What is Amazon RDS?
Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) is a fully managed database service from AWS that enables enterprises to operate relational databases in the cloud without operational overhead. The service automates time consuming administrative tasks like hardware provisioning, database setup, patching and backups.
With Amazon RDS, you can create a production ready database instance in minutes and focus on application development instead of managing database infrastructure. The service supports eight different database engines and offers flexible configuration options for various workloads.
Core Features
- Managed Infrastructure: Automated provisioning, patching, backups and scaling
- High Availability: Multi-AZ deployments with automatic failover
- Read Replicas: Scale read traffic across up to 15 replicas
- Automated Backups: Point in time recovery with retention up to 35 days
- Security: Encryption at rest and in transit, VPC isolation, IAM integration
Typical Use Cases
Web and Mobile Applications
Amazon RDS provides the ideal foundation for scalable web applications with variable load profiles. Features like Read Replicas allow you to handle traffic spikes while Multi-AZ deployments guarantee high availability. Common examples include content management systems, e-learning platforms and social media applications.
Enterprise Applications
Existing ERP, CRM and business intelligence systems can be migrated to RDS to benefit from cloud scalability without changing application code. RDS supports commercial databases like Oracle and SQL Server for seamless lift and shift migrations.
SaaS Applications
Multi-tenant architectures benefit from RDS features like database cloning for new customer environments and Read Replicas for analytics workloads running parallel to production.
Advantages
- Reduced administrative overhead with fully managed service
- Flexible scaling from small development databases to enterprise workloads
- High durability with automated backups and Multi-AZ replication
- Cost optimization through Reserved Instances with up to 69% savings
Integration with innFactory
As an AWS Reseller, innFactory supports you with Amazon RDS: architecture design, migration from on premises databases, operations with 24/7 monitoring, and cost optimization through right sizing and Reserved Instance planning.
Available Tiers & Options
Single-AZ
- Lower cost
- No automatic failover
Multi-AZ
- High availability
- Automatic failover
- Higher cost
Typical Use Cases
Technical Specifications
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Amazon RDS?
Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) is a fully managed database service from AWS. It handles administrative tasks like provisioning, patching, backups, and scaling, allowing you to set up and operate relational databases in minutes.
Which database engines are supported?
Amazon RDS supports eight different database engines: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle Database, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM Db2, and the AWS native Amazon Aurora MySQL and Aurora PostgreSQL.
What is the difference between RDS and Aurora?
Aurora is a cloud native database engine from AWS optimized for high performance and availability. It offers up to 5x higher throughput than standard MySQL and 3x than PostgreSQL. RDS supports standard engines like MySQL, PostgreSQL and commercial databases. Aurora is ideal for mission critical workloads, while RDS is sufficient for many applications.
How does Multi-AZ work in Amazon RDS?
With Multi-AZ, Amazon RDS synchronously replicates your data to a standby instance in another Availability Zone. In case of failure, automatic failover to the standby instance occurs, typically within 60 to 120 seconds. Multi-AZ with two readable standbys reduces failover time to under 35 seconds.
Is Amazon RDS GDPR compliant?
Yes, Amazon RDS is available in EU regions (Frankfurt, Ireland, Paris, Stockholm, Milan, Spain) and can be operated GDPR compliant. AWS provides data processing agreements, appropriate certifications and full data residency in EU regions.