What is a database instance?
This feature is in Public Preview in the following regions: us-east-1, us-west-2, eu-west-1, ap-southeast-1, ap-southeast-2, eu-central-1, us-east-2, ap-south-1.
A Lakebase database instance manages storage and compute resources and provides the endpoints that users connect to. This page includes an overview that describes a database instance and its general limitations.
Database instance architecture
A database instance consists of the following components:
- Database instance: Acts as the central object managing storage and compute resources. It provides multiple endpoints for user connections.
- Compute nodes: Represents a group of compute nodes, where one node is the primary, handling write operations, and the others are secondary. Secondary compute nodes are optional. They are separated into different zones to provide high availability. Compute nodes can be paused, retaining storage while halting compute resources.
- Endpoints: The default database endpoint routes read and write requests to the primary node. Read-only endpoints are optional. They route requests to secondary nodes, which can help to balance read-heavy workloads.
- Failure handling: If the primary node fails and your instance is configured for high availability, a secondary node automatically takes over as the primary, maintaining system availability.
Key capabilities
Feature | Description |
|---|---|
Learn how to create a database instance, start and stop it, and delete it. | |
Scale your database instance capacity to fit your workload needs. | |
Configure your database instance for high availability in case the primary compute is unavailable. | |
Recover your database instance to a specific point in time by setting a retention window during creation. | |
Monitor the performance metrics of your database instance to optimize performance. |
Access a database instance
Access and manage a database instance using the UI or API. For detailed setup and connection instructions, see Create a database instance. For a complete list of available operations, see the REST API reference.
To access a database instance in the UI:
- Click Compute in the workspace sidebar.
- Click Database instances.
- To open an existing instance, click the instance name to open the instance details page.
Limitations and considerations
- A workspace allows a maximum of ten instances.
- Each instance supports up to 1000 concurrent connections.
- The logical size limit across all databases in an instance is 2 TB.
- Database instances are scoped to a single workspace. Users are able to see these tables in Catalog Explorer if they have the required Unity Catalog permissions from other workspaces attached to the same metastore, but they cannot access the table contents.
- Workspace PrivateLink settings apply.