Starting August 6, 2025, ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL supports DuckDB-based analytical instances. Powered by columnar storage and vectorized computation, DuckDB-based analytical instances deliver a hundredfold performance boost for complex analytical queries. This enables real-time analytics on massive datasets, accelerating data-driven decision-making for enterprises.
Release date
August 6, 2025
Introduction
Overview
The DuckDB-based analytical instance for RDS for MySQL has a built-in DuckDB engine and provides the following features:
High-performance analytics: Supports columnar storage, just-in-time (JIT) compilation, vectorized execution, efficient memory management, and parallel processing.
High compatibility with MySQL: Highly compatible with MySQL syntax and data types. You can get results efficiently without modifying your original queries.
Seamless data synchronization:
Existing data: The system creates a DuckDB-based analytical instance by synchronizing the existing data of the primary instance and automatically converting the data to the format supported by DuckDB.
Incremental data: After the DuckDB-based analytical instance is created, incremental data from the primary instance is synchronized in real time by using the native binary log (binlog) replication mechanism. You do not need to use external tools for data synchronization. For more information, see Appendix 1: Technical principles of DuckDB-based analytical instances.
Scenarios
Aggregate analytics: For aggregate analytics, such as log data analysis, DuckDB-based analytical instances provide high-performance aggregate queries.
Multi-table JOIN queries: For businesses that require multi-table
JOINqueries, DuckDB-based analytical instances significantly improve the analytical performance of RDS for MySQL.
Comparison between DuckDB-based analytical instances, read-only instances, and OLAP databases
Compared with RDS primary instances, read-only instances, and other online analytical processing (OLAP) databases, DuckDB-based analytical instances offer the following advantages in complex queries:
High performance: Delivers a 100-fold performance improvement for complex queries compared with the InnoDB engine.
High compatibility: 100% compatible with the MySQL protocol and data types, and highly compatible with SQL syntax and DDL.
Efficient and stable data synchronization: Uses a native binlog replication channel for more stable and efficient data synchronization with no extra fees.
Resource isolation: DuckDB-based analytical instances focus on handling complex analytical queries, while the primary instance and read-only instances focus on handling transactional queries. The resources are isolated and do not affect each other.
Comparison item | DuckDB analytical instance | Read-only instance | OLAP database | |
Applicable scenario | Complex analytical queries | Transactional queries | Complex analyutical queries | |
Analytical query performance | High | Low | High | |
Data sync method | Native binlog replication | Native binlog replication | Data Transmission Service (DTS) | |
MySQL Compatiblity | Data type | Fully compatible | Fully compatible | Incompatible (requires field mapping) |
SQL syntax | Highly compatible (>99.9%) | Fully compatible | Incompatible (requires SQL rewriting) | |
DDL | Highly compatible | Fully compatible | Partially compatible | |
O&M cost | Low (integrated with the primary instance) | Low (integrated with the primary instance) | High (requires maintenance for databases and synchronization link) | |
Billing
DuckDB-based analytical instances are billed in the same way as read-only instances. The fees are determined by factors such as the edition, instance type, storage type, and storage capacity. The actual fees displayed on the buy page shall prevail.
Related operations
References
A standard TPC-H benchmark test is performed to demonstrate the analytical performance of a DuckDB-based analytical instance. For more information, see Appendix 2: Performance test of a DuckDB-based analytical instance.
For information about the compatibility of DuckDB-based analytical instances, see https://icms.alibaba-inc.com/content/rds/rds?l=1&m=15600&n=5937150.