Those whose businesses already use a relational database management system like MySQL or PostgreSQL will be familiar with its many advantages. Both are well-known for their reliability, availability, scalability, and speed.
However, what should you do if your company is considering moving to Amazon Web Services? Without proper expertise and skills, such migration can be challenging.
It's where Amazon Aurora comes into play! Amazon Aurora is a MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible cloud relational database service. It simplifies database installation, backups, patches, and hardware provisioning.
It is as fast and reliable as MySQL and PostgreSQL but simpler and more affordable. Let’s discuss all about Amazon Aurora.
What is Amazon Aurora and How Does It Compare to Other Database Options?
With MySQL and PostgreSQL compatibility, Amazon Aurora is a relational database that was created specifically for use in the cloud. It combines the strength and dependability of conventional enterprise databases with the simplicity and low cost of open source databases.
In comparison to other database services on the market, Amazon Aurora stands out as a superior option due to its extensive set of features, long-term viability, and rock-solid dependability. So far, its performance has been shown to be superior to that of MySQL and PostgreSQL.
What Features Does Amazon Aurora Include That Make It a Desirable Choice?
The following are the best features of Amazon Aurora:
- 1
Completely Managed
AWS RDS manages AWS Aurora ultimately. You no longer have to take care of your database's software patching, hardware provisioning, installation, configuration, and backups.
Aurora will keep an eye on your database and continuously back it up to Amazon S3 so that you can restore it to a certain time.
Many tools on Amazon can help you keep an eye on your database's activity and find performance problems before they get too bad.
- 2
Compatibility with PostgreSQL & MySQL
Amazon Aurora’s database engine is highly-compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL version 9.6 & 10. The best part is that it updates regularly to work with the update versions of these databases.
You can easily move Amazon Aurora data by using the import/export tools built into MySQL and PostgreSQL.
That means you can start using Amazon Aurora with peace of mind as it will not require modifications to your existing application, database, or tool setup.
- 3
Better Performance & Scalability
Amazon Aurora can process five times as many requests as standard MySQL and three times as many as PostgreSQL.
In either case, you can use Aurora Serverless to automatically adjust the size of your database deployment to meet your needs, or you can change the size of your deployment yourself.
It can increase read performance and throughput by adding up to 15 low-latency read replicas spread over 3 Availability Zones.
Instances of the Amazon Aurora database can automatically have their storage capacity extended by 128TB.
Examples of How Amazon Aurora Can be Used in Business Applications?
Let’s discuss the examples of how you can use Amazon Aurora in business applications:
Software as a Service (SaaS) Applications
Amazon Aurora's managed database services include all of the features that allow SaaS companies to focus on developing cutting-edge software rather than on database maintenance.
In software as a service (SaaS) environments, multi-tenant architectures need to be fast, reliable, and flexible when it comes to scaling instances and user storage.
Web & Mobile Gaming
Amazon Aurora can handle even the most resource-intensive business applications and still have room to expand. Amazon Aurora is a great fit for the sporadic needs of these programs because there are no licensing restrictions.
Also, for massively multiplayer online and mobile games to work well, they need a database that can store a lot of data and is always available.
Enterprise Applications
If your business application needs access to a relational database, Amazon Aurora is your best choice. Amazon Aurora can improve database availability and reliability at a 90% cost savings compared to commercial databases.
Using Amazon Aurora's fully managed service, users can save time on administrative tasks like provisioning, patching, backup, failure detection, recovery, and repair.
What are the Key Benefits of Using Amazon Aurora?
Let’s discuss the key benefits that you can reap by using Amazon Aurora.
Are There Any Potential Downsides to Using Amazon Aurora?
No doubt, Amazon Aurora offers a remarkable database service, but it also has some limitations. Let’s find out some potential downsides you should consider before using Amazon Aurora.
How to Migrate Your Database to Amazon Aurora?
There are 3 ways to migrate your database to Amazon Aurora.
- 1
Migrate Existing Data
A "full load" creates tables in the target database, automatically defines metadata, and fills those tables with data from the source database.
Multiple tables are loaded at once to save time. AWS DMS creates tables during homogeneous migrations but not secondary indexes.
- 2
Replicating Ongoing Changes While Migrating Existing Data
This method also performs a full load, but it logs source database updates so they can be applied to the replication instance later.
After the transfer, the saved changes will be applied to the destination database.
Additionally, the target database is updated to reflect source database changes. This method is ideal for database migrations with limited downtime.
- 3
Only Replicating Modified Data
Choosing this approach to migrate the database to Amazon Aurora will help you read the changes from the recovery file of the source database.
It will modify the target database and apply the latest data. The best part of this method is that it will store the replication instance in case the target database is unavailable until it becomes available again.
The Future of Amazon Aurora in Today’s Market
Amazon Aurora is a relational database engine made by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It works well with relational database management systems like MySQL and PostgreSQL.
Today, businesses that wish to host their database in the cloud have a very scalable and trustworthy choice in this service. Aurora is a strong competitor because AWS always adds new features and makes it run faster.
With the beginning of serverless computing, many businesses are considering using a service like Amazon Aurora to handle their database management needs.
As more companies move to a multi-cloud strategy, Amazon Aurora will continue to work with other AWS services to offer a complete solution for processing and analyzing data.
Aurora's ability to handle high transaction volumes and provide automatic failover and backups make it a good choice for businesses that want a cloud-based database solution. As more companies move their infrastructure to the cloud, demand for Aurora is likely to keep going up.