Amazon RDS Essential2009年〜
A managed service providing relational databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle
What It Does
Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) is a fully managed service offering MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server, and Db2 relational databases. AWS automatically handles patching, backups, failover, and scaling.
Use Cases
Backend databases for web applications, data management for business systems, product and order data storage for e-commerce sites, multi-tenant databases for SaaS applications - anywhere a relational database is needed.
Everyday Analogy
Think of a managed parking garage with an attendant. Instead of building and maintaining your own garage (database server), the attendant (AWS) handles cleaning (patching), security cameras (monitoring), and regular inspections (backups) for you.
What Is RDS?
Amazon RDS is a managed service that automates relational database operations. It handles database engine installation, OS patching, automated backups, and Multi-AZ failover on your behalf, letting developers focus on application development.
Choosing a Database Engine
RDS supports six database engines. MySQL and PostgreSQL are the most widely used open-source options. MariaDB is a MySQL fork with its own enhancements while maintaining compatibility. Oracle and SQL Server are commercial databases that support bring-your-own-license (BYOL). For higher performance and availability, consider Amazon Aurora, which is compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL.
Multi-AZ and Read Replicas
Enabling Multi-AZ deployment automatically creates a standby instance in a different Availability Zone from the primary. If the primary fails, automatic failover to the standby typically completes within 60 seconds. Read replicas distribute read traffic and you can create up to 15. Cross-region replicas also support disaster recovery. For a structured approach to learning about Multi-AZ and read replicas, related books on Amazon are a helpful resource.
Getting Started
In the RDS console, select "Create database" and specify the engine, instance class, and storage size. You'll receive an endpoint - set it in your application's connection string and you're connected. The free tier includes a db.t3.micro instance for up to 750 hours per month for 12 months.
Things to Watch Out For
- Stopped instances automatically restart after 7 days - for long-term inactivity, take a snapshot and delete the instance
- Multi-AZ incurs additional charges for the standby instance. Consider single-AZ for development environments to save costs
- The free tier covers 750 hours/month on db.t3.micro - this is the combined total across all instances
