Microsoft wants to help you manage your data with services such as Azure Cosmos DB, a multimodel database architecture that transparently scales and replicates your data wherever the user is. Let’s take a closer look at this PaaS offering and how you can use it.
What is Azure Cosmos DB?
Cosmos DB is a database service that is distributed globally. You can manage data even if you store it in data centers around the world. It provides tools to scale the global distribution model and computing resources provided by Microsoft Azure.
This can support multiple data models with a single backend. This means it can be used for documents, key values, relational models, and graphics. This is more or less than a NoSQL database because it is not schema-based. However, because it uses a query language such as SQL and can easily support ACID transactions, some people classify it as a NewSQL database. What distinguishes it from other NewSQL databases is that it does not have a relational data model.
What problem is solved?
Traditionally, it will require a lot of time and effort to create a globally distributed database, which you must host in your own data center using your own connections and other resources. Self-planning will prevent most companies from thinking about such an environment. Many will think that investment is not worth it. What happens is that most companies would rather give up than take advantage of the business opportunities and growth offered by such a database system.
However, with the advent of cloud computing and platforms as a service, it has become easier to create a globally distributed and scalable database for your company. Simply put so that only one person can design and control it with just a few mouse clicks. Azure Cosmos DB takes it to the next level by providing you with a turnkey database system that you can adjust to your needs.
In short, this helps every business create a flexible database that can help them meet their business needs. However, this is very useful for companies looking for database systems that can be scaled and distributed globally. Distributed globally means that all resources in every region in the world are divided horizontally and reproduced in different geographical regions. This means minimal latency and your users have a faster, more hassle-free experience. Azure Cosmos DB offers 99.99% availability.
Azure Cosmos DB additional functions
Users also benefit from several other features, including:
- Full service and ready to use: You get a complete product that is supported by Azure and can be automatically copied to data centers around the world.
- Multi-API: Because data is indexed automatically, users can access it through whatever API they choose. You can view your data with SQL, Gremlin, JavaScript, Azure Table Storage, and MongoDB.
- A set of levels of consistency: Use five different levels of consistency: limited, strong consistency, session, eventual, and prefix sequence.
- Delay: Very low latency is practically guaranteed with less than 10 milliseconds when reading data and less than 15 milliseconds when writing data.
Advantages of DB Azure Cosmos
On the one hand, it is not only easier for you to create and manage database systems in various parts of the world, but it can also be measured, reliable, and easily accessed.
You can now use the MongoDB API to access your database, SQL, Azure, and Gremlin tables. This means that you are no longer limited to just one platform and get all the tools you need. You can also use functions (including adjustable levels of consistency) that you like with Document DB, which is the basis of DB Azure Cosmos DB. The fact that it offers five models of consistency is another plus. Most other database systems only offer two: possible sequences and strong sequences.
The Competition
There are many competitors, including database service offerings from the largest and most respected companies in the world. This competition includes the Google Cloud Platform, Azure features, and similar PaaS offers. Google also has Cloud Spanner, which was recently launched. Amazon’s offer in this area is Amazon DynamoDB, a fast and flexible NoSQL database service. Of course, Azure Cosmos DB also competes with traditional database companies like Oracle.
Pricing of Azure Cosmos DB
Because of PaaS, further functions will be introduced in the future. This means you get turnkey products that promise continuous improvement with additional applications and features over time. Prices are based on storage used and data removal:
Data throughput is measured in units of demand ordered per second. You have to pay $ 0.008 per hour. Meanwhile, you also have to pay 25 cents per GB per month.
It is also planned to add an add-on containing Cosmos DB to provide requests per minute. In this way, you can process a number of requests per minute (UTC) that are limited to 1000 requests per minute per 100 available bandwidths per second. For this service, you pay $ 0.0277 / hour for each unit (reserve RU / minute (for 1000 RU)).
Let’s compare the pricing model from one of Azure Cosmos DB’s biggest competitors: Amazon DynamoDB. With DynamoDB, you only pay for the bandwidth and storage you need, and there is a free stack that offers “enough bandwidth to handle up to 200 million requests per month (25 units for writing capacity and 25 units for reading capacity)”. You also get 25 GB of indexed storage and 2.5 million read requests per month from DynamoDB Streams.
In addition to the free rate, the following prices apply for DynamoDB:
- Initial bandwidth (recording): Only $ 0.47 per WCU (One unit of recording capacity (WCU) offers up to one recording per second, enough for 2.5 million fonts per month).
- Initial bandwidth (read): Up to $ 0.09 per RCU (One unit of reading capacity (RCU) provides up to two readings per second, which is enough for 5.2 million readings per month.)
- Indexed storage: Less than $ 0.25 per GB (DynamoDB calculates an hourly rate per GB of hard drive space used by your table).
