This introductory course provides a solid foundation in monitoring Amazon RDS using AWS tools.
It begins by getting you acquainted with monitoring databases hosted on the Amazon RDS service and then moves on to explore the available AWS tools that can be used for this purpose.
If you have any feedback relating to this course, please reach out to us at support@cloudacademy.com.
Learning Objectives
- Learn about database monitoring in AWS
- How monitoring databases in the cloud is different from on-premises
- Understand the AWS tools available inside RDS for monitoring
- Become aware of the AWS infrastructure monitoring tools that can be used to monitor RDS
Intended Audience
This course is intended for anyone who is new to database monitoring — or monitoring in general — and needs to monitor databases hosted in Amazon RDS.
Prerequisites
To get the most out of this course, you should have a basic knowledge of cloud computing (Amazon Web Services in particular) and have a high-level understanding of how relational databases work.
My name is Stephen Cole, and thank you for taking this course. I hope you find it informative. Let's review some of the material covered. Monitoring in general should be driven by your organization's needs. For example, a database in a production environment will probably prioritize availability, security, and compliance.
Avoid vanity metrics, that is, collect data needed to maintain the level of performance that's expected. Some activity needs to be constantly monitored. Other monitoring tools can be activated and used as needed for troubleshooting. A monitoring plan will help determine what should be monitored, how to do it, and who is responsible for issues when they occur. Another way to put this is before working on a solution, be sure you understand what problem needs to be solved. Cloud development is constantly evolving. A metric that has meaning one day might have zero value the next. Be ready to revisit monitoring plans on a regular basis and be prepared to update them.
Amazon RDS has built-in tools for monitoring database instances that come at no additional cost. However, storing the data from these tools can incur charges. The built-in tools include Detailed Monitoring using Amazon CloudWatch, Enhanced Monitoring, Database Logs that can be used with CloudWatch Logs, RDS Performance Insights, and RDS Events. These services track metrics, discover trends, set and respond to alarms and using CloudWatch Logs, provide log storage.
Amazon CloudWatch monitors at the hypervisor layer and Enhanced Monitoring uses an agent on the database instance. AWS infrastructure tools that can be used to monitor RDS for security and compliance include Amazon Config, Trusted Advisor and AWS CloudTrail. AWS Config records and evaluates RDS configuration changes. AWS CloudTrail keeps an audit log of API calls made to RDS and Trusted Advisor makes recommendations based on best practices. If needed, AWS Config can create a complete inventory of AWS resources.
This brings me to the end of the course. If you have any feedback, positive or negative, please contact us at support@cloudacademy.com. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, thank you.
Stephen is the AWS Certification Specialist at Cloud Academy. His content focuses heavily on topics related to certification on Amazon Web Services technologies. He loves teaching and believes that there are no shortcuts to certification but it is possible to find the right path and course of study.
Stephen has worked in IT for over 25 years in roles ranging from tech support to systems engineering. At one point, he taught computer network technology at a community college in Washington state.
Before coming to Cloud Academy, Stephen worked as a trainer and curriculum developer at AWS and brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in cloud technologies.
In his spare time, Stephen enjoys reading, sudoku, gaming, and modern square dancing.