PlanetScale Managed on AWS overview

November 6, 2023 (Updated August 29, 2024)

Overview

PlanetScale Managed on Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a single-tenant deployment of PlanetScale in your AWS organization within an isolated sub-account. In this configuration, you can use the same API, CLI, and web interface that PlanetScale offers, with the benefit of running entirely in an AWS sub-account that you own and PlanetScale manages for you.

Architecture

The PlanetScale data plane is deployed inside of a PlanetScale-controlled sub-account in your AWS organization. The Vitess cluster will run within this sub-account, orchestrated via Kubernetes.

We distribute components of the cluster across three AWS availability zones within your selected region to ensure high availability. You can deploy PlanetScale Managed to any AWS region with at least three availability zones, including those not supported by the PlanetScale self-serve product.

Backups, part of the data plane, are stored in S3 inside the same sub-account. PlanetScale Managed uses isolated Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) instances as part of the deployment.

Your database lives entirely inside a dedicated sub-account within your AWS organization. PlanetScale will not have access to other sub-accounts nor your organization-level settings within AWS. Outside of your AWS organization, we run the PlanetScale control plane, which includes the PlanetScale API and web application, including the dashboard you see at app.planetscale.com.

The Vitess cluster running inside Kubernetes is composed of a number of Vitess Components. All incoming queries are received by one of the VTGates, which then routes them to the appropriate VTTablet. The VTGates, VTTablets, and MySQL instances are distributed across 3 availability zones.

Several additional required Vitess components are run in the Kubernetes cluster as well. The topology server keeps track of cluster configuration. VTOrc monitors cluster health and handles repairs, including managing automatic failover in case of an issue with a primary. vtctld along with the client vtctl can be used to make changes to the cluster configuration and run workflows.

Security and compliance

PlanetScale Managed is an excellent option for organizations with specific security and compliance requirements.

You own the AWS organization and sub-account that PlanetScale is deployed within an isolated architecture. This differs from when your PlanetScale database is deployed within our AWS organizations.

PCI compliance

Along with System and Organization Controls (SOC) 2 Type 2 and other security and compliance practices that PlanetScale has been issued and follows, PlanetScale Managed on AWS has been issued an Attestation of Compliance (AoC) and Report on Compliance (RoC), certifying our compliance with the PCI DSS 4.0 as a Level 1 Service Provider. This enables PlanetScale Managed to be used via a shared responsibility model across merchants, acquirers, issuers, and other roles in storing and processing cardholder data.

AWS PrivateLink

By default, all connections are encrypted, but public. Optionally, you also have the option to use private database connectivity through AWS PrivateLink.

Fully private network isolation

You can also turn off public database access with a dual AWS PrivateLink setup. PlanetScale’s control plane will talk to your sub-account over AWS PrivateLink, and your VPCs will also communicate with your database over AWS PrivateLink. Please get in touch with your PlanetScale Account Manager for more information on how to set up fully private network isolation.

Third-account customer-controlled public key infrastructure

PlanetScale Managed on AWS supports public key infrastructure (PKI) services. PlanetScale Managed customers can provide PlanetScale the use of a set of customer-managed keys in a third AWS account inside your organization. This third account is controlled by you, the customer. PlanetScale has no administrative access. Your organization is the custodian for this key material. PlanetScale uses the customer-managed keys to encrypt EBS volumes, S3 buckets, and for envelope encryption of backups.

Billing

With any of the PlanetScale Enterprise offerings, including PlanetScale Managed, you have the option to purchase PlanetScale through the AWS Marketplace. In addition to this, the resources you use on PlanetScale will qualify against your EDP commitment.

Getting started with PlanetScale Managed in AWS

If you want to see what is involved in getting set up with PlanetScale Managed in AWS, you can see the AWS set up documentation.

If you are interested in exploring PlanetScale Managed further, please contact us, and we can chat more about your requirements and see if PlanetScale Managed is a good fit for you.

Need help?

Get help from the PlanetScale Support team, or join our GitHub discussion board to see how others are using PlanetScale.