DBaaS (Database as a Service)

More and more software providers are storing their database tech­no­logy in the cloud. Proof that trend is not temporary. A change in modern IT systems that is as sus­tain­able as it is trend­set­ting is also demon­strated by the ever-in­creas­ing spread of In­fra­struc­ture as a Service as well as Platform as a Service solutions. The latter area also includes Database as a Service (DBaaS).

DBaaS is short for ‘Database as a Service’ and refers to the pos­sib­il­ity of obtaining one or more database systems via the cloud of a cor­res­pond­ing service provider. Using the database as an external service offering has the advantage that personnel and technical ca­pa­cit­ies can be saved in your own company. Databases – often based on MySQL or Oracle – are in­dis­pens­able in almost every company because they are used, among other things, for email servers, customer data, big data archives, or other forms of ordered as well as unordered col­lec­tions of data.

In addition to complete out­sourcing of databases to the provider’s cloud, it’s also possible to use DBaaS as a hybrid solution. This makes sense es­pe­cially if companies don’t want to fully commit to a cloud-based network solution for IT security reasons. But even if companies continue to operate their own database servers and only use an SQL im­ple­ment­a­tion serving as a cloud interface, this can already relieve the existing IT in­fra­struc­ture.

The way Database as a Service works is very simple. Depending on the agreement reached in the service contract, a cloud provider is obliged to provide storage space for a certain number of databases and to enable the cor­res­pond­ing accesses. Billing in the form of a usage-based rate is possible. Al­tern­at­ively, companies can simply rent server resources from the provider to implement a database there them­selves.

Companies using DBaaS can fully rely on the provider in terms of the in­stall­a­tion and provision of the databases as well as the technical care and main­ten­ance of the systems, as this is part of the service contract. In addition to providing purely technical support, many DBaaS providers offer further con­veni­ence functions, such as com­pre­hens­ive mon­it­or­ing of the databases or regular automatic backups of the stored data to keep data loss as low as possible in the event of a possible failure.

Users of Database as a Service also benefit from the technical expertise of the provider’s employees, usually have a fixed contact person, and no longer have to worry about updating their own database systems. Access to the data records can also be evaluated and recorded regularly if desired.

Put simply, Database as a Service is suitable for anyone who wants to operate a database but doesn’t want to or cannot provide the in­fra­struc­ture and the personnel for this them­selves. The DBaaS approach also makes sense for those who sometimes have concerns about the security of their data, since the providers can provide pro­fes­sion­al IT experts to take care of cloud computing. In addition, hybrid solutions are possible, in which the data remains largely stored in the local network in­fra­struc­ture and a con­nec­tion to the cloud is only es­tab­lished through an SQL plug in.

Fur­ther­more, the Database as a Service approach – just like Platform as a Service as well as In­fra­struc­ture as a Service – creates a certain degree of flex­ib­il­ity, because the provider can set up the ideal framework that is required by a company to meet its needs at a given time. If rates are flexible, you can react quickly to new situ­ations with clearly com­mu­nic­ated costs instead of having to la­bor­i­ously upgrade your own IT.

If a company decides to use the Database as a Service solution, it comes with many ad­vant­ages. The most obvious advantage is that costs are saved, because companies no longer need to have the technical re­quire­ments in place for operating a database, nor do they need the cor­res­pond­ing spe­cial­ist staff. In addition, any incoming database queries do not have to be processed via internal servers, which won’t have any effect on your wallet.

Once a decision has been made in favor of a service provider, the ad­min­is­trat­ive effort required to maintain the database is minimal. One of the key benefits of Database as a Service is that the provider takes care of the proper func­tion­ing of the database, installs it, maintains it, and provides it with updates. In addition, the provider’s employees respond to current security issues and protect valuable data from possible misuse by third parties.

Another advantage of DBaaS is that customers can evaluate access provided, for example, to various reports. This makes it possible to react agilely and flexibly to new situ­ations. Since the providers’ data centres usually meet the highest standards and always have con­tin­gency plans in place in case of any failures, re­li­ab­il­ity is also a major advantage of cloud-based database pro­cessing. This also includes the automatic creation and retention of regular backups.

Of course there are also dis­ad­vant­ages to Database as a Service, although these are not as sig­ni­fic­ant. If the data centre is located further away, there may be minimally increased loading times. When con­clud­ing a contract with the DBaaS provider, close attention should therefore be paid to the location of the data centre – also for reasons of data pro­tec­tion and com­pli­ance guidelines ap­plic­able at the location.

Another dis­ad­vant­age could be that the databases out­sourced to the cloud are tem­por­ar­ily un­avail­able. However, due to re­dund­ancy and the high security in data centres this is actually much less likely than when companies maintain their databases in-house.

If you want to test the model first and/or have very sensitive data, you can try the hybrid solution first. In this way, your company will benefit from a large number of the ad­vant­ages mentioned, but retains some of the pro­cessing in its own IT de­part­ment.

There are many providers of Database as a Service to choose from. The dif­fer­ence between what they offer is often just in the details and in their price ranges. Here is a quick selection:

• Amazon AWS
• Google
• Microsoft Azure
• MongoDB Atlas
• Oracle Cloud

In any case, it’s a good idea to learn more about the re­spect­ive framework con­di­tions and the in­fra­struc­ture used before signing a contract. Set up a con­ver­sa­tion with the customer service of the service provider in question, so that you can ensure that your in­di­vidu­al re­quire­ments are addressed.