Database-as-a-Service Brings Cloud Benefits to Database Platforms

Organizations have a lot to gain by migrating their databases to the cloud.

Traditionally, databases are installed on “bare metal” servers and carefully configured by expert administrators. Once the database is implemented — a process that could take weeks or even months — significant resources and budget must be dedicated to ongoing maintenance and management. In a database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) model, the service provider is responsible for building and maintaining the physical infrastructure needed to support the database, and for handling backups, installing security updates and scaling storage resources. Customers simply access the database resources they need on a subscription basis.

DBaaS delivers all the classic cloud benefits — minimal capital investments, reduced operational overhead and near-infinite scalability to support rampant data growth. It also facilitates disaster recovery. And because it enables rapid deployment with limited risk, DBaaS offers a cost-effective platform for proofs of concept, application development and testing.

Reliable, Secure and Easy to Manage

DBaaS is similar to Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), which provides a cloud-based environment for application development and deployment. Many PaaS solutions use containers to isolate the environment from the operating system so that applications can run on any computing platform. Similarly, DBaaS uses a multitenant container model that can run multiple databases on a shared operating system.

Organizations can monitor CPU and storage utilization and network traffic through a centralized management console, and provision additional resources and database instances with a few clicks. Integrated management features typically include logging and key management utilities. The centralized console also enables midsize and large organizations to consolidate the management of multiple database instances under a single interface.

Service providers typically offer service-level agreements (SLAs) specifying minimum response times and availability. Most operate multiple data center facilities with automated failover in the event of an outage to meet availability requirements. Additionally, most DBaaS Solutions offer enterprise-class security, including identity and access management and data encryption.

Rapid Growth

DBaaS helps organizations manage the explosive growth of data more efficiently, and accommodate user demand for remote access to database resources. DBaaS also offers greater flexibility and elasticity to accommodate spikes in demand for database resources.

Like other cloud-based solutions, DBaaS also enables customers to take advantage of the latest technology — in order to remain competitive, service providers keep their environments up-to-date as database vendors introduce new features. Competition in the DBaaS market has also brought down pricing, giving organizations an even greater incentive to migrate their databases to the cloud.

DBaaS was slow to take off when first introduced several years ago, but today the market is growing rapidly. Adroit Market Research has forecast that the global DBaaS market will see a compound annual growth rate of 12.65 percent through 2029. The banking, financial services and insurance sector is one of the primary adopters as organizations seek to rapidly digitalize their services. DBaaS is also seeing wide adoption in healthcare.

How DeSeMa Can Help

Choosing a DBaaS platform begins with determining which database technology will work best for a particular application or use case. Some DBaaS solutions are based upon traditional open source database management systems such as MySQL and PostgreSQL. MongoDB is a document-oriented NoSQL database, while Redis is an in-memory key-value database.

The cloud experts at DeSeMa can help you identify the right database technology, evaluate the various DBaaS options and select the right solution. We can also help ensure that the platform is configured properly to optimize performance, and that the right security controls are in place.

Increasing demands for more flexible and cost-effective database solutions, coupled with a need for greater scalability, elasticity and automation, are driving adoption of DBaaS. By moving their databases to the cloud, organizations can gain on-demand access to database resources while making management simpler and more cost-efficient.