Amazon Aurora Overview

Questions and Answers

What versions of Amazon Aurora support Parallel Query?

MySQL 5.6-compatible version of Amazon Aurora, starting with v1.18.0.

Is Parallel Query available with all instance types?

False

Is Parallel Query compatible with all other Aurora features?

False

If Parallel Query speeds up queries with only rare performance losses, should I simply turn it on for all queries all the time?

No Signup and view all the answers

Can Aurora Parallel Query replace my data warehouse?

False Signup and view all the answers

What is Amazon Aurora?

Amazon Aurora is a relational database engine that combines the speed and reliability of high-end commercial databases with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open source databases. Signup and view all the answers

What does 'MySQL compatible' mean?

It means that most of the code, applications, drivers and tools you already use today with your MySQL databases can be used with Aurora with little or no change. Signup and view all the answers

What does 'PostgreSQL compatible' mean?

It means that most of the code, applications, drivers and tools you already use today with your PostgreSQL databases can be used with Aurora with little or no change. Signup and view all the answers

How do I try Amazon Aurora?

Sign in to the AWS console, select RDS under the Database category, and choose Amazon Aurora as your database engine. Signup and view all the answers

How much does Amazon Aurora cost?

Please see our pricing page for current pricing information. Signup and view all the answers

Amazon Aurora's replication is bundled into the price.

True Signup and view all the answers

In which AWS regions is Amazon Aurora available?

Please see our pricing page for current information on regions and prices. Signup and view all the answers

How can I migrate from MySQL to Amazon Aurora?

You can use the standard mysqldump utility to export data from MySQL and mysqlimport utility to import data to Aurora. Signup and view all the answers

How can I migrate from PostgreSQL to Amazon Aurora?

You can use the standard pg_dump utility to export data from PostgreSQL and pg_restore utility to import data to Aurora. Signup and view all the answers

Amazon Aurora participates in the AWS Free Tier.

False Signup and view all the answers

What are IOs in Amazon Aurora?

IOs are input/output operations performed by the Aurora database engine against its SSD-based virtualized storage layer. Signup and view all the answers

You need to change client drivers to use Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL.

False Signup and view all the answers

What does 'five times the performance of MySQL' mean?

Amazon Aurora delivers significant increases over MySQL performance by tightly integrating the database engine with an SSD-based virtualized storage layer. Signup and view all the answers

What does 'three times the performance of PostgreSQL' mean?

Amazon Aurora delivers significant increases over PostgreSQL performance by tightly integrating the database engine with an SSD-based virtualized storage layer. Signup and view all the answers

How do I optimize my database workload for Amazon Aurora MySQL?

Build your applications to drive a large number of concurrent queries and transactions. Signup and view all the answers

How do I optimize my database workload for Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL?

Drive a large number of concurrent queries and transactions. Signup and view all the answers

What are the minimum and maximum storage limits of an Amazon Aurora database?

The minimum storage is 10GB and the maximum is up to 64TB. Signup and view all the answers

How do I scale the compute resources associated with my Amazon Aurora DB Instance?

You can scale the compute resources in the AWS Management Console by modifying the DB Instance class. Signup and view all the answers

Automated backups are always enabled on Amazon Aurora DB Instances.

True Signup and view all the answers

You can take DB Snapshots and keep them around as long as you want.

True Signup and view all the answers

If my database fails, what is my recovery path?

Aurora will automatically attempt to recover your database, or you can restore from a DB Snapshot. Signup and view all the answers

What happens to my automated backups and DB Snapshots if I delete my DB Instance?

You can choose to create a final DB Snapshot when deleting your DB Instance. Signup and view all the answers

You can share your snapshots with another AWS account.

True Signup and view all the answers

There is a charge for sharing snapshots between accounts.

False Signup and view all the answers

You can automatically share snapshots.

False Signup and view all the answers

How many accounts can I share snapshots with?

You may share manual snapshots with up to 20 AWS account IDs. Signup and view all the answers

In which regions can I share my Aurora snapshots?

You can share your Aurora snapshots in all AWS regions where Aurora is available. Signup and view all the answers

You can share my Aurora snapshots across different regions.

False Signup and view all the answers

You can share an encrypted Aurora snapshot.

True Signup and view all the answers

How does Amazon Aurora improve my database's fault tolerance to disk failures?

It divides your database volume into 10GB segments replicated six ways across three Availability Zones. Signup and view all the answers

How does Aurora improve recovery time after a database crash?

It reduces database restart times to less than 60 seconds in most cases. Signup and view all the answers

What kind of replicas does Aurora support?

Amazon Aurora supports Aurora Replicas, which share the same underlying volume as the primary instance in the same AWS region. Signup and view all the answers

You can have cross-region replicas with Amazon Aurora.

True Signup and view all the answers

Can I create Aurora Replicas on the cross-region replica cluster?

Yes, you can add up to 15 Aurora Replicas on each cross-region cluster. Signup and view all the answers

Can I fail over my application from my current primary to the cross-region replica?

Yes, you can promote your cross-region replica to be the new primary from the RDS console. Signup and view all the answers

Can I prioritize certain replicas as failover targets over others?

Yes, you can assign a promotion priority tier to each instance on your cluster. Signup and view all the answers

Can I modify priority tiers for instances after they have been created?

Yes, you can modify the priority tier for an instance at any time. Signup and view all the answers

Can I prevent certain replicas from being promoted to the primary instance?

Yes, you can assign lower priority tiers to replicas that you don't want promoted. Signup and view all the answers

How can I improve upon the availability of a single Amazon Aurora database?

You can add Amazon Aurora Replicas. Signup and view all the answers

What happens during failover and how long does it take?

Failover typically completes within 30 seconds. Signup and view all the answers

If I have a primary database and an Amazon Aurora Replica actively taking read traffic and a failover occurs, what happens?

Amazon RDS will automatically promote a replica to primary. Signup and view all the answers

How far behind the primary will my replicas be?

Typically, Amazon Aurora Replicas experience lag times in the 10s of milliseconds. Signup and view all the answers

Can I set up replication between my Aurora MySQL database and an external MySQL database?

Yes, you can set up binlog replication between an Aurora MySQL instance and an external MySQL database. Signup and view all the answers

What is Amazon Aurora Global Database?

It is a feature that allows a single Amazon Aurora database to span multiple AWS regions. Signup and view all the answers

How do I create an Aurora Global Database?

You can create it through the Amazon RDS Management Console. Signup and view all the answers

How many secondary regions can an Aurora Global Database have?

You can create up to five secondary regions. Signup and view all the answers

If I use Aurora Global Database, can I also use logical replication (binlog) on the primary database?

Yes, you can use binlog on the primary database. Signup and view all the answers

Will Aurora automatically fail over to a secondary region of an Aurora Global Database?

No, it requires manual promotion of the secondary region. Signup and view all the answers

What is Amazon Aurora Multi-Master?

It is a feature that allows scaling out write performance across multiple Availability Zones. Signup and view all the answers

Can I use Amazon Aurora in Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC)?

Yes, all Amazon Aurora DB Instances must be created in a VPC. Signup and view all the answers

Does Amazon Aurora encrypt my data in transit and at rest?

Yes, Amazon Aurora uses SSL to secure connections. Signup and view all the answers

Can I encrypt an existing unencrypted database?

Currently, this is not supported. Signup and view all the answers

How do I access my Amazon Aurora database?

Access must be done through the database port entered on creation. Signup and view all the answers

Can I use Amazon Aurora with applications that require HIPAA compliance?

Yes, the editions are HIPAA-eligible. Signup and view all the answers

What is Amazon Aurora Serverless?

It is an on-demand, autoscaling configuration for Aurora. Signup and view all the answers

Which versions of Amazon Aurora are supported for Aurora Serverless?

Available for Aurora with MySQL 5.6 compatibility and PostgreSQL 10.7+ compatibility. Signup and view all the answers

Can I migrate an existing Aurora DB cluster to Aurora Serverless?

Yes, you can restore a snapshot into an Aurora Serverless DB Cluster. Signup and view all the answers

How do I connect to an Aurora Serverless DB cluster?

You access it from within a client application in the same VPC. Signup and view all the answers

Can I explicitly set the capacity of an Aurora Serverless cluster?

Yes, you can set the capacity explicitly if needed. Signup and view all the answers

Why isn't my Aurora Serverless DB Cluster automatically scaling?

It may not find a scaling point due to long-running queries. Signup and view all the answers

How am I billed for Aurora Serverless?

Billing is based on Aurora Capacity Units (ACUs). Signup and view all the answers

What is Amazon Aurora Parallel Query?

It allows distributed processing of a single query across CPUs. Signup and view all the answers

What benefits does Parallel Query provide?

Faster performance and operational simplicity. Signup and view all the answers

Is there any chance that performance will be slower?

Yes, but such cases are expected to be rare. Signup and view all the answers

How do I turn the feature on or off?

You can enable or disable Parallel Query dynamically. Signup and view all the answers

Are there any additional charges associated with using Parallel Query?

No, you are charged only for instances, I/O, and storage. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

Amazon Aurora Overview

Amazon Aurora is a relational database engine that offers high performance and reliability, combining features of commercial and open-source databases.
Performance: Aurora MySQL can be up to five times faster than MySQL, while Aurora PostgreSQL can achieve up to three times the performance of PostgreSQL.
Automatic management: Amazon RDS manages Aurora databases, overseeing provisioning, patching, backups, recovery, and failure detection.
Pricing: Customers pay a monthly fee per database instance with no upfront costs.

Compatibility

MySQL Compatibility: Aurora is designed to be wire-compatible with MySQL versions 5.6 and 5.7, allowing users to migrate with minimal changes.
PostgreSQL Compatibility: Aurora supports PostgreSQL 9.6 and 10 with seamless migration options for existing PostgreSQL applications.

Getting Started

To try Amazon Aurora, access the AWS console, select RDS, and choose Aurora as the database engine.

Cost and Replication

Replication is included in pricing: Aurora replicates data six ways across three Availability Zones without increasing storage costs, charging only for consumed storage.
Current AWS region availability can be checked on the pricing page.

Migration Options

MySQL Migration: Utilize mysqldump for exporting from MySQL and mysqlimport for importing data into Aurora. RDS Snapshots can also facilitate migration.
PostgreSQL Migration: Use pg_dump and pg_restore utilities for migrating PostgreSQL data to and from Aurora.

Backup and Recovery

Automated backups are always enabled, with no performance impact.
Users can create DB Snapshots before deleting instances for later restoration.
Aurora maintains several copies of data across multiple Availability Zones to ensure data availability and quick recovery, enabling restoration from snapshots.

Storage and Scaling

Storage automatically scales from a minimum of 10GB to a maximum of 64TB as needed.
Compute resources can be scaled in the console through instance class modification.

Fault Tolerance and High Availability

Aurora divides database volumes into 10GB segments replicated six times across three Availability Zones.
Designed to tolerate the loss of up to two copies without affecting write availability, enhancing fault tolerance.
Recovery from crashes is expedited, typically taking under 60 seconds.

Replicas and Global Databases

Aurora supports replicas that share underlying storage, facilitating high availability and read scaling without significant performance impacts on the primary instance.
Cross-region replicas can be established using either physical (Aurora Global Database) or logical replication to enhance disaster recovery capabilities.

Snapshot Management

Snapshots can be shared with other AWS accounts, allowing for data collaboration and secure backups across accounts.
Automatic snapshots cannot be shared directly; a manual copy is needed to share automatic snapshots.

Failover Management

Priorities can be assigned to replicas for failover, ensuring the most suitable instance is promoted during a primary instance failure.
Replicas can be promoted for failover operations to maintain operational continuity during outages.

Optimization and Performance

Applications designed for high concurrency can maximize throughput on Aurora.
Performance improvements stem from SSD utilization and refined database architecture, resulting in substantial performance gains over traditional databases.

IO Operations

IO operations (IOs) are tracked for performance monitoring, with Aurora optimizing write IO consumption to reduce costs while ensuring resource availability.### Amazon Aurora Replication and Failover
Any Aurora Replica can be promoted to primary without data loss, enhancing fault tolerance during primary DB Instance failures.
Up to 15 replicas can be created in 3 Availability Zones (AZs), automatically included in failover primary selection during outages.
Aurora Global Database allows databases to span multiple AWS Regions with no performance impact, offering disaster recovery from region-wide outages.

Failover Process

Failover is automatic; applications resume operations quickly without manual intervention.
During failover, the CNAME for the DB Instance points to the healthy replica, which is promoted to primary, typically completing in under 30 seconds.
If Aurora Serverless is in use, unavailable instances are automatically recreated in different AZs.

Read Traffic and Failover Scenario

If failover occurs while an Amazon Aurora Replica is handling read traffic, RDS detects the issue and triggers failover.
Cluster Endpoint redirects read/write to the newly promoted primary, but read traffic is briefly interrupted.

Replication Lag

Aurora Replicas in the same region have virtually no replication lag, usually in the 10s of milliseconds.
MySQL Read Replicas may experience significant lag based on network delays; typically less than a minute.
Aurora Global Database cross-region replicas typically exhibit lag under one second.

External MySQL Database Replication

Binlog replication can be established between an Aurora MySQL instance and an external MySQL database for maintaining consistency.

Amazon Aurora Global Database

Global Database enables a single Aurora database across multiple AWS regions, offering disaster recovery capabilities and fast local reads (less than one-second latency).
Secondary regions can be promoted for full read/write capabilities within one minute during outages.

Creating and Managing Global Databases

Aurora Global Database can be created via the RDS Management Console, SDK, or CLI, requiring at least one instance per region.
Up to five secondary regions can be part of an Aurora Global Database setup.

Aurora Multi-Master

Multi-Master feature in Aurora MySQL adds the ability to scale write performance across multiple AZs, enhancing availability.

Security and Compliance

All Aurora DB Instances must operate within an Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) for enhanced security.
Aurora encrypts data in transit using SSL and allows database encryption at rest via AWS KMS.
MySQL- and PostgreSQL-compatible variants are HIPAA-eligible for compliance with healthcare applications.

Aurora Serverless

Aurora Serverless is an on-demand, autoscaling option for irregular workloads.
Serverless capabilities include scaling down to zero when not in use, automatically adjusting capacity based on application needs.
Capacity can be set explicitly if automatic scaling does not meet sudden workload demands.

Query Performance Enhancements

Amazon Aurora Parallel Query distributes query processing across multiple CPUs, significantly improving performance for analytical queries.
Queries running against large datasets not in the buffer pool benefit from Parallel Query, pushing down processing for up to 200 SQL functions.

Implementation Considerations

No syntax changes are needed for queries to utilize Parallel Query; the optimizer handles query execution decisions.
Parallel Query is available starting with Aurora MySQL version 1.18.0 and is intended primarily for operational analytics, not as a replacement for data warehouses.

Cost and Compatibility

No additional charges incurred for using Parallel Query; however, IO costs may rise due to increased data scanning.
Currently compatible with specified instance types, with some features like Serverless and Backtrack not supporting Parallel Query simultaneously.

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Explore the features and benefits of Amazon Aurora, a relational database engine designed for high performance and reliability. This quiz will help you understand how Aurora integrates with MySQL and PostgreSQL, providing superior speed and cost-effectiveness. Test your knowledge about this advanced database solution.