Starting December 15, 2023, ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL provides general-purpose database proxies and persistent connections free of charge.
Effective date
December 15, 2023
General-purpose database proxies (free of charge)
A database proxy sits between your application and the RDS instance, intercepting all incoming requests. It supports read/write splitting, persistent connections, transaction splitting, connection pooling, and SSL encryption to reduce load on the primary instance.
ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL offers two proxy types: general-purpose (free of charge) and dedicated (pay-as-you-go). For a feature comparison, see What are database proxies?
Use cases
Consider enabling a database proxy when your instance experiences any of the following:
High load caused by a large number of transactional requests
High load caused by too many concurrent connections
Need for read/write splitting across primary and read-only instances
Read-only workloads and workloads that must be isolated from each other
Predominantly short-lived connections
Frequent operations and maintenance (O&M) operations such as switchovers that cause transient connection drops
Prerequisites
The following requirements apply to the primary RDS instance.
Version requirements
| Major engine version | RDS edition | Minimum minor engine version |
|---|---|---|
| MySQL 8.0 | RDS Enterprise Edition | 20191204 |
| MySQL 8.0 | RDS High-availability Edition | 20190915 |
| MySQL 8.0 | RDS Cluster Edition | No requirements |
| MySQL 5.7 | RDS Enterprise Edition | 20191128 |
| MySQL 5.7 | RDS High-availability Edition | 20190925 |
| MySQL 5.7 | RDS Cluster Edition | No requirements |
| MySQL 5.6 | RDS High-availability Edition | 20200229 |
Region requirements
The instance must not reside in Hangzhou Zone C or Hangzhou Zone D.
Billing
General-purpose database proxies: free of charge
Dedicated proxies: pay-as-you-go. For details, see Billing rules for database proxies.
Enable the database proxy feature
Persistent connections (free of charge)
O&M operations that trigger an automatic switchover temporarily interrupt the connections between your application and the database proxy. Persistent connections keep those connections alive across switchovers, preventing service interruptions, improving instance availability, and reducing maintenance costs.
The following O&M operations trigger automatic switchovers:
Primary/secondary switchover
Minor engine version update
Parameter modification that requires a restart
Primary instance configuration change
Prerequisites
Before you enable persistent connections, make sure the instance meets all of the following requirements:
Runs MySQL 5.6, MySQL 5.7, or MySQL 8.0
Runs RDS High-availability Edition
Uses cloud disks
Has the database proxy feature enabled with proxy version 1.14.5_20231207 or later. See Enable the database proxy feature.
Billing
Persistent connections are free of charge.