IBM Cloud Databases
IBM Cloud offers fully managed database services covering relational, document, key-value, and time-series workloads. These services handle provisioning, scaling, patching, backups, and high availability.
IBM Cloud Databases for PostgreSQL
PostgreSQL is the most popular open-source relational database on IBM Cloud:
Key Features
- Fully managed — automated backups, patching, and scaling
- High availability — deployed across multiple availability zones
- Encryption — data encrypted at rest and in transit
- Scaling — independently scale CPU, memory, and storage
- Extensions — support for popular PostgreSQL extensions (PostGIS, pgvector, etc.)
Backups
- Automatic daily backups retained for 30 days
- Point-in-time recovery (PITR) — restore to any point within the retention window
- On-demand backups — create manual backups at any time
Db2 on Cloud
IBM Db2 is a relational database with decades of enterprise heritage:
| Edition | Description |
|---|
| Db2 on Cloud | Fully managed Db2 in the cloud |
| Db2 Warehouse | Managed analytical data warehouse (MPP architecture) |
Key Features
- SQL compatibility — full SQL support with advanced analytics functions
- Columnar storage — Db2 Warehouse uses columnar storage for fast analytics
- Federation — query data across multiple sources without moving it
- High availability — automatic failover and data replication
IBM Cloud Databases for MongoDB
Managed MongoDB for document-oriented workloads:
- Flexible schemas — store JSON-like documents
- Horizontal scaling — sharding for large datasets
- Full-text search — built-in search capabilities
- Encryption — at rest (with Key Protect or HPCS) and in transit
IBM Cloud Databases for Redis
Managed Redis for caching and real-time data:
- In-memory performance — sub-millisecond response times
- Data structures — strings, hashes, lists, sets, sorted sets
- Persistence — optional data persistence to disk
- High availability — automatic failover with replicas
Common Use Cases
| Use Case | Description |
|---|
| Caching | Cache frequently accessed data to reduce database load |
| Session storage | Store user session data for web applications |
| Rate limiting | Track API request counts |
| Leaderboards | Real-time sorted sets for gaming and ranking |
IBM Cloud Databases for MySQL
Managed MySQL for traditional relational workloads: