An alternative to pausing your Neo4j Aura DB

Neo4j Aura is an always-on solution. The database is always running, and charges are always accruing, while the database exists.

Some users have periodic workloads, for which the DB is only required for short periods of time (ie, only on Mondays, or only on the first day of the month). Neo4j Aura does not currently support pausing a database. But, you can accomplish something similar with an export-destroy-create-import workflow.

This process assumes that your application has stopped and there is no I/O going to your DB

1. Navigate to the DB Console at https://console.neo4j.io/#databases/<DBID>/detail
2. Select the "Backups" tab.  Note: Aura backups happen every 24 hours. You may need to wait up to 24 hours after your workload has completed for the  next backup.
3. Export your database and save the resulting dump file to a secure location.
4. Once you have safely downloaded the most recent backup, you can destroy your DB, after which no further charges will accrue.

When you are ready to resume your workload:

1. Create a new Neo4j Aura instance,
2. Import the dump file saved in the previous step.
3. Update your application such that any references to the old DBID or credentials have the new information.
4. Resume your application once the import has completed