to.



What About Autoscaling

Autoscaling is the most common way for applications to scale if you can deal with the trade offs. It can be tricky to set up and costs can quickly spiral if a flood of traffic comes. The scaling is out of your control and is determined by your users. Our experience is that it is particularly challenging with RDS and often it can be less headache to have large instance running over provisioned rather than wasting springs of engineering time trying to implement autoscaling.

Server Scheduler offers precision by allowing devops engineers to determine exactly when an applications RDS servers should scale and by how much. When you have predictable traffic patterns it makes more sense to put guard rails on the scaling windows and that is made possible with our time grid.


Automated resizing ensures your RDS instances are always sized appropriately for the current workload demands, maximizing performance during peak hours while minimizing costs during low-usage periods.

Features of Server Scheduler

Server Scheduler goes beyond basic RDS resizing functionality. The platform understands the complexities of instance management and provides features specifically designed for DevOps teams and system administrators.


Feature Description
✅ Automatic Stop & Start Safely stops instances before resizing and automatically restarts them after the instance type change is complete.
✅ Weekly Schedule Grid Set different instance types for specific days and hours throughout the week with an intuitive visual interface.
✅ Instance Type Validation Automatically validates that target instance types are compatible with your current configuration and available in your region.
✅ Multi-Region Support Manage resize schedules across all AWS regions from a single dashboard, perfect for global infrastructure management.
✅ Cost Optimization Automatically scale down to smaller, cheaper instances during off-peak hours to reduce your AWS bill significantly.
✅ Performance Scaling Scale up to larger instances during peak hours to ensure optimal application performance when you need it most.

Common RDS Resize Scenarios

Use Case Scheduling Strategy
👉 Business Hours Scaling Scale up to larger instances (db.m5.xlarge) during 9 AM - 6 PM workdays, scale down to smaller instances (db.t3.small) overnight and weekends.
👉 Development Environment Optimization Use powerful instances during development hours for faster builds, then scale to minimal instances to reduce costs when not in use.
👉 Batch Processing Workloads Schedule compute-optimized instances during known processing windows, then revert to general-purpose instances for normal operations.
👉 Traffic Pattern Optimization Scale database servers to handle peak traffic during business hours, then reduce capacity during predictable low-traffic periods.
👉 Seasonal Scaling Automatically adjust instance sizes based on predictable seasonal demand patterns or business cycles.

Enterprise Instance Management

Large organizations appreciate how Server Scheduler integrates RDS resize scheduling with comprehensive team management. System administrators can set up resize schedules while giving read-only access to developers who need visibility into infrastructure scaling.

The audit logging captures every resize operation with detailed timestamps and user attribution, making it easy to track scaling activities for compliance reporting and cost optimization analysis.

If organisations know they will have zero traffic during certain periods, they can even takes things further and turn off RDS instances on schedule and the same for EC2.

Safety and Reliability

RDS instance resizing requires careful handling to prevent data loss or service disruption. Server Scheduler implements multiple safety checks to ensure your scheduled resize operations happen smoothly without issues.

Built-in Safety Measures

Our system only resizes instances that are currently stopped, automatically stopping running instances first and restarting them after the resize completes. This ensures zero data loss during the process.

Comprehensive error handling ensures that failed resize attempts are logged with detailed error messages, and automatic retry logic handles transient AWS API issues without manual intervention.

Integration with Complete Infrastructure

What sets Server Scheduler apart is how RDS resize scheduling integrates with your entire AWS infrastructure management. You can coordinate instance resizing with scheduled EC2 scaling and timed Elasticache scaling from a single platform.

This unified approach means you can ensure databases are scaled in sync with EC2 and cache servers, or schedule cache optimization to coincide with compute scaling for maximum efficiency during peak periods.

Real-World Cost Savings

Development teams using Server Scheduler report 40-70% cost reductions on their RDS spend by automatically scaling down during off-hours. Production environments see improved performance during peak times while maintaining cost efficiency during low-usage periods.

The consistency of automated resizing also makes it easier to predict and budget AWS costs, helping teams optimize their cloud spending over time with data-driven scaling decisions.

Getting Started with RDS Resize Scheduling

  1. 1 Create Your Free Account:
    Visit our registration page and sign up with your email or Google account.
  2. 2 Connect Your Cloud Account:
    After logging in, go to the "Cloud Providers" section in your dashboard. Click "Add Cloud Provider" and select AWS. You'll be prompted to paste your AWS API key and secret. (We recommend creating a dedicated IAM user with the necessary permissions for security.)
  3. 3 Discover Your RDS Instances:
    Once connected, Server Scheduler will automatically discover all your RDS instances. You'll see them listed in your dashboard, along with their current instance type and status.
  4. 4 Set Up Your Resize Schedule:
    Select the instance(s) you want to automate, choose your preferred instance types for different time periods and save your schedule. Server Scheduler will handle the rest!

Frequently Asked Questions


Q: How To add memory to an RDS instance?

A: Memory is tied to the instance type, so the way to increase RAM is by changing the instance type to one with more memory. For a one time change, do it manually in the AWS Dashboard


Q: Can we change RDS instance type while running

A: No. Unfortunately instances will be unavailable during the resize. If downtime is not an option, you will need to create a new instance at the desired size and repoint your application to that.


Q: How To Resize RDS instance on schedule in AWS?

A: Connect Server Scheduler to AWS and then choose the time you want your RDS to be resized


Q: How to upgrade RDS instance OS?

A: Upgrading an existing server is possible but we highly recommend creating a new instance with the desired OS version.


Q: Can I create a snapshot of RDS instance?

A: In the AWS dashboard, identify the volume(s) attached to your instance and snapshot it. Simple!


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