Updated March 21, 2023

Introduction to AWS Databases

AWS provides cloud database service for all kinds of database types like Relational, Key-value, In-memory, Document, Graph, Time-series, Wide Column and ledger with configurable capabilities for scaling, automation for backup, and other computing tasks; this database can handle any application which requires a highly responsive and fast response for queries at millions of requests per seconds with no need for maintenance, backup, restore, upgrades this Amazon manages all things.

In a world where data has become very essential and traditional databases are incapable of handling big data, Amazon Web Services provides web-based database solutions to an enterprise. AWS provides several services such as managing, analyzing, and transforming the data within relational and non-relational databases. It has a wide range of database services such as Amazon RDS and Amazon Redshift to tackle all kinds of database requirements. One can easily import the data from traditional databases such as MYSQL or non-relational databases such as MongoDB to AWS. It has proved to be very cost-effective to an enterprise as there is no need to have a database maintenance team or expensive hardware; it takes care of the infrastructure for you.

Features

Amazon Web Services hosts a wide range of features for its Database solutions. Before going into detail about AWS database features, let’s have a glace of different databases.

The most commonly used databases are relational databases that use structured query language to run. Types of relational databases are Amazon RDS, Redshift, and Amazon Aurora. We will discuss each of these databases in the next section of the article.
The in-memory database utilizes the main memory of the computer to store the data. Complete data is stored in the RAM. This is quite popular because the query performance is optimized when the data is stored in the main memory.
Amazon Dynamo DB is an example of a key-value database that falls under the non-relational database. In this database, the values are stored with unique keys.
Amazon Web Service Elastic cache is a service that helps in managing and storing the cache memory of the user. This service is widely used in storing customer profiles and their shopping behavior.

Features of AWS Relational Databases

Here are the features of Relational Databases given below

1. Maintenance-free and effortless administration

Amazon Web Services maintains the server infrastructure and thus reduces the maintenance and deployment cost of the system. With the help of management tools provided by AWS like the Management console, command-line interface, and API’s one can easily administer and manage the databases in a fraction of time.

2. Failure Management

In some cases, Amazon relational database systems hardware might fail. In this situation, Amazon will replace it automatically. The infrastructure of this is reliable and is built to withstand system failures most of the time.

3. Security

AWS provides complete control over the server to manage the databases. With the help of this, one can access the home database through a VPN which is called Amazon Virtual Private Cloud. A large catalog of security features is available within the AWS portal. Users can manage and control the Network and security, Database options, and Encryption depending upon the data classification.

4. Processing speed and back up options

AWS Relation database Service is designed to easily support applications based on a data pipeline. The availability of the SSD storage option assures optimum speed and high performance to the users. The cost of this service is far less compared to its competitors; hence it is preferred by many organizations. It has an auto back up system that backs up the data, such as logs every five minutes, to avoid losing the data.

5. Application support

It provides security, flexibility, and a cost-effective database solution to eCommerce retailers. It further provides mobile and web application support. AWS makes sure to monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot the database server, hence reducing the burden on the client.

6. AWS mobile Hub

AWS mobile app is available for both Android and iOS devices. The application supports a large variety of services. Development testing and monitoring of the data can be easily accomplished on the go with the help of the console app. This app is very user-friendly, and one can manage the data anywhere on the go with the availability of the application.

Features of AWS Non-Relational database

The features are pointed out below:

AWS non-relational database has a low maintenance cost, highly scalable and delivers relatively high performance than its competitors.
Users can set up the service easily and manage it with the help of dedicated tools available along with the service.
Data is distributed among multiple servers when the traffic increases to avoid failures.
AWS non-relational database solution supports both key-value and document-type data models.

Advantages

AWS database solutions provide a large number of benefits than compared to hardware solutions. AWS solutions are much superior in scalability and speed, thus eliminating the long process of acquiring licenses and permissions while deployment. One of the main advantages of opting for AWS database solutions is cost-effectiveness. A large number of small-scale businesses and online E-commerce companies are highly dependent on AWS for database solutions. AWS provides database solutions to these organizations depending on their requirements and need. Multiple payment options such as hourly, monthly, and yearly are available to select from.

Some of the Advantages of using Relational Database Services (RDS)

Improved performance and scalability. When compared to its competitors, the cloud-based solution provides more flexibility.
Hassle-free setup and is designed to automate maintenance and security updates.
Cost-effective solution for startup and small organizations.
Data is automatically backed up now, and then so there is no data loss and inconsistency in data.

AWS RedShift

AWS Redshift utilizes machine learning technology to deliver faster performance and response time compared to other data warehouses in AWS. RedShaft data warehouse is designed to scale petabytes of data with optimum speed and efficiency.

Below are the few benefits of using AWS Redshift

AWS RedShaft can run multiple queries parallelly without taking a hit on the query run time.
Data is automatically backed up to Amazon S3. Amazon S3 provides object storage infrastructure.
It is relatively cost-effective when compared to its competitors.
Improved security features such end-to-end encryption and user-configurable firewall rules make AWS RedShaft one of the finest database solutions there is to offer by AWS.

AWS AuroraDB

It’s one of the relational database engines provided by AWS. Aurora Database is a cloud bases service and is compatible with MySQL server. Just like other AWS databases, AuroraDB is a fully automated service and infrastructure maintained by Amazon.

Advantages of using AuroraDB

Security: AuroraDB is highly secured because of the availability of timely security patches and updates.
Fully managed service: It takes care of A to Z from setup to maintenance.
Performance: AuroraDB delivers a high-performance rate and is highly scalable.
AuroraDB is well known for its durability and resistance to faults.

AWS DynamoDB

AWS DynamoDB falls under non-relational or NoSQL database. According to the company, DynamoDb runs a query in less than milliseconds and is the best NoSQL database in terms of performance.

Data within DynamoDB doesn’t require schemas to be stored and is stored with the help of three essential components.

Advantages of DynamoDB

Setting up and managing DynamoDB is very convenient. One can easily set up and start working on this database without any prior knowledge of DynamoDB. However, prior knowledge of the NoSQL database is required.
Key values and Document-based data models are fully supported within DynamoDB.
One of the key advantages is cross-region replication. This feature enables one to manage copies of DynamoDB master in multiple AWS regions. Any changes made to the table will be replicated in all the copies of the Master table.

AWS Elasticache

It provides two engines Memcached and Redis, for caching solutions to the organization. There are multiple benefits of using AWS Elasticache solution besides automated setup and deployment. Application performance is improved rapidly, and disk failures are drastically reduced.

Features of AWS ElastiCache

AWS ElastiCache eliminates the need for hard disk and provides quicker response time with the help of a fast in-memory system.
The services such as failure recovery, maintenance, and backups are automated and are maintained by the AWS team within Amazon.
AWS ElastiCashe modifies the operation and system automatically to meet the requirements. The service is fully scalable with low tolerance to faults.

Advantages of AWS ElastiCache

Below are some of the advantages of AWS catching solution/ Elasticache

Automated management: Several tasks, including software patching update, configuration, failure monitoring and recovery, restore and back, and hardware requirements, is undertaken by the AWS team. This advantage helps the developer to focus on business logic and be more productive.
Performance: Data is stored with the in-memory system and thus can be quickly accessed when desired. Response time for any query is very less and thus, applications that require the least response time are dependent on AWS Elasticache.
AWS Elasticache is highly scalable and can modify itself by scaling in and out based on the requirement to meet the needs.

Conclusion

In this article, a brief introduction to different AWS database services has been provided. It has gained its popularity because of the cloud-based interface, and the amount of data that can be stored in the cloud is far more than one can imagine storing in the hard disk. We have further seen essential features and advantages and have compared them with their competitors.

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