Amazon Introduces Cloud-based RDS – Relational Database Service
Amazon Web Services in late October introduced the Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), making it easier for customers to “set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud,” according to the announcement on its blog. “We are always looking for ways to make it faster, simpler, and more fun to develop applications of all types,” said the blog. “Every hour that you don’t spend fiddling with hardware, tracing cables, installing operating systems or managing databases is an hour that you can spend on the unique and value-added aspects of your application.”
Amazon RDS gives its customers direct database access – without having to set up infrastructure, maintain software or manage a common database.
Using the RDS APIs or the command-line tools, Amazon said customers can access the full capabilities of a complete, self-contained MySQL 5.1 database instance in just minutes. “You can scale the processing power and storage space as needed with a single API call and you can initiate fully consistent database snapshots at any time.”
The blog took great pains to show how easy it is to use RDS, featuring step-by-step instructions to create a database instance, for example. It noted how complementary RDS would be to its Amazon SimpleDB. Amazon said that a number of its early adopters planned to use both of the services in their AWS applications.
Amazon also said it had a number of features planned for the coming months. Here’s another example of the wide-open field in developing apps for the cloud. I know that I, for one, will be looking out for future enhancements…as well as for any buzz and feedback from users.
Check out the full article on Amazon’s new cloud database service.