Amazon Web service has a large spectrum of products and services to offer to businesses of all sizes and shapes. Among these, one of the most popular and remarkable services provided by Amazon is Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service). With the availability of this relational database service, the tasks of setting up, operating, and scaling a relational database in the Amazon Cloud become easier for software programmers. The most common administrative tasks are automatically facilitated using hardware support, setup functioning, patching, and other database backup and functions. Businesses can scale storage and other computing resources using a single API Call using AWS RDS.
The functionalities of Amazon’s RDS are evident in its cost-effectiveness and resizable capacities for an industry-standard relational database. Amazon’s RDS also serves effectively in the management of general database administration tasks. In order to obtain a better understanding of “what is RDS,” let us reflect on the different scenarios in which it is applicable.
AWS RDS Components
The following are the major components of AWS RDS
DB Instances They are the fundamental blocks of RDS. It is a database environment in AWS cloud where multiple user databases coexist and can interact with each other using the same set of tools and applications that users utilize for standalone database instances. The DB Instances can be divided into the following types:
Standard Instances
Memory-Optimized
Micro Instance
Regions and Availability Zones The regions allocated by AWS are highly available data centers spread across different areas of the world. Here highly available data centers mean these virtual servers never fail to show up and are always high-performing. Each AWS region includes several distinct locations called Availability Zones or AZs which are engineered in a way that failure of one availability zone does not impact another one.
Security Groups The core of DB instances is operated by a security group where the access control is given by creating an IP address for the user who needs permission from the security group to access the operational functions. Amazon RDS has 3 types of security groups:
VPC Security Group
EC2 Security Group
DB Security Group
DB Parameter Groups These defined sets of database engines act like controllers to manage the behaviour of the databases. Each DB instance is assigned a default parameter group with the default values if no other DB parameter group is assigned for that instance.
DB Option Groups: With the DB option groups, it becomes easier to manage the databases as Amazon RDS provides the tools used by some DB engines.
Amazon RDS Database Engines
The first release of Amazon RDS in October 2009 supported only MySQL databases. There are other subsequent releases of RDS that need to be added to support other additional databases. Amazon RDS supports six database engines that as similar, listed below
Amazon Aurora
PostgreSQL
MySQL
MariaDB
Oracle Database
Microsoft SQL Server
Let us explore each of these databases engines in depth
1. Amazon Aurora
Amazon Aurora- a compatible and affordable MYSQL and Postgre SQL relational database developed on the cloud to monitor the performance and availability of conventional databases in a simplistic and cost-effective manner than other open-source databases.
If we compare Amazon Aurora with MySQL then it is 5 times faster and more than 3 times faster than PostgreSQL databases.
Amazon Aurora is focused on autoscaling 64TB per database instance and can have a low latency rate of up to 15 for conveniently reading replicas and making it available for users on time.
2. PostgreSQL
Being an open-source relational database, it’s the most preferred database engine for developers. Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL provides the same functionalities as the traditional PostgreSQL database. There is no surprise that the codes, applications, and tools are readily used with the current databases and can also be integrated with Amazon RDS for seamless communication. In addition, users can also use Postgre SQL to make databases scalable and easy to deploy in a cost-efficient manner. With the help of AWS RDS, the hardware can be made flexible and resizable in terms of capacity.
3. MySQL
MySQL is the world’s most-liked open-source relational database and Amazon RDS provides simple and easy ways to set up, operate, and scale MySQL deployments in the AWS cloud. Users can use the same code written on local MYSQL instances because RDS for MYSQL covers all versions of MYSQL.
4. MariaDB
Also, MariaDB is an open-source relational database brought into existence by the original developers of MYSQL. Amazon RDS supports all versions of MariaDB server that makes it easier to use existing code, applications and tools with Amazon RDS.
5. Oracle
Amazon RDS specifically designed for Oracle is a commercial database that is managed on our own which supports licensing models and Bring-Your-Own-License (BYOL)”. Since the Oracle database Software is licensed by WAS so, it is not required for users to spend extra on Oracle licensing or purchasing. Amazon RDS enables developers to provide extra attention to creativity and app development to manage database administration tasks on their own.
6. Microsoft SQL Server
Microsoft powered SQL server-based relational database management system which supports multiple versions of SQL server from (2012, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019) which is also inclusive of Express, Web, Standard and Enterprise form of Amazon RDS. The code can be deployed using AWS RDS easily within minutes in a cost-friendly manner with a compact computational capacity.
This is a licensing model supported by Amazon RDS for SQL Server and hence it is not necessary to purchase any Microsoft SQL Server licenses additionally. Also, Amazon RDS for SQL facilitates users with two options Standard storage or provisioned IOPS for rapid, predictable, and consistent input-output and performance
How to Work with AWS RDS?
AWS RDS can interact with below-mentioned ways:
AWS Management Console It’s a simple web-based user interface that allows users to manage database instances from the console without any programming. To access the Amazon RDS console users are requested to sign in to their AWS management console.
Command Line Interface AWS CLI Command Line Interface is another way to help users interactively access Amazon RDS API.
Programming with Amazon RDS A developer can access the Amazon RDS programmatically using Amazon RDS Application Programming Interface(API) reference.
Features of Amazon Relational Database Service
The objective of this discussion would remain unfulfilled without reflecting on the features of Amazon RDS. Here is an outline of the notable features of the database management service on AWS.
Users could leverage the Amazon Command Line Interface for RDS, AWS Management Console, or general API calls for accessing capabilities of a production-ready relational database in few minutes. Pre-configuration of RDS DB instances with parameters and settings according to the database engine and instance class provides adequate flexibility.
Automatic software patching for relational database software alongside the facility of optional control over DB instance patching is a commendable feature.
The analysis of configuration and usage metrics from DB instances helps Amazon’s RDS provide recommendations on best practice guidance. The recommendations address different areas, such as for instance types, database engine versions, networking, and storage.
The general-purpose SSD storage and provisioned IOPS storage helps in addressing a wider range of database workloads in Amazon RDS.
The features of push-button compute scaling, Read Replicas, and easy storage scaling offers the benefits of scalability with Amazon’s RDS.
Automatic host replacement, automated backups, multi-AZ deployments, and database snapshots are the features in Amazon’s RDS for ensuring higher availability and durability.
The security features on Amazon’s RDS service are network isolation, resource-level permissions with AWS IAM, and encryption at rest and in transit.
The ease of manageability with Amazon’s RDS becomes evident with the features of configuration governance, event notifications, and monitoring and metrics.
Benefits of Amazon’s RDS
Based on these features, we can find various benefits from Amazon’s RDS for the management of databases on the cloud. Here are some of the credible advantages that you can get from Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS).
1. Lower administrative stress
The foremost benefit of RDS service on AWS is the reduction of administrative burden. The easy of use of RDS is evident in the limited need for infrastructure provisioning or installation and maintenance of database software.
2. Matching up to the demands of business
AWS provides efficient scaling of computing and storage resources of a database without any downtime. The facility of reading Replicas helps in offloading read traffic from a primary database instance.
3. Availability and durability
The benefits of reliability, availability, and durability are specifically evident in the AWS infrastructure itself. The facility of multiple Availability Zones (AZ) is the main driving factor for the higher availability of RDS instances.
4. Speed, performance, security, and cost-effectiveness
The speed and performance of Amazon’s RDS service depend on the powerful storage options. In addition, the concerns of security are minimal in the case of Amazon’s RDS due to the integration of AWS IAM. Finally, the cost-effectiveness of Amazon’s RDS with the model of pay-as-you-go is the most appealing benefit for enterprises.
Drawbacks of Amazon RDS
Some downsides of using Amazon RDS include the following:
Lack of root access. Because it is a managed service, users do not have root access to the server running RDS. RDS restricts access for certain procedures to those with advanced privileges.
Downtime. Systems must go offline for some patching and scaling procedures. The timing on these processes varies. With scaling, compute resources need a few minutes downtime on average.
The Tech Platform