MySQL gets cloudy with Amazon's new database service

Amazon is offering a new relational database service for EC2 that is powered by MySQL. (By Ryan Paul, October 27, 2009)

Amazon is expanding its Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) infrastructure with a new offering based on the open source MySQL database system. The Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) allows users to rent database capacity in the cloud and use it just like a regular MySQL database. Amazon has also introduced support for a new class of EC2 instances intended for high-memory workloads.

Amazon's EC2 service is an increasingly popular solution for deploying Web applications in the cloud, but its database options were previously somewhat limited. Amazon offers a custom database system called SimpleDB that is designed to store rows with simple attribute/value pairs. It lacks the sophisticated features of true relational databases and obviously isn't compatible out of the box with the multitude of existing Web applications that are designed to work with SQL. The new RDS option is a welcome enhancement for EC2 and it addresses one of the service's major deficiencies.

EC2 customers will be able to obtain RDS capacity by renting Amazon DB instances. The cheapest package, the Small DB Instance, provides 1.7GB of RAM and 1 ECU* for $0.11 per hour. A large instance provides 7.5GB of RAM and 4 ECUs for $0.44 per hour. There are five different packages altogether, the most expensive of which is the Quadruple Extra Large DB Instance, which provides 68GB of RAM and 26 ECUs for $3.10 per hour.

The Quadruple Extra Large instance is also available for regular EC2 computing for $2.40 per hour. Amazon introduced it today along with a Double Extra Large instance which provides 32GB of RAM and 13 ECU. Regular EC2 Double Extra Large instances cost $1.20 per hour and the RDS variant costs $1.55 per hour. RDS data storage capacity can be provisioned for $0.10 per GB. The database service includes an automated backup feature that can use the provisioned database storage.

"RDS provides cost-efficient and resizable capacity, while managing time-consuming database administration tasks for customers. The service takes much of the hassle out of setting up and managing relational databases, such as backups and code patching, freeing up its users to focus on their applications and business," wrote Amazon CTO Werner Vogels in a blog entry. "Amazon RDS provides the full capabilities of a MySQL Database, which means that libraries, applications and tools that have been designed for use with MySQL can be used without modification."

Indeed, EC2 users have already figured out and documented the proccess of deploying Django on Amazon's cloud using RDS for database hosting. RDS is clearly a lot easier than trying to manually set up and manage MySQL on EC2 with Elastic Block Storage (EBS).

Amazon's cloud services are evolving and becoming increasingly affordable, but aren't quite ready for everyone yet. Recent studies show that the service still can't match the uptime of in-house data centers and isn't cost-effective for large enterprises with heavy workloads. Amazon aims to change that eventually. In addition to the new features, the company has also announced plans today to reduce per-instance EC2 pricing next month. Amazon says that reduction, which is as much as 15% for some kinds of instances, was made possible by ongoing efforts to bring down its operating costs.

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*Note: ECU = "EC2 Compute Unit". One ECU provides the equivalent CPU capacity of a 1.0-1.2 GHz 2007 Opteron or 2007 Xeon processor.