Guided Lab: Enabling Multi-AZ on Amazon RDS
Description
Enabling Multi-AZ on Amazon RDS ensures high availability and durability for your database instances. When you opt for a Multi-AZ deployment, Amazon RDS automatically replicates the data to a standby instance in a different Availability Zone (AZ). The beauty of this setup is that it offers automatic failover: if your primary database instance encounters issues or the AZ it’s in experiences problems, RDS will automatically switch to the standby instance with minimal disruption. This is crucial for maintaining continuous operations and preventing data loss. Multi-AZ deployments are ideal for mission-critical database workloads, where uptime and data integrity are most important.
Objectives
To ensure successful completion of this lab, you must have prior experience in creating an RDS database instance and be familiar with their essential components. If you feel that your knowledge in this area is insufficient, we highly recommend taking the following labs to gain the necessary understanding:
- Creating an Amazon RDS database
Objectives
In this lab, you will:
- Learn how to enable the Multi-AZ on Amazon RDS
Subscribe to access AWS PlayCloud LabsLab Steps
Creating an RDS database and enabling Multi-AZ
1. Search for RDS using the search bar and select the RDS result under Services on the AWS Management Console.
2. On the Databases page, click on the Create Database button. You will be prompted to configure your database.
3. Choose MySQL as your database engine.
4. For the templates, choose “Dev/Test”.
5. For Availability and Durability, select Multi-AZ DB instance.
6. Configure Database Settings:
- DB instance identifier: Give your DB instance a unique name.
- Tick the check box on the Auto-generate password.
7. For Instance Configuration, choose db.t3.micro as a class.
8. Set the allocated storage to 20 GiB.
9. Click the Create Database button at the bottom of the page to create your MySQL database.
10. After clicking the Create Database button, a confirmation will appear to let you know that the process has started and the database has been created.
Note: Enabling Multi-AZ deployment triggers a brief downtime (usually a few minutes) during the failover process.
Note: Disregard the warning about the Failure to turn on Enhanced Monitoring for the database, it will still allow you to create an RDS Database with Multi-AZ enabled.
11. Monitor the modification progress, return to the RDS dashboard, and monitor the DB Instance Status to ensure it transitions from Modifying to Available.
12. Verify if the Multi-AZ has been successfully enabled after the DB Instance Status turns Available.
Check the time of the Failover Process
The time it takes for the failover to complete depends on the database activity and other conditions at the time the primary DB instance became unavailable and is generally between 60-120 seconds. However, in case of large transactions or a lengthy recovery process, the failover time can increase. After the failover is complete, it may take some additional time for the RDS console to reflect the new Availability Zone.
To initiate the failover, follow the steps below:
1. Trigger the Failover Process by rebooting the DB.
2. Tick the check box on the Reboot With Failover then click Confirm. Wait until it’s rebooted.
3. Once rebooted, go to Events on the left-hand panel.
4. Check if the failover process completes within 60–120 seconds. For this lab, the time of failover completed is within the time frame.
