RDS Performance Insights will reach end of support on November 30, 2025!? But it seems there's no need for free users to panic.
This is Yuta Kikai (@fat47) from the Service Reliability Group (SRG) of the Media Division.
#SRGThe Service Reliability Group primarily provides comprehensive support for the infrastructure surrounding our media services, focusing on improving existing services, launching new ones, and contributing to open-source software (OSS).
This article summarizes how users who were using the free version of RDS Performance Insights can seamlessly transition to the standard (free) version of CloudWatch Database Insights.
I hope this is of some help.
Conclusion firstEnd of support for RDS Performance InsightsRegarding the CloudWatch Database Insights to which we will migrate.CloudWatch Database Insights Advanced pricingSo, will I be in trouble since I was using Performance Insights within its free tier?1. Check the Average Active Sessions (AAS)2. Check top SQL and top waits by dimension.3. Identify queries with high AAS and determine what processes are taking up the most time.In conclusion
Conclusion first
Those who were using the free tier of Performance Insights in their Aurora MySQL environment should find that migrating to the free tier (Standard) of CloudWatch Database Insights will likely cause no problems.
End of support for RDS Performance Insights
I learned about the end of support from this article by Classmethod.
According to the article, the RDS and Aurora documentation states that Performance Insights will reach end-of-support on November 30, 2025.
I was using RDS Performance Insights with its free 7-day data history retention, so I looked into what to do next.
Regarding the CloudWatch Database Insights to which we will migrate.
This is CloudWatch's database integration monitoring feature, which was announced last December.
To enable this, you need to enable it at the RDS or Aurora cluster level, but in most cases, it will likely already be enabled in your existing cluster environment using the "Standard" setting.
Initially, it only supported Aurora, but in February of this year, it also became compatible with all RDS engines.
With the Standard plan, you get free data retention for 7 days and access to some features.You can.
In the advanced version, in addition to the features of the standard version, more detailed analytical functions are available.
Data can be retained for a minimum of 15 months.
CloudWatch Database Insights Advanced pricing
You can check the prices here.
The following are the prices for the Tokyo region:
| Database instance configuration type | Cost (vCPU/ACU - per hour, per instance) |
|---|---|
| Monitoring of provisioned instances (vCPU-hours) – RDS and Aurora databases | USD 0.0125 |
| Monitoring target Aurora Serverless v2 instances (ACU-hours) | USD 0.003125 |
If you were using an Advanced provisioned instance cluster with a total of 16 vCPUs, the estimated monthly cost would be $144.
So, will I be in trouble since I was using Performance Insights within its free tier?
I was using the free version of Performance Insights to analyze my Aurora MySQL environment.
This is the old Performance Insights screen.
Personally, the three research features I use most often in Performance Insights are the following:
- Checking the Average Active Sessions (AAS)
- Checking top SQLs and top waits by dimension.
- Identify queries with high AAS (Amount of Actions) and determine which processes are taking the most time.
We'll be covering this topic in this year's new employee training, so please take a look.
Let's examine each of its functions.
This is the CloudWatch Database Insights instance-specific screen.
They are almost identical to Performance Insights, but let's take a look at each one.
1. Check the Average Active Sessions (AAS)
2. Check top SQL and top waits by dimension.
3. Identify queries with high AAS and determine what processes are taking up the most time.
Clicking on a specific query will allow you to see which process is causing the wait.
Based on the above, it appears that migrating to CloudWatch Database Insights would not cause any problems within the scope of my daily use.
however,While it was previously possible to check execution plans via Performance Insights only for those using RDS Oracle Database or SQL Server, be aware that this functionality is only available in CloudWatch Database Insights if you upgrade to Advanced.It seems that will be necessary.
In conclusion
I was worried when I heard that Performance Insights was no longer supported, but I'm relieved to hear that migrating to CloudWatch Database Insights won't affect me.
One point to note is,Verify that the running cluster is enabled in CloudWatch Database Insights Standard.It would be better to do that.
We have observed a pattern where CloudWatch Database Insights is not automatically enabled if the Performance Insights enable/disable settings are not consistent for each instance in an existing cluster.
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If you are interested, please contact us here.