Aurora
Chapter 22: Amazon Aurora - Cloud-Native Database
Section titled “Chapter 22: Amazon Aurora - Cloud-Native Database”High-Performance Relational Database
Section titled “High-Performance Relational Database”22.1 Overview
Section titled “22.1 Overview”Amazon Aurora is a MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database engine that combines the speed and availability of high-end commercial databases with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open source databases.
Aurora Overview+------------------------------------------------------------------+| || +------------------------+ || | Amazon Aurora | || +------------------------+ || | || +---------------------+---------------------+ || | | | || v v v || +----------+ +----------+ +----------+ || | MySQL | | Postgre | | Serverless| || | Compatible| | SQL Comp | | v2 | || | | | | | | || | 5x MySQL | | 3x | | Auto | || | perf | | PostgreSQL| | scaling | || +----------+ +----------+ +----------+ || || Key Features: || - 5x performance of MySQL || - 3x performance of PostgreSQL || - Up to 15 read replicas || - Automatic failover || - Storage auto-scaling || - Global Database (cross-region) || |+------------------------------------------------------------------+22.2 Aurora Architecture
Section titled “22.2 Aurora Architecture”Storage Architecture
Section titled “Storage Architecture” Aurora Storage Architecture+------------------------------------------------------------------+| || Aurora Cluster Volume || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || | | || | +----------------------------------------------------+ | || | | Storage Layer | | || | | (6 copies across 3 AZs) | | || | +----------------------------------------------------+ | || | | || | AZ 1 AZ 2 AZ 3 | || | +----------+ +----------+ +----------+ | || | | Copy 1 | | Copy 3 | | Copy 5 | | || | | Copy 2 | | Copy 4 | | Copy 6 | | || | +----------+ +----------+ +----------+ | || | | || | Features: | || | - 6 copies of data across 3 AZs | || | - Automatic replication | || | - Self-healing | || | - Storage auto-scaling (up to 128 TB) | || | - 99.99% availability | || | - 99.999999999% durability (11 9s) | || | | || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || |+------------------------------------------------------------------+Cluster Architecture
Section titled “Cluster Architecture” Aurora Cluster Architecture+------------------------------------------------------------------+| || Aurora Cluster || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || | | || | Cluster Endpoint (Writer) | || | +----------------------------------------------------+ | || | | my-cluster.cluster-xxxx.region.rds.amazonaws.com | | || | +----------------------------------------------------+ | || | | | || | +-------------+-------------+ | || | | | | | || | v v v | || | +----------+ +----------+ +----------+ | || | | Writer | | Reader 1 | | Reader 2 | | || | | Instance | | Instance | | Instance | | || | | (Primary)| | (Replica)| | (Replica)| | || | +----------+ +----------+ +----------+ | || | | | | | || | +------+-------+------+-------+ | || | | | | || | v v | || | +----------------------------------------------------+ | || | | Cluster Volume | | || | | (Shared Storage) | | || | +----------------------------------------------------+ | || | | || | Reader Endpoint | || | +----------------------------------------------------+ | || | | my-cluster.cluster-ro-xxxx.region.rds.amazonaws.com| | || | +----------------------------------------------------+ | || | | || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || || Endpoints: || - Cluster: Points to writer (read/write) || - Reader: Load balances across readers (read-only) || - Instance: Direct connection to specific instance || - Custom: Custom endpoint for specific readers || |+------------------------------------------------------------------+22.3 Aurora High Availability
Section titled “22.3 Aurora High Availability”Failover Process
Section titled “Failover Process” Aurora Failover+------------------------------------------------------------------+| || Normal Operation || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || | | || | Writer (Primary) | || | +------------------+ | || | | AZ-a | | || | | +------------+ | | || | | | Writer | | | || | | | Instance | | | || | | +------------+ | | || | +------------------+ | || | | | || | v | || | Reader 1 Reader 2 | || | +----------+ +----------+ | || | | AZ-b | | AZ-c | | || | | +----+ | | +----+ | | || | | |Reader| | | |Reader| | | || | | +----+ | | +----+ | | || | +----------+ +----------+ | || | | || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || || Failover Scenario || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || | | || | Writer (FAILED) | || | +------------------+ | || | | AZ-a | | || | | +------------+ | | || | | | Writer | | <-- FAILURE | || | | | (DOWN) | | | || | | +------------+ | | || | +------------------+ | || | | | || | v | || | Reader 1 (Promoted) Reader 2 | || | +----------+ +----------+ | || | | AZ-b | | AZ-c | | || | | +----+ | | +----+ | | || | | |NEW | | | |Reader| | | || | | |WRITER| | | | | | | || | | +----+ | | +----+ | | || | +----------+ +----------+ | || | | || | Failover Time: Typically 20-30 seconds | || | DNS automatically updated | || | | || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || |+------------------------------------------------------------------+Read Replica Auto-Scaling
Section titled “Read Replica Auto-Scaling” Aurora Auto-Scaling+------------------------------------------------------------------+| || Scaling Configuration || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || | | || | Aurora Replica Auto Scaling | || | +----------------------------------------------------+ | || | | | | || | | Policy: Target Tracking | | || | | - Metric: CPU Utilization | | || | | - Target: 70% | | || | | | | || | | Min Replicas: 1 | | || | | Max Replicas: 15 | | || | | | | || | +----------------------------------------------------+ | || | | || | Scaling Process: | || | 1. CPU > 70% threshold | || | 2. Add new replica | || | 3. Replica joins cluster | || | 4. Load balanced across readers | || | | || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || |+------------------------------------------------------------------+22.4 Aurora Serverless
Section titled “22.4 Aurora Serverless”Aurora Serverless v2
Section titled “Aurora Serverless v2” Aurora Serverless v2+------------------------------------------------------------------+| || Architecture || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || | | || | Capacity Range: 0.5 - 128 ACUs | || | (Aurora Capacity Units) | || | | || | Scaling: | || | - Instant scaling | || | - Per-second granularity | || | - Scale to zero (pause/resume) | || | | || | +----------------------------------------------------+ | || | | | | || | | Workload | | || | | | | | || | | v | | || | | +--+ +--+ +--+ +--+ +--+ +--+ | | || | | |ACU| |ACU| |ACU| |ACU| |ACU| |ACU| | | || | | | 1 | | 2 | | 4 | | 8 | | 16| | 32| | | || | | +--+ +--+ +--+ +--+ +--+ +--+ | | || | | ^ | | || | | | | | || | | Auto-scaling | | || | | | | || | +----------------------------------------------------+ | || | | || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || || Use Cases: || - Unpredictable workloads || - Development and testing || - Low-traffic applications || - Multi-tenant applications || |+------------------------------------------------------------------+22.5 Aurora Global Database
Section titled “22.5 Aurora Global Database” Aurora Global Database+------------------------------------------------------------------+| || Global Architecture || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || | | || | Primary Region (US-East-1) | || | +----------------------------------------------+ | || | | | | || | | Writer | | || | | +----------+ | | || | | | Primary | | | || | | +----------+ | | || | | | | | || | | v | | || | | Cluster Volume | | || | | +------------------------------------------+| | || | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| | || | | +------------------------------------------+| | || | | | | || | +----------------------------------------------+ | || | | | || | | Replication | || | | (< 1 second) | || | v | || | Secondary Region (EU-West-1) | || | +----------------------------------------------+ | || | | | | || | | Readers | | || | | +----------+ +----------+ | | || | | | Reader 1 | | Reader 2 | | | || | | +----------+ +----------+ | | || | | | | | || | | v | | || | | Cluster Volume (Read-Only) | | || | | +------------------------------------------+| | || | | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| | || | | +------------------------------------------+| | || | | | | || | +----------------------------------------------+ | || | | || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || || Features: || - Up to 5 secondary regions || - < 1 second replication lag || - Promote secondary to primary for DR || - Read from any region || - 99.99% availability across regions || |+------------------------------------------------------------------+22.6 Aurora Features
Section titled “22.6 Aurora Features”Fast Database Cloning
Section titled “Fast Database Cloning” Aurora Fast Clone+------------------------------------------------------------------+| || Traditional Clone vs Aurora Fast Clone || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || | | || | Traditional Clone: | || | - Copy all data | || | - Time consuming | || | - Additional storage cost | || | | || | Aurora Fast Clone: | || | - Copy-on-write protocol | || | - Instant clone | || | - No additional storage initially | || | - Only changed data stored separately | || | | || | Use Cases: | || | - Development environments | || | - Testing with production data | || | - Data analysis | || | | || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || |+------------------------------------------------------------------+Backtrack
Section titled “Backtrack” Aurora Backtrack+------------------------------------------------------------------+| || Purpose: Undo changes without restoring from backup || || How it works: || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || | | || | Timeline: | || | |----|----|----|----|----|----|----|----| | || | ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ | || | | | | | | | | | | | || | Now -5m -10m -15m -20m -25m -30m -35m | || | | || | Backtrack to any point within window | || | - Default: 24 hours | || | - Maximum: 72 hours | || | | || | Benefits: | || | - No need to restore from snapshot | || | - Fast recovery from errors | || | - No new DB instance needed | || | | || +----------------------------------------------------------+ || |+------------------------------------------------------------------+22.7 Practical Configuration
Section titled “22.7 Practical Configuration”Aurora with Terraform
Section titled “Aurora with Terraform”# ============================================================# Aurora Cluster# ============================================================
resource "aws_rds_cluster" "main" { cluster_identifier = "main-aurora-cluster"
# Engine engine = "aurora-mysql" engine_version = "8.0.mysql_aurora.3.02.0" engine_mode = "provisioned" # or "serverless"
# Database database_name = "appdb" master_username = "admin" master_password = var.db_password
# Network db_subnet_group_name = aws_db_subnet_group.main.name vpc_security_group_ids = [aws_security_group.aurora.id]
# Encryption storage_encrypted = true kms_key_id = aws_kms_key.aurora.arn
# Availability availability_zones = ["us-east-1a", "us-east-1b", "us-east-1c"]
# Backup backup_retention_period = 30 preferred_backup_window = "03:00-04:00"
# Backtrack backtrack_window = 72 # hours
# Deletion protection deletion_protection = true skip_final_snapshot = false final_snapshot_identifier = "main-aurora-final"
# Performance Insights # Note: Enabled at instance level
tags = { Name = "main-aurora-cluster" }}
# ============================================================# Aurora Writer Instance# ============================================================
resource "aws_rds_cluster_instance" "writer" { identifier = "main-aurora-writer" cluster_identifier = aws_rds_cluster.main.id instance_class = "db.r6g.large" engine = aws_rds_cluster.main.engine engine_version = aws_rds_cluster.main.engine_version
# Performance Insights performance_insights_enabled = true performance_insights_kms_key_id = aws_kms_key.aurora.arn
# Monitoring monitoring_interval = 60 monitoring_role_arn = aws_iam_role.rds_monitoring.arn
# Promotion tier (lower = higher priority for failover) promotion_tier = 1
tags = { Name = "main-aurora-writer" }}
# ============================================================# Aurora Reader Instances# ============================================================
resource "aws_rds_cluster_instance" "readers" { count = 2
identifier = "main-aurora-reader-${count.index + 1}" cluster_identifier = aws_rds_cluster.main.id instance_class = "db.r6g.large" engine = aws_rds_cluster.main.engine engine_version = aws_rds_cluster.main.engine_version
# Performance Insights performance_insights_enabled = true
# Promotion tier (higher = lower priority for failover) promotion_tier = count.index + 2
tags = { Name = "main-aurora-reader-${count.index + 1}" }}
# ============================================================# Aurora Serverless v2# ============================================================
resource "aws_rds_cluster" "serverless" { cluster_identifier = "serverless-aurora-cluster"
engine = "aurora-mysql" engine_mode = "provisioned" engine_version = "8.0.mysql_aurora.3.02.0"
database_name = "appdb" master_username = "admin" master_password = var.db_password
db_subnet_group_name = aws_db_subnet_group.main.name vpc_security_group_ids = [aws_security_group.aurora.id]
storage_encrypted = true kms_key_id = aws_kms_key.aurora.arn
# Serverless v2 configuration serverlessv2_scaling_configuration { min_capacity = 0.5 # ACUs max_capacity = 64 # ACUs }
tags = { Name = "serverless-aurora-cluster" }}
resource "aws_rds_cluster_instance" "serverless" { identifier = "serverless-aurora-instance" cluster_identifier = aws_rds_cluster.serverless.id instance_class = "db.serverless" engine = aws_rds_cluster.serverless.engine engine_version = aws_rds_cluster.serverless.engine_version
tags = { Name = "serverless-aurora-instance" }}
# ============================================================# Aurora Global Cluster# ============================================================
resource "aws_rds_global_cluster" "main" { global_cluster_identifier = "main-global-cluster"
engine = "aurora-mysql" engine_version = "8.0.mysql_aurora.3.02.0"
storage_encrypted = true}
# Primary clusterresource "aws_rds_cluster" "primary" { global_cluster_identifier = aws_rds_global_cluster.main.id cluster_identifier = "primary-cluster"
engine = aws_rds_global_cluster.main.engine engine_version = aws_rds_global_cluster.main.engine_version
database_name = "appdb" master_username = "admin" master_password = var.db_password
db_subnet_group_name = aws_db_subnet_group.main.name vpc_security_group_ids = [aws_security_group.aurora.id]
# Primary cluster must have at least 2 instances # for Multi-AZ}
# Secondary cluster (in different region)resource "aws_rds_cluster" "secondary" { provider = aws.dr_region
global_cluster_identifier = aws_rds_global_cluster.main.id cluster_identifier = "secondary-cluster"
engine = aws_rds_global_cluster.main.engine engine_version = aws_rds_global_cluster.main.engine_version
db_subnet_group_name = aws_db_subnet_group.dr.name vpc_security_group_ids = [aws_security_group.aurora_dr.id]
# Secondary cluster is read-only # No master_username/password needed}
# ============================================================# Aurora Cluster Parameter Group# ============================================================
resource "aws_rds_cluster_parameter_group" "main" { name = "main-aurora-params" family = "aurora-mysql8.0" description = "Aurora MySQL 8.0 parameter group"
parameter { name = "time_zone" value = "UTC" }
parameter { name = "character_set_server" value = "utf8mb4" }
parameter { name = "aurora_enable_repl_log" value = "1" }
tags = { Name = "main-aurora-params" }}
# ============================================================# Auto Scaling for Read Replicas# ============================================================
resource "aws_appautoscaling_target" "aurora" { max_capacity = 15 min_capacity = 1 resource_id = "cluster:${aws_rds_cluster.main.cluster_identifier}" scalable_dimension = "rds:cluster:ReadReplicaCount" service_namespace = "rds"}
resource "aws_appautoscaling_policy" "aurora" { name = "aurora-read-replica-scaling" policy_type = "TargetTrackingScaling" resource_id = aws_appautoscaling_target.aurora.resource_id scalable_dimension = aws_appautoscaling_target.aurora.scalable_dimension service_namespace = aws_appautoscaling_target.aurora.service_namespace
target_tracking_scaling_policy_configuration { target_value = 70
predefined_metric_specification { predefined_metric_type = "RDSReaderAverageCPUUtilization" }
scale_in_cooldown = 300 scale_out_cooldown = 60 }}22.8 Aurora vs RDS
Section titled “22.8 Aurora vs RDS” Aurora vs RDS Comparison+------------------------------------------------------------------+| || Feature | Aurora | RDS || -----------------|------------------|--------------------------|| Storage | Auto-scaling | Provisioned || Max Storage | 128 TB | 64 TB || Read Replicas | Up to 15 | Up to 5 || Replication | Asynchronous | Async (RR), Sync (MAZ) || Failover | ~30 seconds | ~60-120 seconds || Multi-Master | Yes | No || Serverless | Yes | No || Global DB | Yes | Cross-Region RR || Backtrack | Yes | No || Fast Clone | Yes | No || -----------------|------------------|--------------------------|| Cost | Higher | Lower || Use Case | High performance | General purpose || |+------------------------------------------------------------------+22.9 Exam Tips
Section titled “22.9 Exam Tips”
- Storage: 6 copies across 3 AZs, auto-scaling up to 128 TB
- Read Replicas: Up to 15, asynchronous replication
- Failover: ~30 seconds, automatic promotion
- Endpoints: Cluster (writer), Reader (load balanced), Instance (direct)
- Serverless v2: 0.5-128 ACUs, instant scaling
- Global Database: Up to 5 secondary regions, < 1 second lag
- Fast Clone: Instant, copy-on-write, no extra storage
- Backtrack: Undo changes, up to 72 hours
- Multi-Master: Multiple writers (Aurora MySQL only)
- Performance: 5x MySQL, 3x PostgreSQL
Next Chapter
Section titled “Next Chapter”Chapter 23: Amazon DynamoDB - NoSQL Database
Last Updated: February 2026