Amazon RDS Benchmark

CloudFormation template for benchmarking Amazon RDS instance classes using Sysbench OLTP workloads. Deploy, run, compare - no manual setup required.

Supported Instance Families

Family	Processor	Generations	Status
M*g	AWS Graviton (Arm)	M6g, M7g, M8g, M9g	Active

This template benchmarks Amazon RDS on AWS Graviton (Arm) instances.

Related Blog Posts

• Boosting Amazon RDS with AWS Graviton5: Benchmarks (2026)
• Leveling up Amazon RDS with AWS Graviton4: Benchmarks (2025)

Architecture

The template deploys an Amazon EC2 instance running Sysbench connected to an Amazon RDS instance in the same Availability Zone within a private VPC. All connectivity uses VPC endpoints - no public IPs are required.

Quick Start

1. Deploy the stack

aws cloudformation create-stack \
  --stack-name rds-bench-m9g \
  --template-body file://rds-benchmark.yaml \
  --parameters ParameterKey=InstanceClass,ParameterValue=db.m9g.xlarge \
               ParameterKey=DatabaseEngine,ParameterValue=postgres \
  --capabilities CAPABILITY_NAMED_IAM \
  --region us-east-1

2. Wait for deployment (~15 minutes)

aws cloudformation wait stack-create-complete --stack-name rds-bench-m9g --region us-east-1

3. Connect to the EC2 instance

Get the Session Manager URL from the stack outputs:

aws cloudformation describe-stacks --stack-name rds-bench-m9g --region us-east-1 \
  --query "Stacks[0].Outputs[?OutputKey=='SessionManagerURL'].OutputValue" --output text

Open the URL in your browser, or connect via CLI:

aws ssm start-session --target <instance-id> --region us-east-1

4. Run the benchmark

/opt/run-benchmark.sh

The script runs the full benchmark automatically (approximately 35 minutes). Results are saved to /opt/results/.

5. Cleanup

aws cloudformation delete-stack --stack-name rds-bench-m9g --region us-east-1

What the Stack Creates

Resource	Description
VPC	Private VPC with a subnet in a single Availability Zone
Amazon RDS DB instance	Running the selected engine and instance class (Single-AZ)
Amazon EC2 instance	m7g.4xlarge with Sysbench pre-installed and benchmark script
VPC endpoints	AWS Systems Manager Session Manager (private connectivity)
AWS Secrets Manager secret	Database credentials (auto-generated, no hardcoded passwords)
IAM roles	Least-privilege roles for Session Manager access
Parameter group	Enforces TLS connections
Amazon EBS io2 volume	200 GiB with 10,000 provisioned IOPS attached to the RDS instance

Parameters

Parameter	Description	Default	Allowed Values
DatabaseEngine	Database engine to benchmark	postgres	postgres, mysql, mariadb
InstanceClass	RDS instance class	db.m9g.xlarge	See template for full list
SysbenchTables	Number of tables	2	1-64
SysbenchTableSize	Rows per table	2000000	10000+
SysbenchThreads	Concurrent threads	100	1-512
SysbenchDuration	Duration in seconds	1800	60+

What the Benchmark Script Does

The /opt/run-benchmark.sh script automates the full Sysbench workflow:

1. Prepare - Creates tables with the configured row count
2. Run - Executes the oltp_read_write workload, reporting metrics every 10 seconds
3. Cleanup - Drops the test tables after the run completes
4. Save results - Writes the full Sysbench output to /opt/results/ with a timestamped filename

The script retrieves database credentials from Secrets Manager automatically and connects over TLS. No manual configuration is needed.

Benchmark Configuration

Parameter	Value
Workload	oltp_read_write
Tables	2 (default)
Rows per table	2,000,000 (default)
Threads	100 (default)
Duration	1,800s / 30 min (default)
Reporting	Every 10 seconds
TLS	Enforced (all engines)

Extending to New Graviton Generations

When a new Graviton generation becomes available on RDS:

1. Add the instance class to AllowedValues in the template
2. Deploy a new stack with the new instance class
3. Compare results

No template restructuring needed.

Security

• No public IPs on any resource
• All connectivity via VPC endpoints
• TLS enforced on all database connections
• Credentials stored in Secrets Manager (never hardcoded)
• Least-privilege IAM roles

Cost

Warning: This stack costs approximately $2.51/hour (~$60/day) while running. Delete the stack immediately after collecting benchmark results.

Resource	Hourly Cost (us-east-1)
RDS instance (db.m9g.xlarge, Single-AZ, PostgreSQL)	$0.366
RDS io2 storage (200 GiB)	$0.034
RDS io2 provisioned IOPS (10,000)	$1.370
EC2 client (m7g.4xlarge, Linux)	$0.653
NAT Gateway (hourly)	$0.045
VPC endpoints (x4 interface)	$0.040
Total	~$2.51/hour

Prices are On-Demand list pricing in us-east-1 as of August 2026 and exclude usage-based data-processing (NAT/endpoint/RDS) charges. The 10,000 provisioned io2 IOPS is the largest single line item. Costs vary by instance class and Region. Run aws cloudformation delete-stack as soon as you have your results.

License

This library is licensed under the MIT-0 License. See the LICENSE file.