General

Q: What is RDS on Outposts?

Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts provides fully managed, scalable databases running on AWS Outposts in customers’ data centers. RDS automates time-consuming administrative tasks such as database setup, patching, and backups for databases that run on-premises on Outposts. RDS makes it easy for you to manage a hybrid-cloud database fleet via a single pane of glass using the Amazon RDS console, the same RDS APIs, and CLI, to manage the RDS databases running in the AWS region and on Outposts.

Q: What types of use cases are best suited to run on RDS on Outposts?

You can use Amazon RDS on Outposts for managing databases that need to run on-premises for applications that need local access to the databases. This includes applications such as manufacturing equipment, IoT devices, etc. You can create and manage RDS databases running on Outposts using the same AWS APIs, CLI, and console.

Q: Does Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts support data residency use cases that require all data to remain on-premises?

Amazon RDS Multi-AZ on Outposts supports storing your backups and logs to the AWS region. Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts single-AZ instances support storing your backups and logs on your AWS Outposts or to the AWS region.

Q: What type of database engines does RDS on Outposts support?

See our Working with Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts user guide for all the supported database engines and most up-to-date list of supported versions.

Q: Does Amazon RDS on Outposts support Amazon Aurora?

No, Amazon Aurora is not currently supported on AWS Outposts.

Q: What regions is Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts available in?

RDS on Outposts is available in all regions where Outposts is supported.

Q: How is Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts priced?

Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts pricing is based on a per-instance hour management fee for each database managed. Refer to RDS on Outposts pricing page.

Q: Does Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts support highly available configurations?

Yes, Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts supports Multi-AZ across two Outposts each attached to a different AWS Availability Zone in the same region.

Getting started

Q: What are the pre-requisites for using Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts?

Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts supports standard and memory-optimized instance classes, the underlying Outposts must support the same EC2 instances in order for the customer to create the corresponding DB instances. RDS on Outposts requires a reliable network connection to the AWS region from your Outposts.

Q: What type of on-demand DB instances are supported with RDS on Outposts?

Please see our Working with Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts user guide for the latest list of supported instance types and sizes.

Q: How do I create Amazon RDS databases on AWS Outposts?

Before you create an Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts DB instance, you need to create a DB subnet group that includes one subnet that is associated with your Outpost. When you create a RDS on AWS Outposts DB instance, specify this DB subnet group. An example is below:

create-db-subnet-group:

aws rds create-db-subnet-group
--db-subnet-group-name outposts-rds-sg
--db-subnet-group-description poc
--subnet-ids <outpost-subnet>

create-db-instance:

aws rds create-db-instance
--db-instance-identifier outpost-instance
--engine mysql --engine-version 8.0.17
--db-instance-class db.m5.large
--master-username master
--master-user-password password
--allocated-storage 20
--db-subnet-group-name outpost-rds-sg
--storage-type gp2
--storage-encrypted

Q: How do I scale my database up on Outposts?

You can use AWS CLI command modify-db-instance to scale your database instances. Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts will support this operation on the available capacity of the AWS Outpost, RDS on AWS Outposts.

Q: Does Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts support backups and restore?

Yes. Amazon RDS provides two different methods for backing up and restoring your DB instance(s), automated backups, and database snapshots (DB Snapshots). Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts supports storing your backups and logs either on your AWS Outposts or to the AWS region. You will need networking connectivity between your Outposts and the AWS region to back up or restore your database.

When automated backups are turned on for your DB instance, RDS automatically performs a full daily snapshot of your data (during your preferred backup window) and captures transaction logs (as updates to your DB instance are made). Amazon RDS retains backups of a DB instance for a limited, user-specified period of time called the retention period, which by default is 7 days but can be set to up to 35 days.

DB snapshots are user-initiated and can be initiated at any time. DB snapshots can be created from the Console, via CreateDBSnapshot API, or create-db-snapshot command and are kept until you explicitly delete them.

You can restore a DB instance from a DB snapshot either on an existing Outpost, another Outpost in the same region and account or in the AWS region.

Q: Does Amazon RDS on AWS Outposts support patching my databases?

Yes. Amazon RDS takes care of both OS and database engine patching with minimal downtime. Patching happens during a customer configurable maintenance window (30 min to 12 hours) or when you request an immediate patching action. When a patch becomes available, you may opt-in individual databases for immediate, next-window, or specified-date patching. You can also configure individual databases to automatically receive minor version upgrades as they become available.

Q: What happens to my RDS databases when I lose connectivity to my Outposts?

When network connectivity to the AWS Region goes down, your database continues to run locally. You cannot create new databases or take new actions on the existing database, automatic backups will also not trigger at that particular interval while connectivity is not available. In the case of database failures, the database will not be automatically replaced until the connectivity is restored. Once connectivity is restored Single-AZ instances will be rebooted. Depending on the circumstances, Multi-AZ instances may perform a failover. We recommend you restore network connectivity as soon as possible.

Q: Can I restore a database in AWS from an RDS on Outposts database snapshot?

Yes. You can create a database in AWS by restoring from a snapshot.

Q: Is encryption at rest supported?

Yes. All database instances and snapshots are encrypted at rest on Outposts and in the AWS region using the KMS key you provide.

Learn more about Amazon RDS on Outposts pricing

Visit the pricing page.

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Read our blog

Learn how to create Amazon RDS DB instances on AWS Outposts.

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