Amazon Aurora
- Type
- Popular
- Launched
- 2014
A high-performance database compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL, delivering up to 5x better throughput
What It Does
Amazon Aurora is a relational database engine built from the ground up by AWS. It is compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL, allowing you to migrate existing applications with minimal changes. It delivers performance and availability comparable to commercial databases at roughly one-tenth the cost. Storage automatically scales up to 256 TiB or 128 TiB depending on the engine version (as of October 2026) and maintains six copies of your data across three Availability Zones.
Use Cases
Used for e-commerce sites requiring high transaction throughput, large-scale SaaS application backends, financial data processing, game user data management, and as a migration target from existing MySQL or PostgreSQL databases. It is ideal for workloads that demand both high performance and high availability.
Everyday Analogy
Think of it like an economy car with a luxury engine under the hood. The look and controls (MySQL/PostgreSQL compatibility) are the same as the car you are used to driving, but the engine (storage layer) is specially engineered, delivering far superior acceleration (processing speed) and fuel efficiency (cost-effectiveness).
What Is Aurora?
Amazon Aurora is a relational database engine designed from scratch by AWS for the cloud. Traditional databases were designed for on-premises environments, but Aurora is built to fully leverage the distributed architecture of the cloud. It comes in two editions: Aurora MySQL (MySQL-compatible) and Aurora PostgreSQL (PostgreSQL-compatible).
The Secret to High Performance
Aurora achieves its high performance through an innovative storage layer design. Traditional databases need to write both logs and data pages during write operations, but Aurora sends only logs to the storage layer, which then generates data pages on its own. This design dramatically reduces network I/O, delivering up to 5x the throughput of standard MySQL and up to 3x that of PostgreSQL.
Aurora Serverless
Aurora Serverless is an option that automatically scales database capacity. It shuts down automatically during idle periods and starts up within seconds when requests arrive. It is well suited for development and test environments, or applications with unpredictable access patterns. Aurora Serverless v2 enables finer-grained scaling, making it practical for production workloads as well.
Getting Started
To start using Aurora, click Create Database in the RDS console and select Aurora (MySQL Compatible) or Aurora (PostgreSQL Compatible) as the engine type. Choose an instance class, set a master username and password, and your cluster will be up and running in minutes. The connection method is the same as standard MySQL or PostgreSQL, so your existing drivers and tools work as-is.
Things to Watch Out For
- Aurora instance pricing is slightly higher than standard RDS MySQL/PostgreSQL, so standard RDS may be sufficient for small-scale projects
- Aurora Serverless v2 can reduce costs during idle periods, but pay attention to the minimum capacity setting
- While migration from MySQL or PostgreSQL is highly compatible, some features and parameters differ, so test thoroughly beforehand
Available Regions
Amazon Aurora is available in 37 Regions (as of 2026-10-09).
Asia Pacific: Hong Kong, Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, Osaka, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Singapore, Sydney, Jakarta, Melbourne, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand
North America: Canada (Central), Canada West (Calgary), Mexico (Central), US East (N. Virginia), US East (Ohio), US West (N. California), US West (Oregon)
South America: São Paulo
Europe: Frankfurt, Zurich, Stockholm, Milan, Spain, Ireland, London, Paris
AWS European Sovereign Cloud: Germany
Middle East: Israel (Tel Aviv), UAE, Bahrain
Africa: Cape Town
AWS GovCloud (US): AWS GovCloud (US-East), AWS GovCloud (US-West)
References (Official AWS Resources)
The primary sources for this page are the official AWS website and documentation. Check the official pages below for the latest specifications and pricing.
If this page and the official documentation disagree, treat the official documentation as authoritative.
