This topic describes RDS High-availability Edition.
RDS High-availability Edition is a widely used edition. RDS instances of this edition are deployed in a primary/secondary architecture to deliver highly available services. This edition is suitable for more than 80% of use cases in various industries, such as Internet, IoT, online retail, logistics, and gaming.

Topology

Benefits
- High availability
In RDS High-availability Edition, the mode that is used to synchronize the data of the primary RDS instance to the secondary RDS instance varies based on the parameter template that you select. The semi-synchronous mode or asynchronous mode is used to synchronize data. If the primary RDS instance becomes inaccessible, your database system fails over to the secondary RDS instance.
The primary and secondary RDS instances can be deployed in the same zone or different zones in the same region. If the primary and secondary RDS instances are deployed in different zones, cross-zone disaster recovery can be implemented, and the availability of your database system is improved.
Note If the secondary RDS instance becomes inaccessible, data of the primary RDS instance is backed up in real time. When a backup is near completion, the FLUSH TABLE WITH READ LOCK (FTWRL) statement is executed. This triggers a global lock that is held for up to 5 seconds. When the global lock is held, the primary RDS instance is in read-only mode. - Comprehensive functionality
RDS High-availability Edition provides a complete suite of features, such as auto scaling, backup and restoration, performance optimization, read/write splitting, and SQL Explorer. The SQL Explorer feature stores the logs of all executed statements for up to five years. You can use the logs to trace operations performed on your databases, which helps ensure the security of your data.
Limits
For performance purposes, the primary and secondary RDS instances must be deployed in the same region.
Upgrade the edition of an RDS instance to RDS High-availability Edition
RDS Basic Edition instances are deployed in a standalone architecture. Due to the lack of a hot standby, your business may experience extended periods of downtime when the RDS instance fails. This also happens when you change the specifications or upgrade the database engine. If you require high service availability, we recommend that you use RDS High-availability Edition.
- If your RDS instance runs MySQL 5.7 or MySQL 8.0 on RDS Basic Edition, you can upgrade the edition to RDS High-availability Edition in the ApsaraDB RDS console. For more information, see Upgrade an ApsaraDB RDS for MySQL instance from Basic Edition to High-availability Edition.
- If your RDS instance runs SQL Server on RDS Basic Edition, you can upgrade the edition to RDS High-availability Edition in the ApsaraDB RDS console. For more information, see Upgrade an ApsaraDB RDS for SQL Server instance from Basic Edition to High-availability Edition.
Create an RDS instance
Billing FAQ
- Can I establish a direct connection to my secondary RDS instance?
No, direct connections cannot be established to secondary RDS instances. Direct connections can only be established to the primary RDS instance. A secondary RDS instance serves as a standby and cannot be accessed externally.
- Can I downgrade an RDS instance from RDS High-availability Edition to RDS Basic Edition?
No, you cannot downgrade from RDS High-availability Edition to RDS Basic Edition. If you want to downgrade from RDS High-availability Edition to RDS Basic Edition, you can purchase an RDS instance that runs RDS Basic Edition and migrate the data of your original RDS instance to the new RDS instance. Then, release your original RDS instance. For more information, see Migrate data between RDS instances.
- I am using RDS High-availability Edition. How do I change the data replication mode of my RDS instance?
For more information, see Change of the data replication mode.
- I am using RDS High-availability Edition. Is the data replication mode changed to the asynchronous mode if the secondary RDS instance handles heavier workloads than the primary RDS instance?
Yes, if the secondary RDS instance handles heavier workloads than the primary RDS instance, the data replication mode is changed to the asynchronous mode. For more information, see Data replication modes.