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RDS (Relational Database Service)


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Amazon RDS makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud.

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Supported Engines​

  • Amazon Aurora (MySQL and PostgreSQL compatible)
  • MySQL
  • MariaDB
  • PostgreSQL
  • Oracle
  • Microsoft SQL Server
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Multi-AZ Deployments​

  • RDS automatically creates a standby replica in a different Availability Zone
  • Synchronous replication between primary and standby
  • Automatic failover to the standby in case of planned or unplanned outages
  • The endpoint DNS name remains the same after failover
  • Multi-AZ is for high availability, not for read scaling
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Read Replicas​

  • Asynchronous replication from the primary instance
  • Used to offload read traffic from the primary database
  • Can be created in the same region or cross-region
  • Up to 15 read replicas for Aurora, up to 5 for other engines
  • Read replicas can be promoted to standalone instances
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Backups​

Automated Backups​

  • Daily full snapshots during the configured backup window
  • Transaction logs are stored every 5 minutes
  • Retention period: 1 to 35 days (default: 7 days)
  • Allows point-in-time recovery to any second within the retention period

Manual Snapshots​

  • User-initiated snapshots
  • Retained until explicitly deleted (not affected by the retention period)
  • Can be copied across regions
  • Can be shared with other AWS accounts
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Encryption​

  • Encryption at rest using AWS KMS keys
  • Must be enabled at creation time; cannot be enabled on an existing unencrypted instance
  • Encrypts the underlying storage, automated backups, read replicas, and snapshots
  • To encrypt an existing unencrypted database: create a snapshot, copy the snapshot with encryption, and restore from the encrypted snapshot
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Aurora​

  • AWS proprietary relational database engine compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL
  • Up to 5x throughput of MySQL and 3x of PostgreSQL
  • Storage auto-scales in 10 GB increments up to 128 TB
  • 6 copies of data across 3 Availability Zones
  • Supports Aurora Serverless for unpredictable or intermittent workloads
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