Amazon Aurora vs Amazon RDS

Features

Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS are both fully managed relational database services offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), but they have some key differences in terms of features:

Performance: Amazon Aurora is designed
to deliver up to five times the throughput of standard MySQL and up to three times the throughput of standard PostgreSQL, which makes it a better option for high-performance workloads. RDS also provides high performance but not as much as Aurora.
Compatibility: While both services support a variety of popular database engines, Amazon Aurora is only compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible databases. RDS supports more database engines like Amazon Aurora, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and PostgreSQL.
Scalability: Amazon Aurora can automatically scale up to 64 terabytes of storage, while RDS allows you to easily scale the compute and storage resources of your database instances.
Global Database: Aurora Global Databases allows customers to create Aurora Replicas in multiple AWS regions for fast local read performance and low-latency data access. RDS doesn’t have this feature.
Serverless : Amazon Aurora Serverless is an on-demand, auto-scaling configuration for Aurora that automatically starts up, shuts down, and scales capacity up or down based on your application’s needs. RDS doesn’t have this feature.
Performance Insights: Amazon Aurora Performance Insights provides performance metrics, such as active sessions and query execution times, to help you identify and troubleshoot performance issues with your Aurora DB instance. RDS also has this feature.

In summary, Amazon Aurora is a high-performance database service that is best suited for high-performance workloads and is only compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible databases. Amazon RDS is a fully managed database service that supports a variety of popular database engines and is a good option for most use cases.

Maximum storage capacity

The maximum storage capacity of Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS can differ based on the specific engine and instance type you are using, however in general:

Amazon Aurora: The maximum storage capacity for Aurora is 64 terabytes, which is larger than most other relational databases.
Amazon RDS: The maximum storage capacity for RDS depends on the specific engine you are using. For example, for Aurora it is 64 terabytes, for MySQL and MariaDB it is 6 terabytes, for Oracle it is 32 terabytes, for Microsoft SQL Server it is 16 terabytes, and for PostgreSQL it is 16 terabytes.

DB instance classes

Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS both offer a variety of DB instance classes, but they have some key differences:

Amazon Aurora: Aurora DB instances come in two classes: aurora and aurora-mysql2. The aurora class is optimized for high performance and is available in multiple sizes, while the aurora-mysql2 class is optimized for cost-effectiveness and is available in a single size.
Amazon RDS: RDS DB instances come in a var
iety of classes, depending on the specific engine you are using. For example, for Aurora they have similar classes as Aurora, for MySQL and MariaDB they have general, memory, burstable performance, and provisioned IOPS classes, for Oracle they have memory, burstable performance, and provisioned IOPS classes, for Microsoft SQL Server they have general, memory, burstable performance, and provisioned IOPS classes, and for PostgreSQL they have general and memory classes.

Availability and durability

Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS both provide high availability and durability features to ensure that your databases are always available and can withstand failures:

Amazon Aurora: Aurora automatically replicates data across three availability zones in the same region to provide enhanced fault tolerance and failover support. In case of a primary instance failure, Aurora automatically fails over to one of the Aurora Replicas. Aurora also has a feature called Aurora Global Databases which allows customers to create Aurora Replicas in multiple AWS regions for fast local read performance and low-latency data access.
Amazon RDS: RDS also supports Multi-AZ (Availability Zone) deployments, which automatically create a synchronous standby replica in a different availability zone for failover. This ensures that your database is always available, even in the event of a failure in one availability zone. Additionally, RDS also supports read replicas which can be used to offload read traffic from the primary instance and improve read performance.

Backups

Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS both provide automated backup features to ensure that your data is protected:

Amazon Aurora: Aurora automatically backs up your data and enables point-in-time recovery, allowing you to restore your database to any point in the past during the retention period. You can also create and manage database snapshots manually. Additionally, Aurora also supports self-service backups and continuous backup to Amazon S3.
Amazon RDS: RDS also automatically backs up your data and enables point-in-time recovery, allowing you to restore your database to any point in the past during the retention period. You can also create and manage database snapshots manually. RDS also supports automated backups for DB instances and DB clusters, as well as manual DB snapshots for DB instances and DB clusters.

Scalability

Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS both provide scalability features that allow you to easily scale the resources of your database instances:

Amazon Aurora: Aurora automatically scales up to 64 terabytes of storage and can handle millions of IOPS and thousands of read/write requests per second. You can also scale the compute resources of your Aurora DB instances by modifying the DB instance class, or scale the storage resources by modifying the allocated storage. Additionally, Aurora also supports the Serverless option, which automatically starts up, shuts down, and scales capacity up or down based on your application’s needs.
Amazon RDS: RDS allows you to easily scale the compute and storage resources of your database instances, depending on the specific engine you are using. For example, for Aurora it can scale up to 64 terabytes of storage, for MySQL and MariaDB it can scale up to 6 terabytes of storage, for Oracle it can scale up to 32 terabytes of storage, for Microsoft SQL Server it can scale up to 16 terabytes of storage, and for PostgreSQL it can scale up to 16 terabytes of storage. RDS also supports the option to scale compute and storage resources separately, and also supports the option to scale read replicas to improve read performance

Security

Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS both provide a range of security features to help protect your data:

Amazon Aurora: Aurora provides encryption at rest and in transit, and security group firewall rules, which you can use to control network access to your DB instances. Additionally, Aurora provides network isolation, so that your DB instances are accessible only to Amazon EC2 instances and other resources within your virtual private cloud (VPC). You can also use AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) to control access to your Aurora DB instances and DB clusters.
Amazon RDS: RDS also provides encryption at rest and in transit, security group firewall rules, and network isolation, similar to Aurora. Additionally, RDS also supports encryption for data stored in the underlying storage volumes, and supports integration with AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to manage the encryption keys. RDS also provides features such as IAM authentication for MySQL and PostgreSQL, and also supports Kerberos Authentication for Microsoft SQL Server.

Encryption

Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS both provide encryption features to help protect your data:

Amazon Aurora: Aurora provides encryption at rest and in transit, and also supports integration with AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to manage the encryption keys. Aurora encrypts data at rest automatically and transparently, using the industry-standard Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256) algorithm. Data in transit between the client and the DB instance is also encrypted using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS).
Amazon RDS: RDS also provides encryption at rest and in transit, similar to Aurora. Additionally, RDS also supports encryption for data stored in the underlying storage volumes, and supports integration with AWS Key Management Service (KMS) to manage the encryption keys. RDS also supports encryption for data in transit using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) or Transport Layer Security (TLS) for all supported databases engines.

DB Authentication

Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS are both managed relational database services provided by AWS. Both services allow for authentication to the database using a username and password, but there are some key differences in the way authentication is handled:

Amazon RDS allows for the creation of database users and roles with specific permissions, and supports the use of standard SQL-based authentication methods such as password-based authentication and IAM database authentication.
Amazon Aurora with MySQL compatibility and Amazon Aurora with PostgreSQL compatibility also support standard SQL-based authentication methods, but in addition, they also support authentication using the AWS Secrets Manager, which allows you to store and manage credentials securely.

Maintenance

Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS are both managed relational database services provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), but there are some differences in terms of maintenance.

Amazon RDS handles software patching, backups, and software version upgrades automatically, while Amazon Aurora handles these tasks automatically with the added benefit of self-healing and self-scaling storage.

Additionally, Aurora allows for read replicas, which can offload read traffic from the primary instance, and also allows for automatic failover to a read replica in the event of primary instance failure.

Pricing

Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS have different pricing models.

Amazon RDS pricing is based on the instance type, storage, and network usage, and there is an additional hourly charge for each read replica.

Amazon Aurora pricing is based on the number of Aurora Capacity Units (ACUs) used per second and the amount of storage used per month. ACUs are a measure of the compute, memory, and I/O resources that an Aurora DB cluster consumes. Aurora also has a lower cost for storage and I/O compared to RDS.

Additionally, Aurora has a feature called “Aurora Serverless” that allows users to automatically start and stop their DB instances based on their application’s needs, thus only pay for the resources when they are being used, this could save a lot of cost when the DB is not heavily used.