Author: Steve Upkin

Steve is a product-marketer and Engineer at Cloudysave who works with Cloud Management and Adoption team. Over the past years, he has collaborated with multiple teams to provide a robust and cost-effective architecture patterns to influence business and engineering decisions. His key areas of interests include Cloud Costs Management, Security and DevOps Best-Practices.
Amazon Aurora vs Dynamodb

Amazon Aurora vs DynamoDB

Posted on | by Steve Upkin

Amazon Aurora vs DynamoDB – Overview

Amazon Aurora and Amazon DynamoDB are two different databases as a service offered by Amazon for AWS clients. The DynamoDB is a non-relational database, while the Amazon Aurora is a relational database. So yes, they carry a lot of differences that you should know about first if you are an active user of AWS.

Both services are designed to solve different problems and provide different solutions to users. So yes, both services have their importance. Amazon Aurora is a good choice for those who store semi-structured and structured data. Let’s find out the different aspects that make these two services of Amazon different from each other.

Amazon Aurora

Amazon Aurora is a relatively new service offered by Amazon to AWS clients. The service is there to replace the standard MySQL, which is now compatible with the latest MySQL 5.6. This relational database is highly cost-effective, which is why it is one of the best and most recommended services to AWS clients by its users.

Amazon Aurora is up to five times faster than the standard database. It is known for its unique self-healing system that lets you store unlimited databases with no manual intervention needed.

Amazon DynamobDB

Amazon’s DynamobDB is yet another popular service among AWS clients. It’s a fully managed database that supports key-value and document storage models. It’s a no-SQL database service that is fast and reliable. It is also very cost-effective. This service is quite popular just because it is highly scalable. It stores data in the cloud which eliminates the need for extra storage space for the databases.

Both services are quite popular among AWS clients. They carry a lot of different features that make them independent services from each other. Let’s find out the differences between these two services.

Learn more about AWS DynamoDB FAQ

Amazon Aurora Vs. DynamoDB

  • Both services are developed and launched by Amazon. The Amazon DynamoDB service was launched by Amazon in the year 2012 while the Amazon Aurora service was launched in the year 2015 by Amazon for AWS clients.
  • Amazon Aurora is a MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible service based on the cloud. The DynamoDB service is a highly scalable database service that is compatible with Amazon’s Cloud service to store databases.
  • Amazon Aurora doesn’t require Foreign Keys, it works on referential integrity. On the other hand, the DynamoDB service doesn’t work on referential integrity. It is an independent service designed for Amazon Web Services clients.
  • Amazon Aurora uses immediate consistency to see the data is distributed equally. While Amazon DynamodB uses both, immediate consistency and eventual consistency to see if the data is distributed in the system or not.
  • Amazon Aurora’s primary database model is Relational DBMS, while the primary database model of Amazon DynamoDB is a key-value store and document store.
  • Amazon Aurora’s can be partitioned in the horizontal direction. While Amazon DynamoDB uses the sharding partitioned method.
  • Amazon Aurora service supports server-side scripting. It requires the presence of active servers. On the other hand, Amazon’s DynamoDB service doesn’t support server-side scripting as it is a scalable database service.
  • Amazon Aurora supports several computer languages such as Ada, C, C#, C++. D, Delphi, Eiffel, Erlang, Haskell, Java, Javascript, Objective-C, OCami, Perl, PHP, Python, Ruby, Scheme, TCL. The DynamoDB also supports various computer languages but in fewer numbers. The DynamoDB service supports .Net, ColdFusion, Erlang, Groovy, Java, Javascript, Perl, PHP, Python, and Ruby computer languages.
  • Amazon Aurora service supports SQL query language as it is compatible with SQL scripting. There is no SQL query language support from Amazon’s DynamoDB service.
  • Amazon Aurora supports only one replication method. While the Amazon DynamoDB service supports multiple replication methods that can be utilized by the users as per their needs and requirements.

See more on

Amazon Aurora vs Aurora Serverless

Final Thoughts:

Amazon Aurora and Amazon DynamoDB are quite useful for regular AWS clients. If we talk about the storage cost of these two services, there is not much difference between them.

What makes the DynamoDB service quite popular among users is it is very simple and doesn’t require special skills. However, Aurora is a much-advanced service that offers both simplicity and scalability. Depending on your basic needs, you can choose a suitable service from the AWS platform.

What are the Benefits of Amazon’s Dynamodb Service

What are the Benefits of Amazon’s Dynamodb Service?

Posted on | by Steve Upkin

Benefits of Amazon’s Dynamodb Service

Data handling is one of the most crucial things to running a successful organization. Thankfully, we have numerous tools and resources available on the web to manage big data. Amazon’s Dynamodb provides better control to manage and store data effectively.

Amazon’s Dynamodb saves you a lot of time and money as you don’t need to set up a separate data operation center for your business or organization. The service works on the web and you can easily manage things on your computer system. It takes only a little time to configure and set up with AWS’ existing service. Once configured, the data will be managed automatically.

Benefits of Using Amazon’s Dynamodb

Benefits of Using Amazon’s Dynamodb

If you are planning to use this service, then first know the benefits of using it. Here, we have prepared a list of its benefits so that you can have a better understanding of this service and its benefits before you invest in it.

Benefits of Using Amazon’s Dynamodb

Highly Scalable

The Dynamodb service comes with an unlimited storage option. Users can store unlimited data on this platform over the cloud which makes it easier for them to handle it easily. Users need not purchase a specific storage plan, the service is open for all and they can store data as per their requirements.

Integration Ready

Dynamodb service is designed for the users of Amazon’s Web Services. For that reason, the service comes integrated with Amazon’s Web Services. It means you can easily integrate it with AWS Ecosystem. With quick integration, the service reduces the time for configuration for the same task. It also lets the data loading process much easier from different AWS services.

Serverless

Unlike other services, Dynamodb lets users focus more on the business value. The service uses tables to store data which eliminates the need for extra attention. The service expands a single data table to multiple servers which reduces the data management time.

Better Performance

Dynamodb provides consistent performance without any flaws. The service utilizes all the advanced algorithms that make it run smoothly for the users and also provides the best interface to use different features and functions from the dashboard itself.

Easy Administration

Dynmodb is a fully managed service offered by Amazon for its AWS clients. The service runs on the web so there will be no issues with the software or hardware failure.

There is no software or hardware involved here. You will not be asked to monitor the performance of this service. It saves you a lot of time that you can invest in other important tasks. You will see improved productivity with automated task handling from this service.

Auto Backups

One of the crucial things in managing the big data of an organization is the backup. The service comes with an option that takes a backup of all the files and documents automatically.

There will be no downtimes or data storage issues even if you consume hundreds of terabytes from it. The service runs smoothly and gives you the best performance.

High Security of Data

The data stored or backed up using this service are encrypted with the latest algorithms. No hackers can steal your data. Only authorized persons can have access to the data stored in the tables.

Quick Data Replications

Amazon’s Dynamodb service stores your data in multiple SSDs. The data can be made available to multiple users as per your requirements. They can also be made available in different regions as per your request. The data replication feature makes the data easily accessible.

Compatible with External Tools

The service is designed to work with the tools and services of Amazon Web Services. If you are an active client of AWS and using different services, you can simply combine this service with the existing ones to manage the data securely.

Advanced Tools and Features

Besides these basic features, the service offers a set of other features that are important for you to lead a successful business over the web. It comes with automatic data filtering, data threat detection, a highly advanced system, better compatibility with different tools and services, automatic report generation, advanced notification, and many more.

All these tools and features are readily available for users. Once integrated with the existing system, users can make use of these tools and features to manage and control the data of an organization.

Final Thoughts:

Every client of AWS should start using Amazon’s DynamoDB service as it comes with a lot of benefits. The service serves a user-friendly interface and packs hundreds of features that make data management a lot easier for the organization.

The advanced cryptographic method provides better security when it comes to accessing stored data. It gives data access to authorized persons only and also provides better security by encrypting the data automatically.

See Also

DynamoDB FAQ

Dynamodb Frequently Asked Questions

Dynamodb Frequently Asked Questions

Posted on | by Steve Upkin

Cloud-based services are growing rapidly. It has invented a lot of external services that help users to manage their data more efficiently. Dynamodb is a fully managed NoSQL service to scale up the databases and improve the performance of different cloud-based services.

A lot of users get confused with this new service. Here’s a list of frequently asked questions by the new users of this service. Follow the list of questions and answers to know more about this service and its advantages.

FAQs on DynamoDB

Question 1: What is Dynamodb?

DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL service from Amazon. This service aims to provide fast performance with better scalability. The service allows users to offload external burdens of administrative tasks by making a seamless and scalable path. The service also eliminates complex tasks that accomplish the projects on time.

Question 2: What type of tasks does this service eliminate from the administrator?

DynamoDB is designed to eliminate the time-consuming administrative tasks such as provisioning of hardware, system setup, software configuration, patching of software, application configuration, and cluster scaling, The tasks streamline automatically with the help of this service.

Question 3: How do I monitor resources?

DynamobDB allows you to use the AWS Management Console to monitor resources. It also lets you know about the different metrics of the services that you use on the platform.

Question 4: Can I take backup with this Service?

The service comes with an on-demand backup capability that lets you take a backup of your data in tables. You can manage the storage spaces as per your requirements from this service.

Question 5: What will I be charged?

Just like other Amazon Web Services, you would be charged as per the usage. You will be given a free tier for the read-throughout and right-throughout tables. When you exceed the free tier limit, you will be charged based on the hour.

Question 6: What are the advantages of using the DynamoDB service?

DynamoDB service comes with a lot of advantages that you all should know before you start using it. Here we have listed down some of the basic advantages that you will get from this service.

Fully managed Service

DynamodDB is a fully managed service that provides easy administration with better management and control. One can easily get benefited from this service with easy implementation and quick access.

Performance and Scalability

Scaling databases in an organization is very risky and time-consuming. For that reason, an organization has to hire a team of professionals that can manage the databases. With DynamobDB’s auto-scaling and auto-tracking feature, the databases are always scaled and don’t require extra attention from the users. Once enabled, the auto-scale feature starts scaling up the databases which eventually increases its performance.

Effective Access to Big data

Since the databases are well-scaled with auto-scaling and auto-tracking features, users will have better access to those data. An administrator can give proper access to important data to authorized persons using this tool. It gives ultimate control power to the authorized users by an administrator.

Cost-Effective

Unlike other services, DynamonDB gives you free tier access for one year. With this free-tier access, users can have over 40 million data operations per month. You will be charged only after you exceed the free tier limit.

Innovative Features

The service enables you to access a set of innovative services that lets you work more smartly. You can make use of the TTL i.e Time to Live feature to eliminate unwanted data. By enabling this feature, the data will be erased from the storage tables automatically. You can schedule the timing as per your need from this feature.

Question 7: Are there any disadvantages of the DynamoDB service?

Yes, there are some disadvantages to using this service only if you work on a different platform and not on AWS.

This service can be deployed only on the AWS platform and not on third-party servers. To make use of this service, you have to use Amazon’s Web Services. Besides this, you can query the data limitedly. You can’t join the tables that you use for storing the data. The service is also missing server-side scripts.

See Also

Use Cases of AWS DynamoDB

Top Use Cases of AWS DynamoDB

Top Use Cases of AWS DynamoDB 

Posted on | by Steve Upkin

AWS DynamoDB Use Cases

AWS Dynamodb is Amazon’s managed database service. The NoSQL database service is highly scalable and provides ease of data storage with better control and easy management. The service requires no additional provisioning as there is no hardware or software required. With an easy integration option, one can easily configure and set up this service within the AWS Ecosystem.

The version of this service keeps on updating, you don’t have to worry about the patch or version update. It keeps your data storage safe and secure from hackers and data breaches. It’s an ideal service for all types of users such as application developers, cloud service users, web developers, web programmers, web gaming, IoT, etc.

According to the latest data provided by the service provider, the AWS Dyanmodb service handles one trillion requests daily. The unlimited data storage option makes it a primary data storage platform for big enterprises and organizations.

Many web users want to know about the feedback. In this article, we will discuss the top use cases of Dyanomdb. We have prepared a list of the enterprises that have made the most of this service. Let’s get on to the list of top use cases of Dynamodb now!

Top Use Cases of Dynamodb

If we talk about the use cases, the world’s top-growing enterprises are using Amazon’s Dynamodb service to manage their big data. Enterprises such as Airbnb, Toyota, Capital One, and many more are utilizing the features and functions of this platform to manage their customer base and their data.

No matter what type of enterprise you own, the Dynamodb service is there for you to manage the data and take full control of it. It is the most effective solution for enterprises of all sizes.

The best thing about this service is it stores data in the cloud. The cloud-storage service makes data storage free from hassle. It also reduces the time for managing those data as the service manages the data automatically.

What types of Sectors can use Amazon Dynamodb Service?

As noted above, Amazon’s Dynamodb service is there for all types of enterprises and businesses to manage databases at different scales. Here’s the list of sectors that can use this service to store and scale up their big data.

  • Technology Companies
  • Retail Businesses
  • Financing Service Providers
  • Banking Sectors
  • Media and Entertainment Industry
  • Software Development
  • Application Development
  • Gaming Industry

These are the different sectors where this Dynamodb service is highly in demand. Most businesses have started using cloud-based services as it is more effective and comes with many benefits.

Top Use Cases of DynamoDB

  • Netflix

Netflix uses this service for A/B testing, i.e., the testing process to compare two or multiple services on different web pages or platforms. Being the world’s most popular online streaming service, Netflix works on improving the online streaming experience by collecting constant data.

Top Use Cases of AWS DynamoDB - Netflix

Top Use Cases of AWS DynamoDB – Netflix

With over 125+ million subscribers across the globe, Netflix uses the DyanmoDB service for handling the big data of its subscribers or we can say, users.

  • Duolingo

Duolingo is the most popular online language learning platform with millions of its daily users. The website has over 30 billion items for subscribers.

Top Use Cases of AWS DynamoDB - Duolingo

Top Use Cases of AWS DynamoDB – Duolingo

The company provides different types of language learning courses in 80 different languages. It is the perfect solution to store the big data of an online firm.

  • GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare is a renowned company in the healthcare sector. The company provides different types of devices and technologies that are used in the diagnostic process.

Top Use Cases of AWS DynamoDB - GE Healthcare

Top Use Cases of AWS DynamoDB – GE Healthcare

Starting from ultrasound machines, computed tomography, radiography, monitoring devices, ventilators, digital experts, and more, they provide different types of tools and machines to make the diagnostic process much more reliable and faster.

The company is using Amazon’s Dyanomodb service to manage the customer base. With easy cloud access, the service offers a better environment to the remote workforce who can share information and can stay up to date.

  • Expedia Travel

Expedia is known as the world’s most popular travel shopping company. The platform provides attractive traveling offers to customers from across the globe.

Top Use Cases of AWS DynamoDB - Expedia Travel

Top Use Cases of AWS DynamoDB – Expedia Travel

It aims to provide reliable services and support to small enterprises. You can get attractive offers and promo codes to book your flight tickets. You can also fetch promo codes to rent a car or book hotels at cheap rates. The company has millions of active users who explore the platform by logging in.

Expedia Travel also uses Amazon’s DynamoDB service to manage its millions of customers. Expedia Travel can be explored through its web-based version and mobile application. Dynamodb stores the data of each customer and provides easy access and management to the administrator.

Conclusion:

Amazon’s DynamoDB service is the best solution for enterprises of all sizes when it comes to managing and storing data. It’s a one-stop solution to store, manage and secure your essential databases in multiple tables.

With unlimited storage options and cloud-based service, it makes data access easier for the remote workforce. With this service, you can take advantage of using its auto-backup service, easy scale-up, and seamless integration with other AWS services.

Everything you need to know about Amazon Aurora vs Aurora Serverless

All About Amazon Aurora vs Aurora Serverless

Posted on | by Steve Upkin | Leave a Comment on All About Amazon Aurora vs Aurora Serverless

Amazon Aurora vs Aurora Serverless

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has truly come to be the biggest provider of cloud-based computing and storage services in the world. According to data by Synergy Research Group, the skyrocketing demand for digital services resulted in AWS, Google and Microsoft becoming extremely dominant in the hyper-scale data center market.

Together, the three largest cloud-based service providers control over 50% of data centers worldwide. In the third quarter of 2020, AWS, Microsoft and Google together spent a staggering US$ 37 billion on data centers to increase their data centers by as much as 600 by the end of 2020.

These figures are there just to give you an idea of the immensity of cloud-based services today. Tens of thousands of small, medium and multinational enterprises are shifting from conventional databases to more advanced, efficient and affordable virtual server networks.

Amazon, with the largest market share, is the prime choice of entrepreneurs and corporations for cloud-based services. The Amazon Aurora and Amazon Aurora Serverless are two such services that have become immensely popular recently.

To help you decide the best one for you, this article will detail the main aspects of both services, with their individual benefits.

What is Amazon Aurora?

Amazon Aurora is a relational database designed for the cloud. It offers an incredible combination of the high performance of conventional databases with the affordability and simplicity offered by open-source databases. Aurora is compatible with PostgreSQL and MySQL but is thrice as fast as PostgreSQL and five times faster than MySQL databases.

Amazon Aurora provides top-notch security, and prompt availability and is extremely reliable as a commercial database but only at a fraction of the cost of conventional database services. You can choose to get Aurora fully managed by Amazon Relational Database Services (RDS), which is designed to automate the time-consuming administrative tasks, such as database setup, hardware allocation, backups and patching.

What is Amazon Aurora Serverless?

The Aurora Serverless is an auto-scaling, on-demand configuration designed for Amazon Aurora RDS. It can start, shut and scale capacity automatically, according to individual application’s requirements. This service allows you to run cloud-powered databases without the need to manage database capacity.

Managing database capacity manually is a time-consuming task and often leads to insufficient use of database resources. However, Aurora Serverless takes care of these administrative tasks. You can simply create an endpoint for your database, choose to set database capacity limits and connect applications using Aurora Serverless.

Amazon Aurora Serverless is charged on a per-second basis for the amount of storage space used by your active database. Moreover, the Amazon RDS Management Console allows users to migrate between standard and serverless configurations with a few simple clicks. Amazon charges users for the storage capacity used by their database in active mode, which makes it incredibly affordable too.

Difference between Amazon Aurora and Amazon Aurora Serverless

Amazon Aurora Highlights Amazon Aurora Serverless Highlights
MySQL Compatibility API Integration
Better performance Compatible with cloud functions for Google, Azure and IBM
Easy read scalability Lower charges
High speed Auto-scaling
Low latency read replica Openwhisk
Higher IOPS cost
Better cost-to-performance ratio

Amazon Aurora designed the offer as a “SQL Database as a Service” while Aurora Serverless of made as a “Serverless / Task Processing” tool.

MySQL compatibility is the main reason why enterprises and developers choose Amazon Aurora, while the Serverless’ “API Integration” function is the key attraction point for buyers of Amazon Aurora Serverless.

In simple words, the major difference between the two is that Amazon Aurora is designed as a simple and effective relational database while Aurora Serverless is a useful configuration for Aurora RDS.

Conclusion

Amazon Aurora and Aurora Serverless are two distinct products from AWS. While Amazon’s Aurora lets you use cloud-based computing resources to test and run your applications, the Aurora Serverless is a configuration that enables automated capacity scaling and connecting applications.

So, if you were wondering about the best-suited cloud-centric storage service, then Amazon Aurora is the better choice for you but if you want to avoid wasting time in allocating cloud database resources, then you should go for Amazon Aurora Serverless.

See Also

Amazon Aurora vs Amazon RDS

AWS EC2 Pricing Model

What is the difference between Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS

What is the difference between Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS?

Posted on | by Steve Upkin

Difference between Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS?

Databases are incredibly important for applications. They are also essential for smoother operations of the business. As a database administrator or DBA, you are under constant stress to make sure that the applications perform well with minimal downtime while having to face numerous challenges.

Increasingly complex databases and growing workloads are the major challenges that a DBA often faces. Thanks to the preference for shifting to application-focused processes and the introduction of multiple platforms for databases, there is a growing demand for managing data on-site and on the cloud.

In this article, we have outlined every essential USP and highlighted factors for two of the world’s most popular relational databases offered by Amazon Web Service (AWS), so you can know the difference between Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS.

What is Amazon Aurora?

Amazon Aurora is a relational database engine. It combines the speed and reliability of expensive, high-end commercial databases with the affordability and simplicity of open-source databases. Amazon Aurora is compatible with MySQL but performs at least 5 times faster than standard MySQL.

Aurora is designed to help DBAs save time and effort otherwise spent in planning backup storage disks by automating the task but without affecting the performance of the end-user. This makes backing up windows and automating backup scripts completely redundant.

Aurora works to replicate data into six storage nodes in multiple Availability Zones to cushion the loss of an entire Availability Zone. It can also use two storage nodes simultaneously without affecting the client’s applications.

What is Amazon RDS?

Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) is designed to ease the process of setting up, operating and scaling a relational database in the cloud. It is an affordable and scalable (resizable) capacity that automatically manages otherwise time-consuming administrative tasks which gives DBAs the freedom to focus on core aspects.

Amazon RDS is offered through six popular database engines, including Amazon Aurora, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server and MariaDB.

Main differences between Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS

Now that you know the basic functions of the two, let’s take a closer look at the distinctive features that show you the difference between Amazon Aurora and RDS:

Performance

Businesses focus intensely on performance and DBAs have to ensure high-performance throughput with the available hardware.

Performance of Amazon Aurora

Amazon Aurora offers 5 times faster throughput than MySQL and 3 times faster throughput as compared to PostgreSQL, running on the same hardware. Amazon uses unique hardware and software techniques that ensure that the database engine can completely utilize the existing computing, storage and networking capacities.

Performance of Amazon RDS

Amazon RDS offers users a choice between two SSD-backed storage features. One of these is optimized for high-end OTLP applications while the other storage feature is designed for regular, affordable use.

The first option provides a storage type that is optimized for I/O intensive transactional (OTLP) database workloads and lets users provision as many as 30,000 IOPS per database instance.

The second SSD-backed storage feature is offered as a cost-effective, general-purpose storage option that can deliver a constant baseline of at least 3 IOPS per GB of provisioned storage space.

See Also

AWS RDS Cost Optimization

Compatibility with Database Engines

For moving your conventional on-site database to the cloud, or from RDS to Aurora, DBAs need to meet their SLAs. Every step needs to be performed with minimal or no downtime.

Compatibility of Amazon Aurora

Amazon Aurora is compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL. If you use MySQL software or PostgreSQL for your database, then Aurora is highly recommended for you because it works perfectly well with MySQL 5.6 and PostgreSQL 9.6.1. This enables the existing database and application tools to keep running on Aurora without the need to be modified.

Compatibility of Amazon RDS

You can easily shift your database from on-site or EC2-hosted databases, such as SQL Server, Oracle or PostgreSQL to Amazon RDS in a simple, efficient way using AWS Database Migration Service.

Storage Auto-Scaling

Storage auto-scaling is extremely important in today’s day and age when databases continue to grow at a constant speed.

Storage Auto-Scaling of Amazon Aurora

Depending on the use of the database, Amazon Aurora is designed to grow, from a minimum of 10 GB all the way up to 64 TB, in increments of 10 GB, but without affecting the performance of the database. Amazon Aurora does not require DBAs to provision capacity beforehand. This way, Amazon Aurora helps DBAs to avoid wasting time in forecasting and specifying storage allocation and ensure smooth and fast business operations. However, Aurora only supports the InnoDB storage engine and tables from other storage engines are automatically transformed into InnoDB.

Storage Auto-Scaling of Amazon RDS

Amazon RDS requires users to allow at least 6 TB of storage space on the go with no downtime.

Conclusion

After going through the major differences between the two, it is safe to say that Amazon Aurora is designed for DBAs who are looking for SQL compatibility and auto-scaling. On the other hand, Amazon RDS is meant for DBAs who need SSD-backed storage options for faster application processing.

See Also

Pros and Cons Amazon Aurora