Walking in the Clouds: a guide to buying a cloud database

You might ask, "What is a cloud?" I'll tell you this is a marketing slogan; it's a new way of describing third-party IT services. These third-party services have been going on for years and it's a cool trend for others to deal with some or all of your IT infrastructure.

In addition to smart marketing, third party data and DBMS hosting are also well worth considering. There are good reasons to recommend it in terms of low cost, scalability and accessibility, and on the other hand, there are worrisome issues, including ownership, responsibility and privacy.

In this guide, we can learn the pros and cons of cloud-based database services to help you determine whether they are appropriate for your business.

Database Services and Data Services

Cloud-based database solutions are divided into two basic categories: Database Services (DBaaS) and Data Services (DaaS). The main difference between the two is how the data is managed.

Daas allows you to define your data, and then you can query the data from anywhere in the world via an Internet connection. Unlike traditional database solutions, DaaS does not perform typical RDBMS interfaces, such as SQL. Instead, it accesses data through a common set of APIs. In addition, Daas is the most suitable for basic data query and manipulation management.

Dbaas is a more powerful data solution that provides comprehensive database functionality. In Dbaas, management is responsible for continuous monitoring and configuration of the database to achieve optimized scaling, high availability, multi-tenant, and efficient allocation of resources in the cloud. As a result, developers can avoid many tedious and tedious database management operations because they are handled automatically.

Configuration model

There are three basic cloud-based database-based services that differ in the flexibility of the user's custom environment.

For extensibility, cloud computing is the user's access to a quasi machine with only an operating system, and there is ample flexibility for the operating system user to install and configure the selected RDBMS software. This installation is considered a cloud service infrastructure (IaaS). Amazon elasti Computing Cloud (EC2) is a good example of this service. This platform is a good choice for those who want to have full control over the database they are hosting.

Another common model for deploying RDBMS in the cloud is the virtual device model. A virtual device is a virtual machine that is preloaded and pre-configured with a device. Amazon also deploys virtual devices preconfigured with MySQL, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server in its EC2 cloud.

Finally, local cloud data services, such as the Xeround ' MySQL cloud database, are managed using the NoSQL database through the Web interface. Local cloud databases tend to have better devices to better use cloud resources and provide better availability and stability than software used by non-cloud RDBMS.

Advantages and disadvantages of cloud based database solutions

As tricky as cloud computing is now, letting strangers access your data should be considered clearly and not lightly.

Advantages：

Low price: This may be the first reason for companies to get into the cloud. With cloud-based database solutions, you can dramatically reduce operating costs and expenses from hardware, software licensing, and service implementations, because you only have to pay for the parts you use.

Scalability and Flexibility: Database hosting companies are often positioned to maximize resources in order to achieve greater efficiencies and reduce unused space. They increase or shrink services based on your changing business needs.

High efficiency: Cloud computing provides the benefits of hardware sharing, process automation, and technical proficiency. You and your employees can access the database from anywhere, using any computer, mobile device, or browser. It also reduces the use of resources as a whole.

Shortcomings：

Security issues: One notable thing about cloud computing is that your data is accessed over the Internet. This creates a series of questions, do you give someone the opportunity to attack your database service provider and steal your valuable information? Who is responsible for this security breach? When a third party loses customer information, you cannot and should not just hide behind the cloud vendor. In addition to Web page access problems, how to make the supplier's physical location safe? Do they often make backups? Are there any offsite data storage? There is no way to know for sure. You can only trust your suppliers to take good care of your data.

Loss of Internet connection risk: as your data interacts over the network, you should consider how the loss of database connectivity will affect your business's production. Can you stand the risk? There is a high availability standard called Five Nine. At 99.999% uptime, the annual downtime is about five minutes. Can you expect it to guarantee this reliability?

Customization limitations: When dealing with so many businesses, ask the database service provider to be flexible. If you need deep customization and integration with existing systems to serve your day-to-day business, can cloud computing adapt to your needs?

Summary

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)