AWS Aurora: Architecture, Pricing, MySQL & PostgreSQL Compatibility

What Is Amazon Aurora in AWS?

Amazon Aurora is a relational database engine that provides enhanced and organized data in tables. This has allowed users to speed up their work and manage data stored on the database. 

Amazon Aurora is compatible with all known versions of PostgreSQL and My SQL, which is crucial for its extensive use. Furthermore, it provides five times faster speed than MySQL and three times faster than PostgreSQL to its users, making it exceptionally useful. Users can learn various AWS Aurora fundamentals and start working with it. Now, let us move forward to more wonderful features of Amazon Aurora.

Amazon AWS Features

Various Amazon AWS features are discussed below:

1. Enhanced Performance and Scalability

According to the reports and various tests conducted, Amazon Aurora was able to provide five times faster and more efficient results to the user on the same hardware. It was also noted that Amazon Aurora took full advantage of the system components and features to obtain faster results. Operation handling services and techniques, like quorums, enable users to enhance their output and efficiency.

2. Availability and Durability

Amazon ensures that your data is safe. For this, it deploys Amazon RDS, which keeps track of your database health and ensures that the backup is in place. To safeguard your data cache, it isolates the database buffer cache so it remains unaffected by a database restart, and the user can restore the process.

Also, in case of Database failure, Amazon RDS will look for Amazon Aurora Replicas and ensure that the backups are uploaded on the Amazon Aurora database. Users can make up to 15 Amazon Aurora replicas so they can overcome multiple failure scenarios too.

3. Security

The safety and security of data remain one of the best features of Amazon Aurora; it is equipped with enhanced security protocols that ensure your system becomes impenetrable. Amazon Aurora ensures that your data is stored in a Virtual network, making it accessible to only a limited users. The firewall and network access can be modified, which are some necessary precautions for a secure database. Also, it transmits data in 256-bit encryption, making it exceptionally safe. It allows users to go through data logs and look up various operations performed on the database.

4. Accessible 

An advantage of using Amazon Aurora is its accessibility features, making it easy to navigate various features provided. It also comes with easy monitoring features that allow you to look through multiple database insights and ensure that all operations are stored in a logbook.

Also, it uses auto-update features which ensure that your system remains backed with the latest released patches; Amazon aurora simplifies the management and working on the database. Amazon Aurora also provides a quick cloning feature that makes it easier for users to clone terabytes of data in a few minutes, proving to be a time saver.

5. Cost-Effective

Budget is one of the major factors affecting an application's demand, and Amazon Aurora controls it completely by charging its users only for the storage and services used. It also uses various techniques to optimize operating costs.

Amazon Aurora Architecture

The Amazon Aurora architecture focuses on reusing components, which makes it efficient and faster. Amazon Aurora reuses major working systems like recovery, transaction, and query execution, which saves memory and makes the system efficient. This method and architecture save both storage and time, resulting in enhanced and efficient output. Some new improvements have made Amazon Aurora even better, and they are listed below.

• Uses virtual storage and creates various data clones to ensure safe backups.
• Storing the changelog on a remote disk and prioritizing data accessibility restrictions.
• Using primary-replica setup.

MySQL Compatibility on Amazon Aurora

MySQL 5.6 and MySQL 5.7 are versions of MySQL that are compatible with Amazon Aurora and ensure top-notch services. Aurora is compatible with the InnoDB storage engine and does not work with MyISAM. So, if you have your data stored in MyISAM, then you need to transfer it to InnoDB.

PostgreSQL Compatibility on Amazon Aurora

AWS Aurora PostgreSQL is compatible with versions PostgreSQL 9.6 and PostgreSQL 10. It is extremely easy to set up PostgreSQL with Aurora as it can increase the throughput and efficiency of operations performed on the database. A PostgreSQL-compatible Aurora instance can be launched from the Amazon RDS console, and then PostgreSQL can be used as an edition and Amazon Aurora as the engine.

Benefits of Amazon Aurora

You are supposed to ask yourself why you need Amazon Aurora and what benefits it will bring you. Here are some benefits of Amazon Aurora that make it the best choice for a business.

1. Cost-Effective

The crucial part of a business is making profits and optimizing expenses, and Aurora does it for you. You only need to pay for the storage and services used by your system, and the user can make monthly payments for the same.

2. Security

• Amazon Aurora uses 256-bit data transfer encryption, which helps users transfer data via a secure medium.
• It uses virtual storage, which makes it easily accessible and restricts access to a limited members. 
• Users can create personalized encryption keys that safeguard sensitive data.

3. Durability

• Users can create multiple replicas of their data which are restored in case of database failure.
• It is a global database that makes it easier to access data and further make changes based on the access provided.

4. Migration Support

Aurora makes it easier to migrate local databases by using simple dump commands. 

5. Scalability

Amazon Aurora is equipped with dynamic scaling features that automatically increase or decrease storage based on the requirements.

6. Management

• One button working makes Aurora extremely easy to manage; you can call an API in your code or make a call on the RDS console.
• Users can manage their Amazon Cloudwatch with no additional charges included.
• The auto-update feature allows the system to patch in with the latest software updates and fix the latest bugs faced by the user.

AWS Aurora DB cluster

 A volume cluster and one or more Database instances constitute a Database cluster. A cluster volume is a virtual storage section spanning cells (availability zones) in the Database Cluster.

Two types of Aurora DB Cluster are formed in combination with various kinds of Database instances.

1. Primary DB instance

This instance supports data input and is responsible for all modifications made to the data volume. There is always at least one Primary DB instance in a DB cluster.

2. Aurora Replica

It connects to the same storage as a DB instance, but increases data volume availability by locating in various availability zones. In case of Database failure, Aurora replica replaces the data and ensures that operations are continued. Also, it connects to the cache memory and reloads the operations in process and active screens.

Users can set up to 15 aurora replicas in their cluster volumes.

Amazon Aurora Pricing

Aurora's pricing depends on usage, so there are special rates for each service. You can also visit the AWS calculator to find your estimate based on use. Amazon Aurora is billed based on the storage used by the user and the total number of operations performed. The data storage is billed at rates per GB, whereas the operations are billed at rates per million.

There is no upfront cost, but there can be extra charges for features like Backtrack, Snapshot Export, data transfer out of Aurora, and Global Database.The prices are compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL.

On-Demand Instance Pricing

This is probably the best feature of this application: It does not ask you to bill annually or look for long-term plans; you pay only for the capacity used. This is very useful if you want Aurora for a short project or test, so pay for what you use.

The billing is done based on the per DB instance hour consumed , until the instance is removed or stopped.

Database Storage and Input Output Pricing

The users are billed on the basis of Storage used by them at a rate of per GB and they are billed monthly and as per number of operations they are billed on per million requests. The charges for  I/Os depend on the workload and the database engine.

Storage rate    $0.10/GB per month

I/Os                   $0.20/million requests

Global Database

It is an optional feature provided by Amazon Aurora that focuses on providing low reads and data backup from outages. The user pays for replicated write operations between primary and secondary regions. Along with these replicated writes, the users also pay for instance rates, storage, cross-region data transfer, Backtrack, backup storage, and various other features that help you restore data at the earliest. It is also billed on a per-million replicated write operations.

Replicate I/O’s     $0.20 per million replicated write I/Os

AWS Aurora Vs. RDS

Amazon RDS ( Relational Database Services) simplifies operating on the Cloud and makes it easier to manage and scale operations. It allows users to handle administrative functions efficiently and in a budget-friendly manner. Users can also read about PostgreSQL vs MySQL. So some factors are the basis of the difference between Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS, and they are discussed below.

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Conclusion

In this article, AWS Aurora, a service by AWS, was discussed in depth, along with architecture, pricing, benefits and features. AWS is a booming sector showing a great rise, and thus, it has various openings for a brighter future. So, the AWS Cloud Architect Masters Program can guide you to excel in AWS Services.