In this article, we will explore the concept of the global database feature in Amazon Aurora and its implementations. Amazon Aurora is an AWS managed database offering with compatibility to MySQL and PostgreSQL. It provides high availability and scalability for your database workloads.

Overview of Global Database for Amazon Aurora

The global database feature in Amazon Aurora allows you to distribute your database across multiple AWS regions for globally distributed transactions. It consists of one primary AWS region with a read-write master and read-only replicas, and up to five secondary AWS regions for read-only workloads. Data replication between the primary and secondary regions occurs with a very low latency of under a second, thanks to dedicated network infrastructure for Amazon Aurora.

In the global database architecture, the primary AWS region contains the primary Aurora instance for read-write purposes, while the secondary regions consist of read-only Aurora replicas. The secondary region can have up to 16 read replicas, compared to the primary region which allows for 1 primary read-write replica and 15 read replicas.

Deploying a Global Database for Amazon Aurora

To deploy a global database in Amazon Aurora, you need to verify the following:

• Check for the supported Amazon Aurora version for the global database feature.
• Choose the appropriate DB instance class that meets your CPU and RAM requirements.
• Select the Multi-AZ deployment option for high availability.
• Specify the VPC and subnet for the secondary AWS region.
• Configure other options similar to a regular Amazon Aurora cluster.

Once you have verified these settings, you can add a global database by selecting the region cluster in the AWS console, clicking on Actions, and then selecting Add Region. This will open a page where you can specify the global database settings, such as the global database identifier, region, DB instance size, availability & durability options, connectivity and additional configuration, and database options.

Failover in the Amazon Aurora Global Database

In the event of an unexpected infrastructure issue in the primary region, you can failover to the secondary region to ensure continuity of your application and database. To failover, you need to switch to the secondary region of your Aurora clusters, select the secondary cluster, click on Actions, and then choose Remove from Global. This will stop the replication from the current primary to the secondary region and convert the secondary region cluster into a standalone cluster. Once the failover process is complete, you can set up the global database again for the old region.

Monitoring the Latency in the Global Database

The global database in Amazon Aurora ensures a latency of less than 1 second between the primary and secondary regions. You can monitor the latency between these regions using Amazon CloudWatch. By creating a dashboard and adding a widget for the AuroraGlobalDBReplicationLag metric, you can track the replication lag between the primary and secondary global database clusters.

Conclusion

The global database feature in Amazon Aurora provides a powerful solution for disaster recovery and read scalability across multiple AWS regions. With its low latency and high availability, it enables you to distribute your database workloads globally and ensure business continuity. By understanding the concepts and implementations of the global database feature, you can leverage the full potential of Amazon Aurora for your database needs.