Amazon Redshift introduces long-term system table retention with Amazon S3 Tables integration

Amazon Redshift now integrates natively with Amazon S3 Tables to support long-term retention of system table data, exceeding the previous 7-day limit. This feature automatically writes system table data to S3 Tables in Apache Iceberg format, managing partitioning, compaction, and retention without additional development or operational overhead. For environments with multiple data warehouses, system table data is automatically replicated into a single location, enabling consolidated monitoring and analysis across warehouses. Stored in the open Apache Iceberg format, the data can be queried via Redshift, Amazon Athena, or any Iceberg-compatible engine, and used to build observability dashboards with AWS services or third-party tools. The AWS Agent Toolkit also offers skills to query system table data for performance insights and optimization recommendations. This capability is available for Amazon Redshift Provisioned RG and RA3 instances, as well as Amazon Redshift Serverless.

Why it matters

This update benefits users who need to retain system table data for longer periods to meet monitoring or compliance requirements in their data warehouses.