Aurora MariaDB Integration: 2 Easy Methods

Amazon Aurora is a MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible cloud-based Relational Database combining performance and availability of traditional corporate databases with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open-source databases. Standard MySQL and PostgreSQL databases are up to 5 times slower than Amazon Aurora.

MariaDB, a clone of MySQL, is a widely used open SQL (Structured Query Language) RDBMS developed by MySQL’s original developers. It’s built for speed, dependability, and simplicity. It is the default MySQL database system in most, if not all, major Linux distributions’ standard repositories, including RHEL (RedHat Enterprise Linux) and Fedora Linux. Its development began in response to concerns raised following MySQL’s acquisition by Oracle Corporation in 2009.

MariaDB offers a Java connector that can be leveraged to link Java-written applications to database management systems such as MariaDB and MySQL. JDBC drivers are Java library files with the extension.jar used to connect to databases by all Java programs. Connecting MariaDB to Aurora also requires a JDBC driver to maintain an Aurora MariaDB connection. In this article, you will learn the detailed steps for setting up a connection from your Java client program to Aurora.

What is MariaDB?

MariaDB, a clone of MySQL, is a widely used open SQL (Structured Query Language) RDBMS developed by MySQL’s original developers. The fundamental reason for their similarities is that MariaDB is a software branch of MySQL. MySQL source code is at the heart of it. They are not, however, the same. Since 2009, when many MySQL authors created a different version from the same source, MariaDB has progressed substantially.

The MySQL developers were anxious about the future of their product when Oracle Corporation bought it. They worried Oracle will kill MySQL in order to eliminate a key rival. They also wanted to make sure that their work remained freely available. This is how MariaDB emerged on the scene.

It is entirely GPL-licensed and open to the public. It is now a stand-alone product among the top 10 most extensively used relational databases in the world (holding the 9th position). Companies like Google, Wikipedia, Tumblr, Amazon Web Services, Ubuntu, RedHat, and others are among the numerous MariaDB users.

There are MariaDB versions for Linux and macOS in addition to the Windows version. This RDBMS is compatible with Intel and IBM Power8 hardware. It is provided as a service on the cloud platforms Amazon Web Services (AWS), Rackspace Cloud, and Microsoft Azure. The method is simple to learn, safe, and handy to use. It’s no surprise that it’s becoming increasingly popular.

What is Amazon Aurora?

Amazon Aurora is a relational database for the cloud that supports MySQL and PostgreSQL and combines the speed and availability of standard business databases with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open-source databases. Aurora databases are up to 5x quicker than MySQL databases and 3x faster than PostgreSQL databases. Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) handles all aspects of Amazon Aurora, including hardware provisioning, database setup, patching, and backups.

One or more DB instances plus a cluster volume that controls the data for those DB instances make up an Amazon Aurora DB cluster. An Aurora cluster volume is a virtual database storage volume that spans several Availability Zones, with a copy of the database cluster data in each Availability Zone. An Aurora DB cluster is made up of two types of database instances:

• Primary DB Instance: Allows read and write processes on the cluster volume, as well as all data alterations. Each Aurora DB cluster has only 1 primary DB instance.
• Aurora Replica: Only allows read operations and connects to the same storage disk as the primary DB instance. In addition to the core DB instance, each Aurora DB cluster can have up to 15 Aurora Replicas. To provide high availability, you should place the Aurora replicas in unique Availability Zones. If the primary DB instance becomes unavailable, Aurora automatically switches to an Aurora Replica. For Aurora Replicas, you may set the failover priority. Read workloads can also be offloaded from the primary DB instance using Aurora Replicas.

What are the Methods to Set Up Aurora MariaDB Integration?

In this section, you will understand how to set up the Aurora MariaDB connection using the following 2 methods:

• Method 1: Set Up Aurora MariaDB Integration using Hevo’s No-Code Data Pipeline
• Method 2: Set Up Aurora MariaDB Integration using JDBC Driver

Method 1: Set Up Aurora MariaDB Integration using Hevo’s No-Code Data Pipeline

Hevo provides an Automated No Code Data Pipeline that helps you set up the Amazon Aurora and MariaDB Integration. You can set up a Data Warehouse managed by Hevo on the fly, as part of the Integration process. The ingested data from the source is stored in a Data Warehouse managed by Hevo and then loaded to the destination, such as Databases, or Business Applications.

Hevo’s fault-tolerant architecture will enrich and transform your data securely and consistently and load it to your destination without any assistance from your side. You can entrust us with your data transfer process by both ETL and ELT processes to a data warehouse, Reverse ETL processes to CRMS, etc, and enjoy a hassle-free experience.

Here are more reasons to try Hevo:

• Smooth Schema Management: Hevo takes away the tedious task of schema management & automatically detects the schema of incoming data and maps it to your schema in the desired Data Warehouse.
• Exceptional Data Transformations: Best-in-class & Native Support for Complex Data Transformation at fingertips. Code & No-code Flexibility, designed for everyone.
• Quick Setup: Hevo with its automated features, can be set up in minimal time. Moreover, with its simple and interactive UI, it is extremely easy for new customers to work on and perform operations.
• Built To Scale: As the number of sources and the volume of your data grows, Hevo scales horizontally, handling millions of records per minute with very little latency.
• Live Support: The Hevo team is available round the clock to extend exceptional support to its customers through chat, email, and support calls.

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Method 2: Set Up Aurora MariaDB Integration using JDBC Driver

After having an idea about MariaDB and Aurora and exploring an automated tool to set up the Aurora MariaDB connection, let’s take a look at the manual method as well. To start you need to download and complete some prerequisites :

• An active AWS account
• AWS CLI
• MariaDB JDBC driver
• IntelliJ or IDEA of your choice
• MySQL client

First, you need to create an Amazon Aurora cluster, and then you need to connect it and create a database using the script mentioned below:

aws rds create-db-cluster --db-cluster-identifier auroradbcluster --engine aurora-mysql --engine-version 5.7.12 --master-username username --master-user-password ###### --db-subnet-group-name mysubnetgroup --vpc-security-group-ids sg-xxxxx

You just need to replace the vpc groups, usernames, and passwords. You can check its status after creation:

aws rds describe-db-clusters --db-cluster-identifier auroradbcluster

Once we have the cluster ready we can create a database instance in it. I am assuming you set up the MySQL client, if not just check this link. Then we just need to connect to the cluster with MySQL:

mysql -u admin -h [cluster-endpoint] -p

Don’t forget to replace the cluster endpoint with your corresponding endpoint. Now just create a database instance:

MySQL > create database hevodatadb;

As the last step, we need to create a java program to connect MariaDB to Aurora. I am going to use an Intellij IDEA but you are free to use your own IDEA. It is really recommended to use a package manager like Maven or Gradle. I have created the Gradle project so we have a build.gradle file for configuration. To use the MariaDB JDBC driver we need to add the following implementation:

To establish a connection I have created a sample class that you can use as an example but change the credentials according to yours:

import java.sql.*;

public class ConnectMariaDB {
   // JDBC driver name and database URL

   static final String JDBC_DRIVER = "org.mariadb.jdbc.Driver";
   static final String DB_URL = "";

   //  Database credentials
   static final String USER = "auroradbtest";
   static final String PASS =  "**************";

   public static void main(String[] args) {
       Connection connection = null;
       Statement statement = null;
       try {
           Class.forName(JDBC_DRIVER);

        
           System.out.println("Trying to connect database...");
           connection = DriverManager.getConnection(
                   DB_URL, USER, PASS);
           System.out.println("We established a connection...");
           System.out.println("Table creation is in progress...");
           statement = connection.createStatement();

           String sql = "CREATE TABLE HEVODATA "
                   + "(id INTEGER not NULL, "
                   + " name VARCHAR(255))";

           statement.executeUpdate(sql);
           System.out.println("Table has successfully created...");
      
       } catch (SQLException se) {
         
           se.printStackTrace();
       } catch (Exception e) {
    
           e.printStackTrace();
       } finally {
         
           try {
               if (statement != null) {
                   connection.close();
               }
           } catch (SQLException se) {
           }
           try {
               if (connection != null) {
                   connection.close();
               }
           } catch (SQLException se) {
               se.printStackTrace();
           }
       }
       System.out.println("Goodbye!");
   }
}

If we run this code you will be able to connect MariaDB to the Aurora cluster successfully:

What Can You Achieve by Setting up Amazon Aurora MariaDB Integration?

There are several benefits of integrating Aurora and MariaDB. These are as follows:

• Improved performance: Migrate your existing MariaDB database to Amazon Aurora without having to change your application code or database schema. This can be useful if you want to take advantage of the scalability, reliability, and performance benefits of Amazon Aurora without having to make major changes to your database.
• Enhanced security: Aurora has advanced security features, such as encryption at rest and in transit, and integrating it with MariaDB can help you improve the security of your data.
• High availability: Aurora has high availability features, such as automatic failover and replication, which can help you ensure that your data is always available.
• Cost-effectiveness: You can use the integration to leverage the cost-effective storage and compute options of Aurora while still using the familiar and feature-rich MariaDB database.
• Easy maintenance: You’ll be using MariaDB as a fully managed service on Amazon Aurora. This can be useful if you want to use MariaDB but don’t want to worry about setting up, configuring, and maintaining the database yourself.
• Compatibility: You can use the Amazon Aurora MySQL compatibility features to take advantage of features and capabilities that are specific to Amazon Aurora. This can include features such as fast failover, automatic patching, and updates, and read replicas.

Overall, setting up Amazon Aurora MariaDB integration can be useful if you want to use MariaDB as your database management system and want to take advantage of the scalability, reliability, and performance benefits of Amazon Aurora.

Conclusion

In this article, you learned about MariaDB and Amazon Aurora. You set up the Amazon Aurora MariaDB connection using the JDBC driver and discovered an easier alternative – Hevo, an Automated No Code Data Pipeline. Aurora’s unique storage architecture provides many advantages compared to community edition RDS databases.

Extracting data from various applications to a single destination such as a Database or Data Warehouse can be a challenge for many companies. This is where Hevo can help save your day!

Hevo Data is a No-Code Data Pipeline that offers a faster way to move data from 150+ Data Sources including Amazon Aurora, MariaDB, and other 40+ Free Sources, into your Data Warehouse to be visualized in a BI tool. Hevo is fully automated and hence does not require you to code.

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Share your experience with Aurora MariaDB Integration in the comments section below!