Clustrix Claims Better Database Performance than Amazon Aurora on AWS

Clustrix is hoping to beat Amazon at its own database game. This week, the company announced that its ClustrixDB scale-out database can outperform Amazon Aurora on Amazon’s own AWS environment.

Aurora and ClustrixDB are both next-generation, cloud-oriented databases designed to deliver major performance and scalability improvements over traditional MySQL storage. But Clustrix says its platform is better suited for the enterprise because it “can achieve performance beyond 10x that of Aurora,” according to a benchmarking announcement the company made this week.

“We are flat out a better designed and more efficient DBMS,” said Mike Azevedo, President and CEO, Clustrix.  “We don’t need near the memory and processing that Aurora does to deliver better performance, at a lower cost.

Clustrix says that performance difference is important for enterprises that need to be able to grow and scale on a continuous basis. “While AWS Aurora offers modest improvements over MySQL, companies that place high demands on their database will eventually hit a point at which they begin experiencing performance problems,” Azevedo said. “ClustrixDB’s unique architecture enables it to achieve MySQL-compatibility and scalability on a much greater level.”

Clustrix measured its database performance in terms of transaction response times and throughput, and did not provide details about the exact testing conditions or workload size. We’re guessing Aurora doesn’t come up so short as compared to ClustrixDB under all circumstances.

Still, Amazon has a lesson to learn from companies that are trying to deliver a better database than Amazon’s own, home-grown solution — and one that is priced similarly, as ClustrixDB is. It’s a sign that winning the database wars isn’t only about delivering the most scalability or best MySQL compatibility. Maintaining solid performance at high scale is also going to be key for attracting enterprise customers.