If you’re into Amazon tech, you definitely aren’t alone. More and more developers and business managers are investing in Amazon Web Services, (AWS) mainly due to the wide variety of cloud-based solutions and pay-as-you-go options.
After looking at AWS programs, you may be wondering: what is Amazon Aurora? I was intrigued by this too, so I did my fair share of research, and here’s what I can confirm about Amazon Aurora!
What Is Amazon Aurora In 2024?
As part of Amazon Web Services, Amazon Aurora is a specially-designed relational cloud database solution in 2024. It’s compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL databases but with much faster speeds and a cost-effective pricing structure. Amazon Aurora is a popular choice for fully-managed database solutions, including monitoring and backup.
Keep reading the rest of our guide for all you need to know about Amazon Aurora, including who uses it and how much it costs!
What Does Amazon Aurora Do?
Since October 2014, Amazon Web Services has offered Amazon Aurora as a relational database service.
This database supports the simple setup and operation of cloud databases for modern businesses across a wide range of industries.
Aurora is compatible with MySQL, an open-source database manager, but with speeds five times faster than standard databases on MySQL.
It also works with PostgreSQL databases and offers three times greater speeds for impressive reliability and performance.
Amazon says Aurora provides “the performance and availability of commercial-grade databases at 1/10th the cost.”
This cloud solution is more cost-effective than standard enterprise databases while also offering a high level of security throughout automated administration and hardware provisioning.
Amazon Aurora uses an innovative storage system that handles up to 128TB per database instance with constant Amazon S3 backup and three availability zones for data replication.
This program also features point-in-time recovery, which is usually less than 30 seconds in the event of physical storage failure.
There is an Amazon RDS Management Console where Aurora can be quickly integrated with MySQL and PostgreSQL databases.
How Is Amazon Aurora Used?
Amazon Aurora is used by businesses both big and small for high-level database setup, backups, and patching.
Organizations can use Aurora to replicate six data copies throughout three availability zones with continuous Amazon S3 backup and automatic recovery from physical failure.
Dow Jones, Samsung, DoorDash, and Pokémon are just a few large corporations that rely on Amazon Aurora.
For example, Pokemon uses Aurora for automated administration as the site has over 300 million users and 300 login requests every second.
Similarly, DoorDash uses Aurora for billions of rows and 10 TB of data in just one cluster, a prime example of how scalable this cloud-based database resource is.
Aurora offers the same comprehensive support and availability for smaller businesses without upfront fees or lengthy commitments, as well.
How Much Does Amazon Aurora Cost?
Amazon Aurora is seen as a more affordable option than enterprise databases.
Overall, it’s a smart choice for small and medium-sized businesses who prefer to pay per usage without long-term contracts.
Every month, AWS bills for Aurora database storage, with costs based on how many GBs are used and input/output actions (I/Os) per million requests.
No advanced provisions are required, as you simply pay for the actual database storage consumption, with I/O charges varying by database engine and workload.
You can see the standard pricing on the AWS Aurora pricing webpage.
For example, Aurora services in the U.S. East region are around $0.10 per GB of database storage a month and $0.20 per one million I/O requests.
Is Amazon Aurora Worth It?
Many organizations are shifting to Amazon Aurora for a cloud-driven relational database solution that’s highly available and customizable.
Aurora is often worth it for organizations with a huge web presence because it automates timely database administration tasks, ensuring customers can log in and access information easily.
Aurora is easy to integrate with existing systems and provides the peace of mind modern businesses are looking for when it comes to database security and scalability.
With Aurora, you can always backtrack to recover data following user errors, and in just seconds, your data is recovered from a failure at a physical storage point.
Also, a single Aurora database may cover several AWS regions for more dependable data storage and recovery, making it the preferred choice in many cases.
Keep in mind that additional fees apply for certain actions like backup storage, backtrack, and data transfer.
To find out more, you can also read our posts on what is Amazon Cognito, what is Amazon SageMaker, and what is Amazon workforce staffing.
Conclusion
If you’re looking for a relational database service, Amazon Aurora is a popular offering through Amazon Web Services, known for its pay-per-usage pricing structure and simple scalability.
With Aurora, you can choose how much data storage you use and how often you backup storage or transfer data to another server.
