As infrastructure has grown and mainstream database vendors have tweaked the cloud service model to apply to their own niche, cloud database technology has become an increasingly possible alternative to on-premises databases. Cloud database services offer many of the same benefits of other cloud services: Reduced in-house maintenance and patching, increased free time for IT staff and database administrators, and outsourced 24/7 data management and recovery.
Cloud databases operate similarly to other cloud offerings. The host owns the servers and databases, and rents databases to enterprises, which can purchase as much or as little space as they need. The underlying maintenance, upgrading and security monitoring are performed by the host, freeing up in-house personnel from time-intensive maintenance.