Data has become the most essential thing in the world to the point that it surpasses oil. Now, with such high importance, high security is needed to keep hackers and threats from stealing crucial information in the form of data.
Database hosting companies construct and manage that safe yet accessible environment for their customers. The client’s databases may occupy the server alone or coexist with other programs that rely heavily on data, such as a company website or software solution. When a customer requests a database, a third party frequently provides the hardware and infrastructure to run it in the cloud. Additionally, they set up the environment for secure access, guarantee that resources are available to scale the database as necessary and provide managed services by specifications.
What are the benefits of database hosting?
As a substitute for executing a database and associated applications in a typical on-premises environment, database hosting emerged on computing hardware owned and managed by the business itself. Database hosting serves an enterprise with many benefits, and some of them are listed below:
Scalability
Cloud-hosted databases can be scaled more quickly, affordably, and effectively than they could a few years ago. A cloud-based system that duplicates all servers and internal connections for redundancy is used by database hosting firms instead of clustered physical servers. As a result, your database experiences no downtime.
Security
The security of your data is crucial to hosting businesses’ reputation and future business. To keep an eye out for any unusual activity, not just cyberattacks, database hosting companies actively monitor all traffic to your database servers. For instance, a higher-than-expected number of users on your server can cause concern. The hosting provider will have a procedure designed in collaboration with your company so that the appropriate response can be carried out.
Cost-effective and low maintenance
These cloud database hosting providers are entirely affordable and are managed by themselves, cutting the hassle of running it all alone. Although a database administrator is still necessary with a cloud-hosted, largely self-managed database, it is possible to do away with some extraneous features that generally take up much of the DBA’s time and energy.
Types of Databases
Relational and non-relational databases, commonly known as NoSQL databases, are the two main categories of database types. One of the most well-known types of databases is relational databases. Since they have been around for a while, many hosting solutions, including those housed in data centers and the cloud, are readily available. Any database that doesn’t use a relational database’s conventional rows and columns is referred to as a NoSQL database. There are various NoSQL database types as well, so it is essential to think about which one best meets the application’s needs. They make a fantastic choice for database hosting because they are frequently designed with the cloud in mind first.
Popular Database Hosting Providers
MSSQL
Microsoft has made a contribution to the database management software market with MSSQL. Any organization hosting MSSQL databases must have the most recent version of Internet Information Services (IIS), as well as specialized knowledge of Windows servers and technical support due to its relationship with Microsoft. All Microsoft products must be patched and upgraded as soon as new releases are made available while using them.
MySQL
MySQL is one of the first database management systems still widely used. Since Oracle developed it as open-source software, you can use it for nothing and modify it to suit your requirements. Because it can be used with any platform, including Linux, UNIX, Windows, and others, MySQL is also well-known. It offers tools for managing databases, optimizing data, and querying data. For commercial use, MySQL is also available in premium editions. Despite being a reasonably flexible database, MySQL is not scalable, making it an unwise choice for businesses anticipating growth.
Things to consider in database hosting
Cost
It is still more expensive to host databases on-premises due to the cost of electricity, cooling, hardware, space, and internet connectivity, even if prices for hosted databases might vary based on the complexity and detail of the service, such as additional security or monitoring plans.
Cloud Database Service Providers
Based on several variables, including price, location, and services offered, you should think carefully about which provider to employ. There are many local and regional hosting providers besides the three biggest ones, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
Type of technology
It is still essential to assess if the technology stack you are employing, including the databases and middleware, can be hosted even though most relational and non-relational database types can be hosted with modern technologies.
Wrapping up
The amount of memory, computing power, and resources needed for database hosting can be staggering. Although it is possible for businesses to host their databases, larger hosting providers can reduce costs by utilizing the economics of scale with physical hardware or cloud resources to offer scalable security and make your data more accessible to use.