AW S A c a d e m y C l o u d F o u n d a t i o n s

Module 8: Databases

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Welcome to Module 8: Databases

 Module overview

Topics Lab
• Amazon Relational Database Service • Lab 5: Build Your DB Server and Interact
(Amazon RDS) with Your DB Using an App
• Amazon DynamoDB Activity
• Amazon Redshift • Database case studies
• Amazon Aurora
Demos
• Amazon RDS console
• Amazon DynamoDB console
Knowledge check

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The business world is constantly changing and evolving. By accurately recording, updating,
and tracking data on an efficient and regular basis, companies can use the immense potential
from the insights that they obtain from their data. Database management systems are the
crucial link for managing this data. Like other cloud services, cloud databases offer significant
cost advantages over traditional database strategies.

In this module, you will learn about Amazon Relational Database Service (or Amazon RDS),
Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon Redshift, and Amazon Aurora.

This module will address the following topics:

• Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS)
• Amazon DynamoDB
• Amazon Redshift
• Amazon Aurora

The module includes two recorded demonstrations that will show you how to access and
interact with Amazon RDS and Amazon DynamoDB by using the AWS Management Console.

The module also includes a hands-on lab where you will set up an Amazon RDS database
solution.
The module also includes an activity that challenges you to select the appropriate database
service for a business case.

Finally, you will be asked to complete a knowledge check that will test your understanding of
the key concepts that are covered in this module.
 Module objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Explain Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS)

• Identify the functionality in Amazon RDS

• Explain Amazon DynamoDB

• Identify the functionality in Amazon DynamoDB

• Explain Amazon Redshift

• Explain Amazon Aurora

• Perform tasks in an RDS database, such as launching, configuring, and interacting

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In this module, you will learn about key concepts that are related to database solutions,
including:
• Understanding the different database services in the cloud.
• Discovering the differences between unmanaged and managed database solutions.
• Understanding the differences between Structured Query Language (or SQL) and NoSQL
databases.
• Comparing the availability differences of alternative database solutions.

The goal of this module is to help you understand the database resources that are available
to power your solution. You will also review the different service features that are available,
so you can begin to understand how different choices impact things like solution availability

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Explain Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS)
• Identify the functionality in Amazon RDS
• Explain Amazon DynamoDB
• Identify the functionality in Amazon DynamoDB
• Explain Amazon Redshift
• Explain Amazon Aurora
• Perform tasks in an RDS database, such as launching, configuring, and interacting
 Module 8: Databases

Section 1: Amazon Relational Database Service

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Introducing Section 1: Amazon Relational Database Service.

 Amazon Relational Database Service

Amazon Relational Database

Service (Amazon RDS)

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Welcome to an introduction to the foundational database services that are available on

Amazon Web Services (AWS). This module begins with Amazon Relational Database Service
(Amazon RDS).

This section starts by reviewing the differences between a managed and unmanaged service
in relation to Amazon RDS.
 Unmanaged versus managed services

Unmanaged: Managed:
Scaling, fault tolerance, and Scaling, fault tolerance, and
availability are managed by availability are typically built in
you. to the service.

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AWS solutions typically fall into one of two categories: unmanaged or managed.

Unmanaged services are typically provisioned in discrete portions as specified by the user.
You must manage how the service responds to changes in load, errors, and situations where
resources become unavailable. Say that you launch a web server on an Amazon Elastic
Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instance. Because Amazon EC2 is an unmanaged solution, that
web server will not scale to handle increased traffic load or replace unhealthy instances with
healthy ones unless you specify that it use a scaling solution, such as AWS Automatic Scaling.
The benefit to using an unmanaged service is that you have more fine-tuned control over
how your solution handles changes in load, errors, and situations where resources become
unavailable.

Managed services require the user to configure them. For example, you create an Amazon
Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) bucket and then set permissions for it. However,
managed services typically require less configuration. Say that you have a static website that
you host in a cloud-based storage solution, such as Amazon S3. The static website does not
have a web server. However, because Amazon S3 is a managed solution, features such as
scaling, fault-tolerance, and availability would be handled automatically and internally by
Amazon S3.

Now, you will look at the challenges of running an unmanaged, standalone relational
database. Then, you will learn how Amazon RDS addresses these challenges.
 Challenges of relational databases

• Server maintenance and energy footprint

• Software installation and patches
• Database backups and high availability
• Limits on scalability
• Data security
• Operating system (OS) installation and patches

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When you run your own relational database, you are responsible for several administrative
tasks, such as server maintenance and energy footprint, software, installation and patching,
and database backups. You are also responsible for ensuring high availability, planning for
scalability, data security, and operating system (OS) installation and patching. All these tasks
take resources from other items on your to-do list, and require expertise in several areas.
 Amazon RDS

Managed service that sets up and operates a relational database in the

cloud.

AWS Cloud

Users Application
Servers Amazon RDS

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Amazon RDS is a managed service that sets up and operates a relational database in the
cloud.

To address the challenges of running an unmanaged, standalone relational database, AWS

provides a service that sets up, operates, and scales the relational database without any
ongoing administration. Amazon RDS provides cost-efficient and resizable capacity, while
automating time-consuming administrative tasks.

Amazon RDS enables you to focus on your application, so you can give applications the
performance, high availability, security, and compatibility that they need. With Amazon RDS,
your primary focus is your data and optimizing your application.
 From on-premises databases to Amazon RDS
Database in Amazon Elastic Database in Amazon RDS or
On-premises database
Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) Amazon Aurora

Application optimization Application optimization Application optimization

Scaling Scaling Scaling
High Availability High Availability High Availability
Database backups Database backups Database backups
Database software patches Database software patches Database software patches
Database software installs Database software installs AWS Database software installs
Operation system patches Operation system patches provides Operation system patches
Operating system install Operating system install Operating system install
Server maintenance Server maintenance Server maintenance
Rack and stack servers Rack and stack servers Rack and stack servers
Power, HVAC, network Power, HVAC, network Power, HVAC, network
AWS
provides

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What does the term managed services mean?

When your database is on premises, the database administrator is responsible for everything.
Database administration tasks include optimizing applications and queries; setting up the
hardware; patching the hardware; setting up networking and power; and managing heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC).

If you move to a database that runs on an Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2)
instance, you no longer need to manage the underlying hardware or handle data center
operations. However, you are still responsible for patching the OS and handling all software
and backup operations.

If you set up your database on Amazon RDS or Amazon Aurora, you reduce your
administrative responsibilities. By moving to the cloud, you can automatically scale your
database, enable high availability, manage backups, and perform patching. Thus, you can
focus on what really matters most—optimizing your application.
 Managed services responsibilities

You manage:
• Application optimization

AWS manages:
• OS installation and patches
• Database software installation and patches
• Database backups
• High availability
Amazon RDS
• Scaling
• Power and racking and stacking servers
• Server maintenance
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With Amazon RDS, you manage your application optimization. AWS manages installing and
patching the operating system, installing and patching the database software, automatic
backups, and high availability.

AWS also scales resources, manages power and servers, and performs maintenance.

Offloading these operations to the managed Amazon RDS service reduces your operational
workload and the costs that are associated with your relational database. You will now go
through a brief overview of the service and a few potential use cases.
 Amazon RDS DB instances
Amazon RDS
=
MySQL

DB Instance Class Amazon Aurora

• CPU

M
• Memory Microsoft SQL Server
• Network performance
PostgreSQL
Amazon RDS DB DB Instance Storage
main instance MariaDB
• Magnetic
• General Purpose (solid state drive, or SSD)
• Provisioned IOPS Oracle

DB engines

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The basic building block of Amazon RDS is the database instance. A database instance is an
isolated database environment that can contain multiple user-created databases. It can be
accessed by using the same tools and applications that you use with a standalone database
instance. The resources in a database instance are determined by its database instance class,
and the type of storage is dictated by the type of disks.

Database instances and storage differ in performance characteristics and price, which enable
you to customize your performance and cost to the needs of your database. When you
choose to create a database instance, you must first specify which database engine to run.
Amazon RDS currently supports six databases: MySQL, Amazon Aurora, Microsoft SQL Server,
PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and Oracle.
 Amazon RDS in a virtual private cloud (VPC)

AWS Cloud
Availability Zone

VPC
Public subnet

Internet
Users gateway Amazon EC2

Private subnet

Amazon RDS

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You can run an instance by using Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC). When you
use a virtual private cloud (VPC), you have control over your virtual networking environment.

You can select your own IP address range, create subnets, and configure routing and access
control lists (ACLs). The basic functionality of Amazon RDS is the same whether or not it runs
in a VPC. Usually, the database instance is isolated in a private subnet and is only made
directly accessible to indicated application instances. Subnets in a VPC are associated with a
single Availability Zone, so when you select the subnet, you are also choosing the Availability
Zone (or physical location) for your database instance.
 High availability with Multi-AZ deployment
AWS Cloud
Availability Zone 1 Availability Zone 2

VPC
Public subnet

Amazon EC2 Application

Private subnet Private subnet

M Synchronous S
Amazon RDS
RDS Standby
instance
instance

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One of the most powerful features of Amazon RDS is the ability to configure your database
instance for high availability with a Multi-AZ deployment. After a Multi-AZ deployment is
configured, Amazon RDS automatically generates a standby copy of the database instance in
another Availability Zone within the same VPC. After seeding the database copy, transactions
are synchronously replicated to the standby copy. Running a database instance in a Multi-AZ
deployment can enhance availability during planned system maintenance, and it can help
protect your databases against database instance failure and Availability Zone disruption.
 High availability with Multi-AZ deployment
2
AWS Cloud
Availability Zone 1 Availability Zone 2

VPC
Public subnet

Amazon EC2 Application

Private subnet Private subnet

M Synchronous S
Amazon RDS
RDS Standby
instance
instance

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Therefore, if the main database instance fails in a Multi-AZ deployment, Amazon RDS
automatically brings the standby database instance online as the new main instance. The
synchronous replication minimizes the potential for data loss. Because your applications
reference the database by name by using the Amazon RDS Domain Name System (DNS)
endpoint, you don't need to change anything in your application code to use the standby
copy for failover.
 Amazon RDS read replicas
AWS Cloud
Features Availability Zone
• Offers asynchronous replication VPC
Public subnet
• Can be promoted to master if needed
Amazon EC2 Application
Functionality
• Use for read-heavy database Private subnet

workloads
M R
• Offload read queries Amazon RDS Read Replica
instance instance

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Amazon RDS also supports the creation of read replicas for MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL,
and Amazon Aurora. Updates that are made to the source database instance are
asynchronously copied to the read replica instance. You can reduce the load on your source
database instance by routing read queries from your applications to the read replica. Using
read replicas, you can also scale out beyond the capacity constraints of a single database
instance for read-heavy database workloads. Read replicas can also be promoted to become
the master database instance, but this requires manual action because of asynchronous
replication.

Read replicas can be created in a different Region than the master database. This feature can
help satisfy disaster recovery requirements or reduce latency by directing reads to a read
replica that is closer to the user.
 Use cases

High throughput
Web and mobile applications Massive storage scalability
High availability

Low-cost database
Ecommerce applications Data security
Fully managed solution

Rapidly grow capacity

Mobile and online games Automatic scaling
Database monitoring
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Amazon RDS works well for web and mobile applications that need a database with high
throughput, massive storage scalability, and high availability. Because Amazon RDS does not
have any licensing constraints, it fits the variable usage pattern of these applications. For
small and large ecommerce businesses, Amazon RDS provides a flexible, secure, and low-cost
database solution for online sales and retailing. Mobile and online games require a database
platform with high throughput and availability. Amazon RDS manages the database
infrastructure, so game developers do not need to worry about provisioning, scaling, or
monitoring database servers.
 When to Use Amazon RDS
Use Amazon RDS when your application Do not use Amazon RDS when your
requires: application requires:
• Complex transactions or complex • Massive read/write rates (for example,
queries 150,000 write/second)
• A medium to high query or write rate – • Sharding due to high data size or
Up to 30,000 IOPS (15,000 reads + throughput demands
15,000 writes)
• Simple GET or PUT requests and
• No more than a single worker node or queries that a NoSQL database can
shard handle
• High durability • Relational database management
system (RDBMS) customization

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Use Amazon RDS when your application requires:

• Complex transactions or complex queries
• A medium to high query or write rate – up to 30,000 IOPS (15,000 reads + 15,000 writes)
• No more than a single worker node or shard
• High durability

Do not use Amazon RDS when your application requires:

• Massive read/write rates (for example 150,000 writes per second)
• Sharding due to high data size or throughput demands
• Simple GET or PUT requests and queries that a NoSQL database can handle
• Or, relational database management system (RDBMS) customization

For circumstances when you should not use Amazon RDS, consider either using a NoSQL
database solution (such as DynamoDB) or running your relational database engine on
Amazon EC2 instances instead of Amazon RDS (which will provide you with more options for
customizing your database).
 Amazon RDS: Clock-hour billing and database
characteristics
Clock-hour billing –
• Resources incur charges when running

Database characteristics –
• Physical capacity of database:
• Engine
• Size
• Memory class

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When you begin to estimate the cost of Amazon RDS, you must consider the clock hours of
service time, which are resources that incur charges when they are running (for example,
from the time you launch a database instance until you terminate the instance).

Database characteristics should also be considered. The physical capacity of the database you
choose will affect how much you are charged. Database characteristics vary depending on
the database engine, size, and memory class.
 Amazon RDS: DB purchase type and multiple
DB instances

DB purchase type –
• On-Demand Instances
• Compute capacity by the hour
• Reserved Instances
• Low, one-time, upfront payment for database instances that are reserved with
a 1-year or 3-year term

Number of DB instances –
• Provision multiple DB instances to handle peak loads

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Consider the database purchase type. When you use On-Demand Instances, you pay for
compute capacity for each hour that your database instance runs, with no required minimum
commitments. With Reserved Instances, you can make a low, one-time, upfront payment for
each database instance you want to reserve for a 1-year or 3-year term.

Also, you must consider the number of database instances. With Amazon RDS, you can
provision multiple database instances to handle peak loads.
 Amazon RDS: Storage

Provisioned storage –
• No charge
• Backup storage of up to 100 percent of database storage for an active
database
• Charge (GB/month)
• Backup storage for terminated DB instances

Additional storage –
• Charge (GB/month)
• Backup storage in addition to provisioned storage

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Consider provisioned storage. There is no additional charge for backup storage of up to 100
percent of your provisioned database storage for an active database instance. After the
database instance is terminated, backup storage is billed per GB, per month.

Also consider the amount of backup storage in addition to the provisioned storage amount,
which is billed per GB, per month.
 Amazon RDS: Deployment type and data
transfer
Requests –
• The number of input and output requests that are made to the database

Deployment type—Storage and I/0 charges vary, depending on whether you deploy to –
• Single Availability Zone
• Multiple Availability Zones

Data transfer –
• No charge for inbound data transfer
• Tiered charges for outbound data transfer

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Also consider the number of input and output requests that are made to the database.

Consider the deployment type. You can deploy your DB instance to a single Availability Zone
(which is analogous to a standalone data center) or to multiple Availability Zones (which is
analogous to a secondary data center for enhanced availability and durability). Storage and
I/O charges vary, depending on the number of Availability Zones that you deploy to.

Finally, consider data transfer. Inbound data transfer is free, and outbound data transfer
costs are tiered.

Depending on the needs of your application, it’s possible to optimize your costs for Amazon
RDS database instances by purchasing Reserved Instances. To purchase Reserved Instances,
you make a low, one-time payment for each instance that you want to reserve. As a result,
you receive a significant discount on the hourly usage charge for that instance.
 Build Your DB
Server and Interact
with Your DB Using
an App

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You will now complete Lab 5: Build Your DB Server and Interact with Your DB Using an App.
 Lab 5: Scenario
This lab is designed to show you how to use an AWS managed database
instance to solve a need for a relational database.
AWS Cloud
Availability Zone A Availability Zone B
VPC: 10.0.0.0/16
Public subnet 1: Public subnet 2:
Internet 10.0.0.0/24 10.0.2.0/24
Security group
Internet NAT Web
gateway gateway Server

Private subnet 1: Private subnet 2:

10.0.1.0/24 10.0.3.0/24

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This lab is designed to show you how to use an AWS managed database instance to solve a
need for a relational database. With Amazon RDS, you can set up, operate, and scale a
relational database in the cloud. It provides cost-efficient and resizable capacity while
managing time-consuming database administration tasks, which enables you to focus on your
applications and your business. Amazon RDS provides six familiar database engines to choose
from: Amazon Aurora, Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and MariaDB.

Amazon RDS Multi-AZ deployments provide enhanced availability and durability for DB
instances, which make them a good fit for production database workloads. When you
provision a Multi-AZ DB instance, Amazon RDS automatically creates a primary DB instance
and synchronously replicates the data to a standby instance in a different Availability Zone.

After completing this lab, you should be able to:

• Launch an Amazon RDS DB instance with high availability.
• Configure the DB instance to permit connections from your web server.
• Open a web application and interact with your database.
 Lab 5: Tasks

Security group
Create a VPC security group.

Private subnet
Create a DB subnet group.

Create an Amazon RDS DB instance and interact

with your database.
Amazon RDS

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Your goal in completing this lab is to:

• Create a VPC security group.
• Create a DB subnet group.
• Create an Amazon RDS DB instance and interact with your database.
 Lab 5: Final product

AWS Cloud
Availability Zone A Availability Zone B
VPC: 10.0.0.0/16
Public subnet 1: Public subnet 2:
Internet 10.0.1.0/24 10.0.2.0/24
Security group
NAT Web
Internet
gateway gateway Server

Private subnet 1: Private subnet 2:

10.0.3.0/24 10.0.4.0/24
Security group Security group
RDS DB RDS DB
Master Secondary

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In this lab, you:

• Launched an Amazon RDS DB instance with high availability.
• Configured the DB instance to permit connections from your web server.
• Opened a web application and interacted with your database
 Begin Lab 5
~ 30 minutes

Begin Lab 5: Build your

DB server and interact
with your DB using an
application

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It is now time to start the lab.

 Lab debrief:
key takeaways

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In this lab you:

• Created a VPC security group.

• Created a DB subnet group.
• Created an Amazon RDS DB instance
• Interacted with your database
 Recorded demo:
Amazon RDS

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Now, take a moment to watch the Amazon RDS demo. The recording runs a little over
6minutes, and it reinforces many of the concepts that were discussed in this section of the
module.

The demonstration shows how to configure the following resources by using the AWS
Management Console:

• An Amazon RDS installation running the Amazon Aurora database engine

• A security group to secure the database

The demonstration also shows how to validate that the database is operational.
 • With Amazon RDS, you can set up,
Section 1 key operate, and scale relational
takeaways databases in the cloud.
• Features –
• Managed service
• Accessible via the console, AWS Command Line
Interface (AWS CLI), or application
programming interface (API) calls
• Scalable (compute and storage)
• Automated redundancy and backup are
available
• Supported database engines:
• Amazon Aurora, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB,
Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server

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Amazon RDS is a web service that makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale a relational
database in the cloud. It provides cost-efficient and resizable capacity while managing time-
consuming database administration tasks so you can focus on your applications and your
business. Features include that it is a managed service, and that it can be accessed via the
console, AWS Command Line Interface (AWS CLI), or application programming interface (API)
calls. Amazon RDS is scalable for compute and storage, and automated redundancy and
backup is available. Supported database engines include Amazon Aurora, PostgreSQL,
MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server.

Amazon RDS supports demanding database applications. You can choose between two solid
state drive (SSD)-backed storage options: one option is optimized for high-performance
Online Transactional Processing (OLTP) applications, and the other option works well for cost-
effective, general-purpose use.

With Amazon RDS, you can scale your database’s compute and storage resources with no
downtime. Amazon RDS runs on the same highly reliable infrastructure that is used by other
AWS services. It also enables you to run your database instances and Amazon VPC, which is
designed to provide you with control and security.
 Module 8: Databases

Section 2: Amazon DynamoDB

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Welcome to Section 2: Amazon DynamoDB.

 Relational versus non-relational databases

Relational (SQL) Non-Relational

Data Storage Rows and columns Key-value, document, graph
Schemas Fixed Dynamic
Focuses on collection of
Querying Uses SQL
documents
Scalability Vertical Horizontal

ISBN Title Author Format {

ISBN: 3111111223439,
Withering Jackson, Title: “Withering Depths”,
Example 3111111223439
Depths Mateo
Paperback
Author: ”Jackson, Mateo”,
Format: “Paperback”
Wang,
3122222223439 Wily Willy Ebook }
Xiulan

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With DynamoDB, this module transitions from relational databases to non-relational

databases. Here is a review of the differences between these two types of databases:

• A relational database (RDB) works with structured data that is organized by tables,
records, and columns. RDBs establish a well-defined relationship between database
tables. RDBs use structured query language (SQL), which is a standard user application
that provides a programming interface for database interaction. Relational databases
might have difficulties scaling out horizontally or working with semistructured data, and
might also require many joins for normalized data.

• A non-relational database is any database that does not follow the relational model that
is provided by traditional relational database management systems (RDBMS). Non-
relational databases have grown in popularity because they were designed to overcome
the limitations of relational databases for handling the demands of variable structured
data. Non-relational databases scale out horizontally, and they can work with
unstructured and semistructured data.

Here is a look at what DynamoDB offers.

 What is Amazon DynamoDB?

Fast and flexible NoSQL database service for any scale

• NoSQL database tables

• Virtually unlimited storage

• Items can have differing

attributes

Amazon DynamoDB • Low-latency queries

• Scalable read/write throughput

32
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DynamoDB is a fast and flexible NoSQL database service for all applications that need
consistent, single-digit-millisecond latency at any scale.

Amazon manages all the underlying data infrastructure for this service and redundantly
stores data across multiple facilities in a native US Region as part of the fault-tolerant
architecture. With DynamoDB, you can create tables and items. You can add items to a table.
The system automatically partitions your data and has table storage to meet workload
requirements. There is no practical limit on the number of items that you can store in a table.
For instance, some customers have production tables that contain billions of items.

One of the benefits of a NoSQL database is that items in the same table can have different
attributes. This gives you the flexibility to add attributes as your application evolves. You can
store newer format items side by side with older format items in the same table without
needing to perform schema migrations.

As your application becomes more popular and as users continue to interact with it, your
storage can grow with your application's needs. All the data in DynamoDB is stored on solid
state drives (SSDs) and its simple query language enables consistent low-latency query
performance. In addition to scaling storage, DynamoDB also enables you to provision the
amount of read or write throughput that you need for your table. As the number of
application users grows, DynamoDB tables can be scaled to handle the increased numbers of
read/write requests with manual provisioning. Alternatively, you can enable automatic
scaling so that DynamoDB monitors the load on the table and automatically increases or
decreases the provisioned throughput.
Some additional key features include global tables that enable you to automatically replicate
across your choice of AWS Regions, encryption at rest, and item Time-to-Live (TTL).
 What is Amazon DynamoDB?

• NoSQL database tables

• Virtually unlimited storage

• Items can have differing attributes

• Low-latency queries

• Scalable read/write throughput

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DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL database service. Amazon manages all of the underlying
data infrastructure for this service and redundantly stores data across multiple facilities
within a native US region as part of the fault-tolerant architecture. With DynamoDB, you can
create tables and items. You can add items to a table. The system automatically partitions
your data and has table storage to meet the workload requirements. There is no practical
limit on the number of items you can store in a table. For instance, some customers have
production tables that contain billions of items.

One of the benefits of a NoSQL database is that items in the same table may have different
attributes. This gives you the flexibility to add attributes as your application evolves. You can
have newer format items stored side by side with older format items in the same table
without needing to perform schema migrations.

As your application becomes more popular and as users continue to interact with it, your
storage can grow with your application's needs. All of the data in DynamoDB is stored on
solid-state drives and its simple query language allows for consistent low-latency query
performance. In addition to scaling storage, DynamoDB also allows you to provision the
amount of read or write throughput you need for your table. As the number of application
users grow, DynamoDB tables can be scaled to handle the increased numbers of read and
write requests with manual provisioning. Alternatively, you can enable automatic scaling so
that DynamoDB monitors the load on the table and automatically increases or decreases the
provisioned throughput.
Some additional key differentiating features include global tables that enable you to
automatically replicate across your choice of AWS regions, encryption at rest, and item Time-
to-Live (TTL).
 Amazon DynamoDB core components

• Tables, items, and attributes are the core DynamoDB components

• DynamoDB supports two different kinds of primary keys: Partition key and
partition and sort key

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 34

The core DynamoDB components are tables, items, and attributes.

• A table is a collection of data.
• Items are a group of attributes that is uniquely identifiable among all the other items.
• Attributes are a fundamental data element, something that does not need to be broken
down any further.

DynamoDB supports two different kinds of primary keys.

The partition key is a simple primary key, which is composed of one attribute called the sort
key.
The partition key and sort key are also known as the composite primary key, which is
composed of two attributes.

To learn more about how DynamoDB works, see:

Table item attributes
 Partitioning

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As data grows, table data is partitioned and indexed by the primary key.

You can retrieve data from a DynamoDB table in two different ways:
• In the first method, the query operation takes advantage of partitioning to effectively
locate items by using the primary key.
• The second method is via a scan, which enables you to locate items in the table by
matching conditions on non-key attributes. The second method gives you the flexibility to
locate items by other attributes. However, the operation is less efficient because
DynamoDB will scan through all the items in the table to find the ones that match your
criteria.
 Items in a table must have a key

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To take full advantage of query operations and DynamoDB, it's important to think about the
key that you use to uniquely identify items in the DynamoDB table. You can set up a simple
primary key that is based on a single attribute of the data values with a uniform distribution,
such as the Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) or other random identifiers.

For example, if you wanted to model a table with products, you could use some attributes
like the product ID. Alternatively, you can specify a compound key, which is composed of a
partition key and a secondary key. In this example, if you had a table with books, you might
use the combination of author and title to uniquely identify table items. This method could
be useful if you expect to frequently look at books by author because you could then use
query.
 Amazon DynamoDB:
Section 2 key • Runs exclusively on SSDs.
takeaways • Supports document and key-value store models.
• Replicates your tables automatically across your
choice of AWS Regions.
• Works well for mobile, web, gaming, adtech, and
Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
• Is accessible via the console, the AWS CLI, and API
calls.
• Provides consistent, single-digit millisecond latency
at any scale.
• Has no limits on table size or throughput.

37 © 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.

DynamoDB runs exclusively on SSDs, and it supports document and key-value store models.

DynamoDB works well for mobile, web, gaming, ad tech, and Internet of Things (IoT)
applications.
It’s accessible via the console, the AWS CLI, and API calls.

The ability to scale your tables in terms of both storage and provision throughput makes
DynamoDB a good fit for structured data from the web, mobile, and IoT applications. For
instance, you might have a large number of clients that continuously generate data and make
large numbers of requests per second. In this case, the throughput scaling of DynamoDB
enables consistent performance for your clients. DynamoDB is also used in latency-sensitive
applications. The predictable query performance—even in large tables—makes it useful for
cases where variable latency could cause significant impact to the user experience or to
business goals, such as adtech or gaming.

The DynamoDB Global Tables feature reduces the work of replicating data between Regions
and resolving update conflicts. It replicates your DynamoDB tables automatically across your
choice of AWS Regions. Global Tables can help applications stay available and performant for
business continuity.
 Recorded demo:
Amazon
DynamoDB

38 © 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.

Now, take a moment to watch the DynamoDB demo . The recording runs a little over 2
minutes, and it reinforces many of the concepts that were discussed in this section of the
module.

The demonstration shows how to create a table running in Amazon DynamoDB by using the
AWS Management Console. It also demonstrates how to interact with the table using the
AWS Command Line Interface. The demonstration shows how you can query the table, and
add data to the table.
.
 Amazon DynamoDB demonstration

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 39

Review the demonstration: Amazon DynamoDB console demo.

You can access this recorded demonstration in the learning management system.
 Module 8: Databases

Section 3: Amazon Redshift

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Welcome to Section 3: Amazon Redshift.

 Amazon Redshift

Amazon Redshift

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 41

Amazon Redshift is a fast, fully managed data warehouse that makes it simple and cost-
effective to analyze all your data by using standard SQL and your existing business
intelligence (BI) tools. Here is a look at Amazon Redshift and how you can use it for analytic
applications.
 Introduction to Amazon Redshift

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Analytics is important for businesses today, but building a data warehouse is complex and
expensive. Data warehouses can take months and significant financial resources to set up.

Amazon Redshift is a fast and powerful, fully managed data warehouse that is simple and
cost-effective to set up, use, and scale. It enables you to run complex analytic queries against
petabytes of structured data by using sophisticated query optimization, columnar storage on
high-performance local disks, and massively parallel query execution. Most results come back
in seconds.

You will next review a slightly more detailed exploration of key Amazon Redshift features and
some common use cases.
 Parallel processing architecture

SQL Clients/BI tools

Amazon Redshift
Leader node

Dense compute
node Dense compute nodes
• Virtual Core
• RAM
• Local disk Amazon DynamoDB
Amazon S3

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The leader node manages communications with client programs and all communication with
compute nodes. It parses and develops execution plans to carry out database operations—
specifically, the series of steps that are needed to obtain results for complex queries. The
leader node compiles code for individual elements of the execution plan and assigns the code
to individual compute nodes. The compute nodes execute the compiled code and send
intermediate results back to the leader node for final aggregation.

Like other AWS services, you only pay for what you use. You can get started for as little as 25
cents per hour and, at scale, Amazon Redshift can deliver storage and processing for
approximately $1,000 dollars per terabyte per year (with 3-Year Partial Upfront Reserved
Instance pricing).

The Amazon Redshift Spectrum feature enables you to run queries against exabytes of data
directly in Amazon S3.
 Automation and scaling

Manage

Monitor

Scale

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It is straightforward to automate most of the common administrative tasks to manage,

monitor, and scale your Amazon Redshift cluster—which enables you to focus on your data
and your business.

Scalability is intrinsic in Amazon Redshift. Your cluster can be scaled up and down as your
needs change with a few clicks in the console.

Security is the highest priority for AWS. With Amazon Redshift, security is built in, and it is
designed to provide strong encryption of your data both at rest and in transit.
 Compatibility

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 45

Finally, Amazon Redshift is compatible with the tools that you already know and use. Amazon
Redshift supports standard SQL. It also provides high-performance Java Database
Connectivity (JDBC) and Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) connectors, which enable you to
use the SQL clients and BI tools of your choice.

Next, you will review some common Amazon Redshift use cases.
 Amazon Redshift use cases

• Enterprise data warehouse (EDW)

• Migrate at a pace that customers are comfortable with
• Experiment without large upfront cost or commitment
• Respond faster to business needs

• Big data
• Low price point for small customers
• Managed service for ease of deployment and maintenance
• Focus more on data and less on database management

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 46

This slide discusses some Amazon Redshift use cases.

Many customers migrate their traditional enterprise data warehouses to Amazon Redshift
with the primary goal of agility. Customers can start at whatever scale they want and
experiment with their data without needing to rely on complicated processes with their IT
departments to procure and prepare their software.

Big data customers have one thing in common: massive amounts of data that stretch their
existing systems to a breaking point. Smaller customers might not have the resources to
procure the hardware and expertise that is needed to run these systems. With Amazon
Redshift, smaller customers can quickly set up and use a data warehouse at a comparatively
low price point.

As a managed service, Amazon Redshift handles many of the deployment and ongoing
maintenance tasks that often require a database administrator. This enables customers to
focus on querying and analyzing their data.
 Amazon Redshift use cases 2

• Software as a service (SaaS)

• Scale the data warehouse capacity as demand grows
• Add analytic functionality to applications
• Reduce hardware and software costs

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 47

Software as a service (SaaS) customers can take advantage of the scalable, easy-to-manage
features that Amazon Redshift provides. Some customers use the Amazon Redshift to
provide analytic capabilities to their applications. Some users deploy a cluster per customer,
and use tagging to simplify and manage their service level agreements (SLAs) and billing.
Amazon Redshift can help you reduce hardware and software costs.
 Amazon Redshift features:
Section 3 key
• Fast, fully managed data warehouse
takeaways service
• Easily scale with no downtime
• Columnar storage and parallel
processing architectures
• Automatically and continuously
monitors cluster
• Encryption is built in

48 © 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.

In summary, Amazon Redshift is a fast, fully managed data warehouse service. As a business
grows, you can easily scale with no downtime by adding more nodes. Amazon Redshift
automatically adds the nodes to your cluster and redistributes the data for maximum
performance.

Amazon Redshift is designed to consistently deliver high performance. Amazon Redshift uses
columnar storage and a massively parallel processing architecture. These features parallelize
and distribute data and queries across multiple nodes. Amazon Redshift also automatically
monitors your cluster and backs up your data so that you can easily restore if needed.
Encryption is built in—you only need to enable it.

To learn more about Amazon Redshift, see:

https://aws.amazon.com/redshift/.
 Module 8: Databases

Section 4: Amazon Aurora

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Introducing Section 4: Amazon Aurora.

 Amazon Aurora

• Enterprise-class relational database

• Compatible with MySQL or PostgreSQL

• Automate time-consuming tasks (such as

provisioning, patching, backup, recovery,
Amazon Aurora failure detection, and repair).

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 50

Amazon Aurora is a MySQL- and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database that is built for
the cloud. It combines the performance and availability of high-end commercial databases
with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open-source databases. Using Amazon Aurora
can reduce your database costs while improving the reliability and availability of the
database. As a fully managed service, Aurora is designed to automate time-consuming tasks
like provisioning, patching, backup, recovery, failure detection, and repair.
 Amazon Aurora service benefits

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 51

This slide covers some of the benefits of Amazon Aurora. It is highly available and it offers a
fast, distributed storage subsystem. Amazon Aurora is straightforward to set up and uses SQL
queries. It is designed to have drop-in compatibility with MySQL and PostgreSQL database
engines so that you can use most of your existing database tools with little or no change.

Amazon Aurora is a pay-as-you-go service, which means that you only pay for the services
and features that you use. It’s a managed service that integrates with features such as AWS
Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) and the AWS Schema Conversion Tool. These
features are designed to help you move your dataset into Amazon Aurora.
 High availability

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 52

Why might you use Amazon Aurora over other options, like SQL with Amazon RDS? Most of
that decision involves the high availability and resilient design that Amazon Aurora offers.

Amazon Aurora is designed to be highly available: it stores multiple copies of your data across
multiple Availability Zones with continuous backups to Amazon S3. Amazon Aurora can use
up to 15 read replicas can be used to reduce the possibility of losing your data. Additionally,
Amazon Aurora is designed for instant crash recovery if your primary database becomes
unhealthy.
 Resilient design

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 53

After a database crash, Amazon Aurora does not need to replay the redo log from the last
database checkpoint. Instead, it performs this on every read operation. This reduces the
restart time after a database crash to less than 60 seconds in most cases.

With Amazon Aurora, the buffer cache is moved out of the database process, which makes it
available immediately at restart. This reduces the need for you to throttle access until the
cache is repopulated to avoid brownouts.
 Amazon Aurora features:
Section 4 key
• High performance and scalability
takeaways
• High availability and durability
• Multiple levels of security
• Compatible with MySQL and
PostgreSQL
• Fully managed

54 © 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved.

In summary, Amazon Aurora is a highly available, performant, and cost-effective managed

relational database.

Aurora offers a distributed, high-performance storage subsystem. Using Amazon Aurora can
reduce your database costs while improving the reliability of the database.

Aurora is also designed to be highly available. It has fault-tolerant and self-healing storage
built for the cloud. Aurora replicates multiple copies of your data across multiple Availability
Zones, and it continuously backs up your data to Amazon S3.

Multiple levels of security are available, including network isolation by using Amazon VPC;
encryption at rest by using keys that you create and control through AWS Key Management
Service (AWS KMS); and encryption of data in transit by using Secure Sockets Layer (SSL).

The Amazon Aurora database engine is compatible with existing MySQL and PostgreSQL open
source databases, and adds compatibility for new releases regularly.

Finally, Amazon Aurora is fully managed by Amazon RDS. Aurora automates database
management tasks, such as hardware provisioning, software patching, setup, configuration,
or backups.

To learn more about Amazon Aurora, see:

Aurora
 The right tool for the right job

What are my requirements?

Enterprise-class relational database Amazon RDS

Fast and flexible NoSQL database service for any scale Amazon DynamoDB

Operating system access or application features that are Databases on Amazon

not supported by AWS database services EC2
Specific case-driven requirements (machine learning, data AWS purpose-built
warehouse, graphs) database services
© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 55

As you saw in this module, the cloud continues to drive down the cost of storage and
compute. A new generation of applications has emerged, which created a new set of
requirements for databases. These applications need databases to store terabytes to
petabytes of new types of data, provide access to the data with millisecond latency, process
millions of requests per second, and scale to support millions of users anywhere in the world.
To support these requirements, you need both relational and non-relational databases that
are purpose-built to handle the specific needs of your applications. AWS offers a broad range
of databases that are built for your specific application use cases.
 Database case study activity 1
Case 1: A data protection and management company that provides services to enterprises. They must provide database services for
over 55 petabytes of data. They have two types of data that require a database solution. First, they need a relational database store for
configuration data. Second, they need a store for unstructured metadata to support a de-duplication service. After the data is de-
duplicated, it is stored in Amazon S3 for quick retrieval, and eventually moved to Amazon S3 Glacier for long-term storage. The
following diagram illustrates their architecture.

AWS Cloud
??? Metadata database
???
Configuration
Corporate
data center
database

Amazon EC2 Amazon Simple Storage Amazon Simple Storage

Service (Amazon S3) Service Glacier

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 56

In this activity, you will review one of three business scenarios that were taken from actual
AWS customers. Break into groups of four or five.

Review the assigned case study. Create a presentation that describes the best database
solution for the organization that is described in your group’s case. Your presentation should
include the key factors that you considered when you selected the database technology, in
addition to any factors that could change your recommendation.
 Database case study activity 2

Case 2: A commercial shipping company that uses an on-premises legacy data management system. They must migrate
to a serverless ecosystem while they continue to use their existing database system, which is based on Oracle. They are
also in the process of decomposing their highly structured relational data into semistructured data. The following
diagram illustrates their architecture.

Database

???
AWS AppSync
AWS Lambda AWS Lambda

Corporate Oracle AWS Lambda

data database Amazon Simple
center Notification Service
(Amazon SNS)

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 57

Review the assigned case study. Create a presentation that describes the best database
solution for the organization that is described in your group’s case. Your presentation should
include the key factors that you considered when you selected the database technology, in
addition to any factors that could change your recommendation.
 Database case study activity 3

Case 3: An online payment processing company that processes over1 million transactions per day. They must provide
services to ecommerce customers who offer flash sales (sales that offer greatly reduced prices for a limited time), where
demand can increase by 30 times in a short time period. They use IAM and AWS KMS to authenticate transactions with
financial institutions. They need high throughput for these peak loads. The following diagram illustrates their
architecture.
AWS Cloud

Database
??? AWS Identity and Access
Management (IAM)
Elastic Load Balancing
Internet
Banks
AWS SDK
AWS Key Management
Read replicas Service (AWS KMS)
Amazon EC2
instances
© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 58

Review the assigned case study. Create a presentation that describes the best database
solution for the organization that is described in your group’s case. Your presentation should
include the key factors that you considered when you selected the database technology, in
addition to any factors that could change your recommendation.
 Module 8: Databases

Module wrap-up

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It’s now time to review the module, and wrap up with a knowledge check and discussion of a
practice certification exam question.
 Module summary

In summary, in this module, you learned how to:

• Explain Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS)

• Identify the functionality in Amazon RDS

• Explain Amazon DynamoDB

• Identify the functionality in Amazon DynamoDB

• Explain Amazon Redshift

• Explain Amazon Aurora

• Perform tasks in an RDS database, such as launching, configuring, and interacting

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 60

In summary, in this module, you learn how to:

• Explain Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS)

• Identify the functionality in Amazon RDS

• Explain Amazon DynamoDB

• Identify the functionality in Amazon DynamoDB

• Explain Amazon Redshift

• Explain Amazon Aurora

• Perform tasks in an RDS database, such as launching, configuring, and interacting

 Complete the knowledge check

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 61

The instructor might choose to lead a conversation about the key takeaways from the lab
after you complete it.
 Sample exam question

Which of the following is a fully-managed NoSQL database service?

A. Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS)
B. Amazon DynamoDB
C. Amazon Aurora
D. Amazon Redshift

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 62

Look at the answer choices, and rule them out based on the keywords that were previously
highlighted.
 Additional resources

• AWS Database page

• Amazon RDS page
• Overview of Amazon database services
• Getting started with AWS databases

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its Affiliates. All rights reserved. 63

If you want to learn more about the topics covered in this module, you might find the
following additional resources helpful:
• AWS Database page
• Amazon RDS page
• Overview of Amazon database services
• Getting started with AWS databases
 Thank you

© 2019 Amazon Web Services, Inc. or its affiliates. All rights reserved. This work may not be reproduced or redistributed, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from Amazon
Web Services, Inc. Commercial copying, lending, or selling is prohibited. Corrections or feedback on the course, please email us at: [email protected]. For all other
questions, contact us at: https://aws.amazon.com/contact-us/aws-training/. All trademarks are the property of their owners.

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