ApsaraDB RDS is a stable, reliable, cost-effective, and scalable online database service that supports most mainstream database engines, including MySQL, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB. It automates infrastructure management, patching, backups, failover, and monitoring so your team can focus on building applications rather than managing databases. Hundreds of thousands of users run their workloads on ApsaraDB RDS, including large-scale traffic events such as Double 11.
Key capabilities
High availability and reliability
ApsaraDB RDS supports primary/secondary replication, automatic failover, and cross-zone disaster recovery, delivering a 99.99% availability service level agreement (SLA). Backups include automatic scheduled backups, cross-region backup, and point-in-time recovery. Each instance is protected by network isolation, data encryption at rest, data encryption in transit, and access control policies.
Simplified operations
Provision an instance within minutes from the console or API — no hardware or software purchases required. Alibaba Cloud automates software patching, backup, monitoring, failover, and primary/secondary replication.
Scaling requires no transient connections or a brief connection interruption of approximately 30 seconds for most operations. Serverless instances scale automatically within seconds with no interruption.
Billing options
Choose the billing model that fits your workload:
| Billing model | Best for | Key benefit |
|---|---|---|
| Pay-as-you-go | Short-term or unpredictable workloads | Release instances when no longer needed; pay only for what you use |
| Subscription | Stable, long-running workloads | Discounted rates compared to pay-as-you-go |
| Serverless | Variable or intermittent workloads | Scales to zero; accurate to seconds; reduces costs by up to 70%; rated Top in the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology serverless capability assessment |
Additional cost controls include:
Instance suspension: Pause specific instances and pay only for storage during the suspension period. Serverless instances support automatic start and stop.
Readable secondary instances: In RDS Cluster Edition, secondary nodes are readable, increasing overall instance utilization.
Free trial:Free trials Available for new users.
Custom database engines
Alibaba Cloud develops AliSQL and AliPG — enhanced versions of open source MySQL and PostgreSQL kernels built for enterprise performance and stability.
AliSQL extends MySQL with:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Binlog in Redo | Synchronously writes binary logs to the redo log file at transaction commit, reducing disk operations and improving throughput |
| Statement queue | Stabilizes execution plans under concurrent workloads |
| Inventory hint | Accelerates transaction commit and rollback to improve throughput in high-concurrency scenarios |
| Thread pool | Optimizes concurrency management for high-traffic databases |
| Faster DDL | Increases processing performance for concurrent online DDL statements |
AliPG extends PostgreSQL with:
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| GanosBase | A spatio-temporal engine for full-space data processing across indoor, outdoor, surface, subsurface, static, and dynamic scenarios |
| Transparent data encryption (TDE) | Table-level encryption support |
| Always-confidential | Encrypts data in storage, computation, and transmission |
| Babelfish | Parses and runs SQL Server T-SQL statements on PostgreSQL |
| rds_ccl | SQL throttling to prevent overload and maintain database stability |
For a detailed comparison of ApsaraDB RDS against self-managed databases, see Competitive advantages of ApsaraDB RDS instances over self-managed databases.
Manage your instances
Use any of the following tools to create instances, configure databases and accounts, and manage network settings:
| Tool | Description |
|---|---|
| Console | A web-based GUI for managing all RDS resources |
| CLI | The Alibaba Cloud command-line interface (CLI); supports all console operations |
| SDK | Programmatic access for all console operations |
| API | Full API access; see the list of operations by function |
For complex business requirements, purchase a support plan to access enterprise instant messaging (IM) groups, technical account managers (TAMs), and service managers.
What's next
Billable items: Understand billing details, pricing, and billing methods.
FAQ: Find answers to common questions about configuration, performance, and troubleshooting.
FAQ overview: Browse the full list of frequently asked questions by category.