I set up an amazon ec2 instance using ubuntu server edition.

I install LAMP stack on it.

I did up a php web app running on mysql.

I have not officially launched, but I need to know this before launching.

Should I backup my database data? If so, how should I do it as cost effective as possible?

Previously for another web app, i wrote a perl or bash script (cannot remember) that will be executed by cron on a daily basis.

The script will then backup the database into a single .sql file and send as email attachment to my gmail account.

That web app was on shared hosting hence, I was quite sure i needed to do backup of my database. My files are on git repo so I am not worried about that.

Please advise.

I am totally unfamiliar with AWS. Only know as much as setting up an account. That is all.

Thank you.