AWS RDS Overview¶

• RDS Stands for Relatational Database Service
• It's a managed DB service
• It allows you to create databases in the cloud that are managed by AWS
  • Postgresql
  • MySQL
  • MariaDB
  • Oracle
  • Microsoft SQL Server
  • Aurora (AWS PRoprietary Database)

Advantage over using RDS versus deploying DB on EC2¶

• RDS is a managed service:
  • Automated provisioning, OS pathching
  • Continous backups and restore to specific timestamp (Point in Time Restore)
  • Monitoring dashboards
  • Read replicas for improved read performance
  • Multi AZ setup for DR (Disaster Recovery)
  • Maintenance windows for upgrades
  • Scaling capability (vertical and horizontal)
  • Storage backed by EBS (gp2 or io1)
• But you cannot SSH into your instances

RDS Backups¶

• Backups are automatically enabled in RDS
• Automated backups:
  • Daily full backup of the database (during the maintenance window)
  • Transaction logs are backed-up by RDS every 5 minutes
  • Ability to restore to any point in time (from oldest backup to 5 minutes ago)
  • 7 day retention (can be increased to 35 days)
• DB Snapshots
  • Manually triggered by the user
  • Retention of backup for as long as you want

RDS - Storage Auto Scaling¶

• Helps you increase storage on your RDS DB instance dynamically
• When RDS detects you are running out of free database storage, it scales automatically
• Avoid manually scaling your database storage
• You have to set Maximum Storage Threshold (maximum limit for DB Storage)
• Automatically modify storage if:
  • Free storage less than 10% of allocated storage
  • Low-storage lasts at least 5 minutes
  • 6 hours have passed since last modification
• Useful for applications with unpredicatable loads
• Supports all RDS database engines (MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, Oracle).