Introduction to Databases
Dr. Om Kumar
What Is a Database?
• Databases are applications that allow for storage
of large amounts of information. Databases can
help an organization find key performance
metrics from their data in order to make strategic
business decisions.
AWS has four forms of databases:
• Relational databases
• NoSQL databases
• Data warehousing databases
• Data lakes
Relational Databases
• Relational databases are the most common
form of databases.
• Relational databases help organizations find
the relationships between different aspects
of their business by showing how data is
related to each other.
• Relational databases store data in a manner
that is very similar to a spreadsheet, with
columns and rows.
• With relational databases, as soon as data is
written, it will be immediately available for query.
• The instant consistency is based upon relational
databases following the ACID model.
• Atomic – Transactions are all or nothing.
• Consistent – Data is consistent immediately after
writing to the database.
• Isolated – Transactions do not affect each other.
• Durable – Data in the database will not be lost.
Database on EC2
Key Features of RDS
• In the AWS environment multiple relational
databases are supported. Supported databases
include:
• Amazon Aurora
• MariaDB
• Microsoft SQL Server
• MySQL
• Oracle Database
• PostgreSQL
Amazon Aurora
• Amazon Aurora is the Amazon-branded
relational database service.
• It is a fully managed database service. Aurora is
MySQL- and PostgreSQL-compatible database.
• Aurora is a high-performance database with
speeds up to five times faster than MySQL and
three times faster than PostgreSQL databases.
• Aurora is typically used in enterprise applications
and software as a service (SAAS) applications.
MariaDB
• MariaDB is an open-source relational database.
• It was created by the developers of the MySQL
database.
• MariaDB has additional features and advanced
functionality when compared to MySQL.
• MariaDB supports a larger connection pool and
is comparatively faster than MySQL but doesn’t
support data masking and dynamic columns.
Microsoft SQL Server
• Microsoft SQL Server is the Microsoft-branded
relational database solution. AWS supports
multiple versions of Microsoft SQL:
• SQL Server 2008
• SQL Server 2012
• SQL Server 2014
• AWS supports four versions of the Microsoft SQL
databases:
• Enterprise
• Express
• Standard
• Web
MySQL
• MySQL is one of the original open-source
relational databases and has been around
since 1995.
• MySQL is extremely popular and is used in a
wide variety of web applications.
Oracle Databases
• Unlike open-source databases, oracle databases
are developed, licensed, and managed by Oracle.
AWS RDS for Oracle supports multiple versions of
the Oracle database:
• Standard
• Standard One
• Enterprise
• Each of these supported versions of AWS RDS for
Oracle have different performance, flexibility, and
scalability options. AWS offers two licensing
options with the AWS:
PostgreSQL Database
• PostgreSQL is an open-source relational
database. It has a very advanced feature set,
and enhanced functionality when compared
to MySQL.
NoSQL Databases
• A NoSQL database stands for “not only SQL”.
• NoSQL databases facilitate enhanced flexibility
and scalability by allowing a more flexible
database schema.
• NoSQL databases can handle structured and
nonstructured data.
• Being able to work with structured and
unstructured data can allow NoSQL databases
to scale far beyond relational databases
• When you need to store large amounts of
unstructured data.
• When the database schema may change.
• When you need flexibility.
• When an organization needs rapid deployment
of the database.
DynamoDB
• Many enterprises require a database with
near unlimited scalability and flexibility
beyond what can be achieved with a relational
database.
• AWS offers a fully managed NoSQL database
called DynamoDB for organizations that need
the scalability and flexibility of a NoSQL
database
• DynamoDB is a fully managed, high-availability NoSQL
database service. DynamoDB has multiple advantages:
• Fully managed by AWS, so there is less management for the organization.
• Because it is serverless, there is near unlimited scalability, as the database is
not bound to the capacity of a physical server or servers. Additionally, AWS
manages servers, operating systems, and security.
• High availability – By default, DynamoDB is placed in multiple availability
zones.
• High-performance storage – DynamoDB uses high performance SSD storage.
• Data protection – All data is encrypted by default in DynamoDB.
• Low latency – DynamoDB can be configured for sub millisecond latency
when used with DynamoDB Accelerator (which is an in-memory cache for
DynamoDB).
• Backups – DynamoDB can be backed up with minimal or no effect on
database performance.
When to use?
• DynamoDB is the optimal choice when near unlimited database
scalability and low latency are required.
• Additionally, DynamoDB is an excellent choice when storing data
from a large number of devices, such as internet of things (IoT).
• Gaming applications
• Storing game state
• Player data stores
• Leaderboards
• Financial applications
• Storing a large number of user transactions
• E-Commerce applications
• Shopping carts
• Inventory tracking
• Customer profiles and accounts
Data Warehousing Databases
• Data warehouses are designed to assist with
business intelligence and analytics.
• Data warehouses are designed to perform
analysis on large amounts of historical business
data.
A data warehouse is comprised of the following
components:
• Database to store data.
• Tools for visualizing the data.
• Tool for prepping and loading data.
What Is a Data Lake?
• A data lake is a repository that allows an organization to
store structured and unstructured data in the same place.
Data lakes allow an organization to store and analyze
extremely large amounts of data.
Benefits of a Data Lake
• Data lakes allow an organization to store
virtually any type of data at an almost
unlimited scale.
• Unlike a database, a data lake can store data
in its native format until it is needed by
another application.
• Data lakes are highly adaptable and can be
changed at any time to meet an
organization’s requirements.
RDS Multi-AZ Deployments
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