Relational Databases in the Cloud

Choose from managed and unmanaged database offerings on the Lumen Cloud platform.

MySQL
Microsoft SQL Server
Relational Database Service

Need a Database? Managed or Unmanaged?

It makes all the difference when you have the right tool for the job. Identifying the best approach can sometimes be a challenge, particularly with technical solutions. Databases are no exception to that rule. You may have a project where the choice is clear, but what if it’s not so cut and dried?

Does your team have a dedicated engineer certified in managing the database engine you’ve selected — such as MySQL or Microsoft SQL? You’ll pay a bit more for a managed solution, but it may be well-worth it if you don’t have to worry about database admin hassles.

Take a look at the information provided below. Through descriptions, feature comparison and use cases, we’ve done our best to help you make an educated decision about the options available to you on the Lumen Cloud Platform.

With Managed MySQL or Managed Microsoft SQL Server from Lumen Cloud, you can rely on our certified engineers to take your enterprise and mission-critical database workloads to the next level.

Learn more about Managed MySQL
Learn more about Managed Microsoft SQL Server

Supporting rapid software delivery needs by providing fast access to a high-performance, enterprise-hardened Percona MySQL Server or Microsoft SQL database instance deployed on our industry-leading cloud platform.

Learn more about MySQL-Compatible Relational DB
Learn more about Microsoft SQL Relational DB

Comparison

Managed Database


Relational DB Service


Database Engine
Provisioning
  • 2 steps:
    • Auto deploy your Managed VM
    • Auto deploy Managed MySQL Enterprise Edition or Microsoft SQL Server per node via blueprint
  • Option to configure Master/Slave replication in datacenter for additional cost, adding a provisioning step
  • One click deployment returns connection string for a MySQL-compatible or MSSQL database
  • Optional replication
  • No need to provision your compute separately
  • MySQL-compatible version runs on Percona 5.6
  • MSSQL runs on MSSQL 2016 Enterprise, Standard and Web Editions
Tenancy
  • Dedicated VM on multi-tenant public cloud
  • Service on multi-tenant public cloud
  • Database isolation at the VM level
Access
  • Full access to underlying VM and OS
  • No access or visibility to underlying VM and OS
Monitoring
  • Comprehensive proactive monitoring in place
  • Alerts go to Lumen Operations center for triage
  • Custom configurable monitoring
  • Alerts go to customer for triage
Configuration
  • Lumen DBAs perform database configuration (includes replication, monitoring, backups)
  • Automated in the service
Administration
Lumen DBAs perform the following tasks:
  • Backups and Restores
  • Log Monitoring
  • Start/Stop/Restart Services
  • Coordinate patching
  • Perform incident related failover – requires ticket
Service includes:
  • Daily Backups
  • DB Configuration
  • Replication Configuration (if replication is purchased)
  • Auto-failover (if replication is purchased)
  • Patching
Customer initiates via automation:
  • Change Backup Time
  • Sign up to receive usage notifications
  • Manual Failover (if replication is purchased)
  • Scale Subscription Size
Customer responsible for:
  • Log Monitoring
  • Start/Stop/Restart Service
  • DB Admin via MySQL/MSSQL Client of choice
Geographic Availability
  • Global – Available in any Managed Data Center
  • Multiple US Data Centers, plus Data Centers in Canada, Great Britain and Singapore.
    Global expansion continuing.
Cost
  • $$$
  • Pay for Management, Compute and Database Resources and Licensing Separately
  • Hands on Operations Support results in higher pricing than Relational DB Service
  • $
  • Pay for Compute and Database Resources together
  • Self Service nature results in lower pricing

Use Cases

Managed Database

Outsourcing Database Administration

For enterprise applications and key initiatives, many organizations prefer to outsource the administration, maintenance and support of their database environments and infrastructure. Lumen, as a recognized IT Infrastructure leader in the delivery of mission-critical hosted as well as managed services and applications, is uniquely positioned to meet the needs of businesses that require secure and reliable access to their database applications.

Lumen’s Certified Database Administrators are experts in deploying and managing applications with Managed MySQL and Managed SQL Server databases, so you can feel secure that Lumen professionals are fully trained and certified to provide the services and capabilities you require on a 24/7 basis. It’s white glove service that costs more, but delivers invaluable peace of mind.

Relational DB Service

Rapid Software Delivery and Scalability

The challenge for companies has long been how to provide accelerated IT on-demand. With ever increasing competition, organizations are ramping up cycles to increase velocity of market-ready product and services. Relational DB Service enables customers to provision database environments on-demand without having to purchase new hardware or manage complex licensing models, all while providing complete access anytime.

Available for both Microsoft SQL Server and MySQL-compatible databases, Relational DB Service can also help transition a database through the application development process. During early phases, you can provision databases in low-cost configurations geared toward development activities. As the app progresses toward production, databases can be seamlessly scaled for production, reconfigured with higher levels of availability and performance.

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