A relational database is a collection of data items with pre-defined relationships between them. These items are organized as a set of tables with columns and rows. Tables are used to hold information about the objects to be represented in the database. Each column in a table holds a certain kind of data and a field stores the actual value of an attribute. The rows in the table represent a collection of related values of one object or entity. Each row in a table could be marked with a unique identifier called a primary key, and rows among multiple tables can be made related using foreign keys. This data can be accessed in many different ways without reorganizing the database tables themselves.
SQL or Structured Query Language
is the primary interface used to communicate with Relational Databases. SQL became a standard of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) in 1986. The standard ANSI SQL is supported by all popular relational database engines, and some of these engines also have extension to ANSI SQL to support functionality which is specific to that engine. SQL is used to add, update or delete rows of data, retrieving subsets of data for transaction processing and analytics applications, and to manage
all aspects of the database.
Data integrity is the overall completeness, accuracy and consistency of data. Relational databases use a set of constraints to enforce data integrity in the database. These include primary Keys, Foreign Keys, ‘Not NULL’ constraint, ‘Unique’ constraint, ‘Default’ constraint and ‘Check’ constraints. These integrity constraints help enforce business rules on data in the tables to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data. In addition to these,
most relation databases also allow custom code to be embedded in triggers that execute based on an action on the database.
A database transaction is one or more SQL statements that are executed as a sequence of operations that form a single logical unit of work. Transactions provide an "all-or-nothing" proposition, meaning that the entire transaction must complete as a single unit and be written to the database or none of the individual components of the transaction should
go through. In the relation database terminology, a transaction results in a COMMIT or a ROLLBACK. Each transaction is treated in a coherent and reliable way independent of other transactions.
All database transactions must be ACID compliant or be Atomic, Consistent, Isolated and Durable to ensure data integrity.
Atomicity requires that either transaction as a whole be successfully executed or if a part of the transaction fails, then the entire transaction be invalidated. Consistency mandates the data written to the database as part of the transaction must adhere to all defined rules, and restrictions including constraints, cascades, and triggers. Isolation is critical to achieving concurrency control and makes sure each transaction is independent unto itself. Durability requires that all of the changes made to the database be permanent once a transaction is successfully completed.
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. Amazon Aurora provides up to five times better performance than MySQL with the security, availability, and reliability of a commercial
database at one-tenth the cost. Learn more »
Amazon RDS allows you to deploy multiple editions of Oracle Database in minutes with cost-efficient and re-sizable hardware capacity. You can bring existing Oracle licenses or pay for license usage by the hour. RDS frees you up to focus on application development by managing complex database administration tasks including provisioning, backups, patching,
monitoring, and hardware scaling. Learn more »
Amazon RDS for SQL Server makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale SQL Server in the cloud. You can deploy multiple editions of SQL Server including Express, Web, Standard and Enterprise. Since Amazon RDS for SQL Server provides you direct access to the native capabilities of the SQL Server, your applications and tools should work without any changes. Learn more »
MySQL is an open-source relational database management system (RDBMS) used by a very large number of web-based applications. Amazon RDS for MySQL gives you access to the capabilities of a familiar MySQL database engine. This means that the code, applications, and tools you already use today with your existing databases can be used with Amazon RDS without any changes.
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PostgreSQL is a powerful, enterprise class open source object-relational database system with an emphasis on extensibility and standards-compliance. PostgreSQL boasts many sophisticated features and runs stored procedures in more than a dozen programming languages, including Java, Perl, Python, Ruby, Tcl, C/C++, and its own PL/pgSQL, which is similar to Oracle's PL/SQL.
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MariaDB is a MySQL-compatible database engine which is a fork of MySQL, and is being developed by the original developers of MySQL. Amazon RDS makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale MariaDB deployments in the cloud. With Amazon RDS, you can deploy scalable MariaDB databases in minutes with cost-efficient and resizable hardware capacity. Learn more »
It's easy to get started with Amazon RDS. Follow our Getting Started Guide to create your first Amazon RDS instance in a few clicks.
AWS support for Internet Explorer ends on 07/31/2022. Supported browsers are Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Safari. Learn more »