Recap of Amazon RDS features launched in 2018

Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It provides cost-efficient and resizable capacity. At the same time, it automates time-consuming administration tasks such as hardware provisioning, database setup, patching, and backups. It frees you to focus on your applications so you can give them the fast performance, high availability, security, and compatibility they need.

Amazon RDS is available on several database instance types—optimized for memory, performance or I/O—and provides you with six familiar database engines to choose from. These are Amazon Aurora, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle Database, and Microsoft SQL Server.

In 2016, we launched 50 features across the different database engines. In 2017, we launched nearly 80 features. In 2018, we launched nearly 100 different features across the different engines. Following, you can find a recap of all the features categorized by these topics:

• Version Support – New major or minor version
• Manageability and Security – RDS features that make it even easier to manage your database securely
• Performance Scalability and Availability – RDS features to help improve scaling your database up and down while also ensuring that your database is highly available through our Multi-AZ enhancements
• Feature Launches – Features related to the database specific launches
• AWS Region Launches – Launches in different AWS Regions
• Instance Launches – New DB instance support that provides different configurations optimized for database workloads

Look for Key 2018 Launch to see some of our biggest 2018 launches.

Across the Amazon RDS engines

Version Support

• Auto minor version upgrade improvements

Manageability and Security

• Reserved Instance Coverage Reports now available in Cost Explorer
• Support for incremental cross-region snapshots for encrypted RDS volumes
• Deletion protection for DB instances and DB clusters
• Retain automated backups after instance deletion
• Amazon RDS recommendations
• Upload RDS logs to Amazon CloudWatch on MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and Oracle engines

Performance Scalability and Availability

• Launched support for Performance Insights on MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle engines
• Enabled starting and stopping for Multi-AZ instances for MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and Oracle engines
• Enabled starting and stopping Aurora MySQL and Aurora PostgreSQL clusters
• Increased the maximum storage from 16 TiB to 32 TiB on MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and Oracle engines

Instance Launches

• Launched the M5 Instance family for MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle, and SQL server engines
• Launched the R5 Instance family for PostgreSQL, and Oracle engines

Region Launches

• EU (Stockholm) and AWS GovCloud (US-West)

Amazon Aurora MySQL

Version Support

• Amazon Aurora is compatible with MySQL 5.7

Manageability and Security

• Encrypted MySQL (on-premises/Amazon EC2) to Aurora MySQL migration
• Aurora MySQL general, slow, and error log exports to CloudWatch Logs
• Simplified workload management with custom endpoints

Performance Scalability and Availability

• Key 2018 Launch Support for Amazon Aurora backtrack (instant point-in-time restore)
• Key 2018 Launch Aurora global databases
• Support for up to five cross-region read replicas
• Simplified workload management with custom endpoints

Feature Launches

• Key 2018 Launch Support for Aurora MySQL Serverless
• Key 2018 Launch Support for parallel query

Region Launches

• Aurora MySQL launch in Asia Pacific (Singapore), AWS GovCloud (US), and China (Ningxia), Operated by NWCD

Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL

Version Support

• Aurora PostgreSQL 1.1 compatible with PostgreSQL 9.6.6
• Aurora PostgreSQL 1.2, compatible with PostgreSQL 9.6.8
• Aurora PostgreSQL 1.3, compatible with PostgreSQL 9.6.9
• Aurora PostgreSQL 2.0, compatible with PostgreSQL 10.4
• Aurora PostgreSQL 2.1, compatible with PostgreSQL 10.5
• Aurora PostgreSQL 2.2, compatible with PostgreSQL 10.6 (launched on February 13, 2019)

Manageability and Security

• Key 2018 Launch Aurora PostgreSQL integration with IAM authentication
• Added support for Query Plan Management
• Encrypted snapshot import from RDS for PostgreSQL to Aurora PostgreSQL

Performance Scalability and Availability

• Key 2018 Launch Autoscaling Aurora PostgreSQL read replicas
• Key 2018 Launch Support for fast database cloning

Region Launches

• Aurora PostgreSQL in Asia Pacific (Tokyo), EU (London), Asia Pacific (Singapore), Asia Pacific (Seoul), US West (N. California), AWS GovCloud (US) Region, and China (Ningxia), Operated by NWCD

Amazon RDS for MySQL

Version Support

• Key 2018 Launch Support for major version MySQL 8.0
• New minor versions 5.5.59, 5.6.39, 5.7.21, 5.6.40, 5.7.22, 5.5.61, 5.6.41, and 5.7.23

Performance Scalability and Availability

• Global transaction identifiers in MySQL 5.7
• Read replicas support Multi-AZ deployments
• Support for delayed replication and scheduled stop for replication

Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL

Version Support

• Key 2018 Launch Support for PostgreSQL 10 major version
• Support for minor versions: 10.3, 9.6.8, 9.5.12, 9.4.17, 9.3.22, 9.6.6, 9.5.10, 9.4.15, 9.3.20, 10.4, 9.6.9, 9.5.13, 9.4.18, 9.3.23, 10.5, 9.6.10, 9.5.14, 9.4.19, 9.3.24
• RDS PostgreSQL new minor versions: 10.6, 9.6.11, 9.5.15, 9.4.20, 9.3.25

Manageability and Security

• Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL read replica for Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
• Support for integration with IAM authentication
• Restricted password management

Performance Scalability and Availability

• Key 2018 Launch Read replicas support Multi-AZ deployments
• Support for outbound network access with postgres_fdw from read replicas

Feature Launches

• Support for pglogical extension with PostgreSQL 10.x

Amazon RDS for MariaDB

Version Support

• Key 2018 Launch Support for major version MariaDB 10.3
• Support for major version MariaDB 10.2
• Support for minor versions 10.0.34, 10.1.31 and 10.2.12, 10.0.35, 10.1.34, and 10.2.15

Performance Scalability and Availability

• Read replicas support Multi-AZ deployments

Amazon RDS for Oracle

Version Support

• Key 2018 Launch Released the major version 12.2
• Released the Minor Versions for 2018 January, April, July, and October PSUs
• Launched APEX 5.1.4
• Launched SQLT 12.2.180331

Manageability and Security

• Key 2018 Launch Optimize CPU
• TLS 1.2
• Support Oracle SE and SE1 to Oracle EE through restore
• Support for additional crypto-checksum algorithms with the NNE option

Performance Scalability and Availability

• Enable SE2 to EE migration
• RDS Oracle log consolidation and aggregation in CloudWatch

Feature Launches

• Customer modifiable SQLNET.ORA parameters
• OEM Agent 13c for GovCloud
• JVM support
• Support for extended data types through maximum string size

Instance Launches

• Support for X1 and X1e instances

Amazon RDS for SQL Server

Version Support

• Released support for new minor versions
• SQL Server 2017 RTM CU3, SQL Server 2016 SP1 CU7, SQL Server 2014 SP2, SQL Server 2012 SP4

Manageability and Security

• Removed the family GUID restriction allowing backup files to be restored multiple times to the same DB instance

Performance Scalability and Availability

• Key 2018 Launch Launched Always On Availability Group for Enterprise Edition
• Expanded high availability in Singapore, GovCloud, and China (Ningxia)
• Increased the MAX IOPS from 20 K to 32 K
• Enhanced the native back restore process by adding synchronous Multi-AZ native backup restores for SQL Server

Feature Launches

• Key 2018 Launch Added support for change data capture with AWS Database Migration Service supporting ongoing replication

About the Author

Justin Benton is the RDS Commercial Engines (SQL Server and Oracle) Product Manager at Amazon Web Services.