Amazon Aurora: AWS's Proprietary Relational Database

WHY IT EXISTS: Amazon Aurora was developed by Amazon Web Services (AWS) to offer a proprietary relational database as a managed service. It exists as a database option for users building applications within the AWS cloud ecosystem, intended to provide a high-performance alternative to other engines.

THE MENTAL MODEL: Think of Amazon Aurora as a relational database engine that is proprietary to AWS. Unlike open-source databases like MySQL or PostgreSQL that can also run on AWS, Aurora is a distinct technology created by Amazon. It is managed through the Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS).

HOW IT WORKS: Aurora is delivered to users as part of the Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS). This means it is a fully managed service where AWS handles the operational overhead. Users provision and interact with Aurora through the standard RDS interfaces, but the underlying database engine is Amazon's proprietary technology.

WHEN TO USE IT: Aurora is an option for users of Amazon Web Services who require a managed relational database. The service has been publicly available for use within the RDS platform since its launch in October 2014.

WHEN NOT TO USE IT: As a proprietary AWS service, Aurora is tied to the AWS ecosystem and cannot be run on-premises or on other cloud providers. It is also not suitable for projects that have a strict requirement for using only open-source software, as it creates vendor lock-in.

ONE CANONICAL EXAMPLE: A team building a new web service on AWS could choose Amazon Aurora as their primary database. They would provision an Aurora cluster through the Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) and connect their application to it, relying on AWS to manage the database's underlying infrastructure.