# Overview Exoscale’s __Database as a Service (DBaaS)__ enables you to quickly deploy fully managed data stores on demand. Our service is supported by enterprise-grade automation, ensures European data residency, and offers clusters with up to 99.99% uptime Service Level Agreements (SLAs). ## Architecture Exoscale DBaaS provisions **dedicated virtual machines** per service; no compute resources are shared across organizations, and the servers never appear in your public instance list — they live behind a managed endpoint that Exoscale operates for you. Each plan changes *how many* of those isolated nodes are launched (single-node for Hobbyist/Startup, multi-node clusters for Business/Premium). Under the hood, a European control plane (powered by our partner **Aiven**) orchestrates day-to-day operations: creation, daily backups, automated fail-over, rolling upgrades, and health checks. Traffic between nodes and to the object storage is encrypted, and all data remains inside the zone-country you selected. Because every service has dedicated VMs, you can resize, fork, or terminate it without affecting any other customer. After internal fail-over, the endpoint’s DNS name stays the same, so clients only need basic reconnect logic. > [!NOTE] > Use the plan naming scheme (`-x?-`) to know instantly > how many dedicated nodes and RAM each deployment receives. ### Naming Conventions A DBaaS plan name tells you **three key facts** about the service without opening a table: | Segment | Example | Meaning | | :--- |:---: |:--- | | **Tier** | `premium` | Redundancy & backup profile (Hobbyist ---> Premium) | | **Node Count** | `9x` | Number of nodes in the cluster (omitted on single-node plans) | | **RAM per Node** | `16` | Memory in GB for *each* node; aligns with Exoscale Compute flavors | ### Reading a Plan *`premium-9x-16`* ---> Premium-tier cluster, **9** nodes, **16 GB** RAM each. ### Tier Quick Reference - **Hobbyist** single node, no SLA, hourly backup (1 copy) - **Startup** single node, 99.95 % SLA, hourly + rolling 3-day daily backups - **Business** 2 nodes, hourly + 14-day retention, 99.99 % SLA - **Premium** 3 nodes, hourly + 30-day retention, 99.99 % SLA Details (CPU, storage, price) live in the [DBaaS plan tables](https://www.exoscale.com/dbaas/). ### Why the Pattern? The scheme is shared by all engines (`pg`, `mysql`, `kafka`, `opensearch`, `valkey`, `grafana`, `thanos`) so teams can: - **Spot Capacity** larger last number = more RAM - **Spot Resilience** higher tier = more replicas/backups - **Compare Costs** same tier & size behave similarly across zones > [!NOTE] > when creating or updating a service via CLI/API, the `plan-string` is the only argument > you need to switch hardware, redundancy or price class. ### Service Levels Most DBaaS plans have a guaranteed **Service Level Agreement (SLA)** for high availability and reliability. - **Hobbyist** plans have no SLA (best effort, no service credits) - **Startup** plans provide **99.95%** availability - **Business** and **Premium** plans provide **99.99%** availability The SLA applies to the uptime and responsiveness of the managed database services. It ensures that services remain accessible and functional according to enterprise-grade standards. Failures beyond this threshold are eligible for compensation as defined in the [Exoscale's SLAs](https://www.exoscale.com/terms/#:~:text=4.%20Service%20Level%20Agreement%20(SLA)). > [!NOTE] > The SLA applies only to the service infrastructure and not to user data, applications, or queries running on the databases. ## Terminology Exoscale DBaaS : A managed database as a service provided by Exoscale, which allows users to deploy and manage databases without managing the underlying infrastructure. Plans : Exoscale offers various plans for their DBaaS solutions, including Hobbyist, Startup, Business, and Premium, each catering to different workload requirements and scales. Database Forking : Available in some plans, allowing users to create a duplicate of a database for testing or development purposes without affecting the production environment. Dedicated Instances : All Exoscale managed databases run on dedicated instances, ensuring resources are not shared with other clients, which improves performance and security. Volume Size : Refers to the storage capacity allocated for a database instance, which varies depending on the plan and can be adjusted to match the application needs. Max Connections : The maximum number of connections a database can handle at any time, which is set according to the chosen plan. Data Replication : Exoscale ensures data replication within its infrastructure to maintain data integrity and availability. Daily Backups : All plans include daily backups, securing data and providing a restore point in the case of failure or data loss. Zones : Exoscale DBaaS solutions are available across multiple zones, providing options for geographic distribution and high availability. ## Features Managed Lifecycle : provisioning, patching, auto-healing and upgrades are handled by Exoscale. Automated Backups : daily encrypted backups retained per-plan policy; point-in-time-recovery available on engines that support it. High Availability Options : from single-node *Hobbyist* to multi-node *Premium* clusters with synchronous replication. Security by Design : services are isolated on dedicated instances and reachable only via TLS-encrypted endpoints; IP filters control ingress. Automation : full API & CLI coverage, plus Terraform provider SLAs : Startup 99.95 %, Business & Premium 99.99 %; Hobbyist has no SLA.