Amazon DynamoDB and Amazon Aurora are both database services offered by
Amazon Web Services (AWS), but they serve different use cases and have distinct characteristics. Here are some key differences between DynamoDB and Aurora :
Database Type :
* DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL database service, while Aurora is a fully managed relational database service compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL.
Data Model :
* DynamoDB uses a key-value and document-based data model, allowing flexible schema design and optimized for high-throughput, low-latency workloads.
* Aurora uses a traditional relational data model with tables, rows, and columns, supporting complex SQL queries, transactions, and joins.
Scalability :
* DynamoDB is designed for horizontal scalability and can handle large volumes of data and high throughput by partitioning data across multiple servers.
* Aurora is designed for both vertical and horizontal scalability, allowing users to scale compute and storage independently. It uses a distributed, shared-storage architecture for read scalability and a separate storage layer for write scalability.
Performance :
* DynamoDB offers single-digit millisecond latency for read and write operations, making it suitable for real-time applications requiring low-latency responses.
* Aurora offers high-performance read and write capabilities, with performance comparable to commercial-grade databases. It is optimized for OLTP (Online Transaction Processing) workloads and supports advanced features such as parallel query execution and in-memory processing.
Consistency Model :
* DynamoDB offers eventual consistency or strong consistency for read operations, depending on the consistency level specified by the user.
* Aurora offers strong consistency by default, ensuring that all read operations return the most recent committed data.
Multi-region Replication :
* DynamoDB supports multi-region replication with DynamoDB Global Tables, allowing users to replicate data across multiple AWS regions for disaster recovery and low-latency access from different geographic locations.
* Aurora supports read replicas for scaling read operations within the same region, but it does not offer built-in multi-region replication like DynamoDB.
Pricing Model :
* DynamoDB pricing is based on provisioned throughput capacity (read and write capacity units) and storage consumption, with additional charges for features like on-demand capacity mode and DynamoDB Streams.
* Aurora pricing is based on instance hours and storage consumption, with separate pricing for read replicas and cross-region replication.
