User guide

• Amazon Redshift API Reference
• SDK References in Tools for Amazon Web Services
Amazon Redshift Management Overview
The Amazon Redshift service manages all of the work of setting up, operating, and scaling a data
warehouse.These tasks include provisioning capacity, monitoring and backing up the cluster, and applying
patches and upgrades to the Amazon Redshift engine.
Topics
• Cluster Management (p. 2)
• Cluster Access and Security (p. 2)
• Monitoring Clusters (p. 3)
• Databases (p. 4)
Cluster Management
An Amazon Redshift cluster is a set of nodes, which consists of a leader node and one or more compute
nodes.The type and number of compute nodes that you need depends on the size of your data, the
number of queries you will execute, and the query execution performance that you need.
Creating and Managing Clusters
Depending on your data warehousing needs, you can start with a small, single-node cluster and easily
scale up to a larger, multi-node cluster as your requirements change.You can add or remove compute
nodes to the cluster without any interruption to the service. For more information, see Amazon Redshift
Clusters (p. 5).
Reserving Compute Nodes
If you intend to keep your cluster running for a year or longer, you can save money by reserving compute
nodes for a one-year or three-year period. Reserving compute nodes offers significant savings compared
to the hourly rates that you pay when you provision compute nodes on demand. For more information,
see Purchasing Amazon Redshift Reserved Nodes (p. 107).
Creating Cluster Snapshots
Snapshots are point-in-time backups of a cluster. There are two types of snapshots: automated and
manual. Amazon Redshift stores these snapshots internally in Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon
S3) by using an encrypted Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection. If you need to restore from a snapshot,
Amazon Redshift creates a new cluster and imports data from the snapshot that you specify. For more
information about snapshots, see Amazon Redshift Snapshots (p. 82).
Cluster Access and Security
There are several features related to cluster access and security in Amazon Redshift.These features
help you to control access to your cluster, define connectivity rules, and encrypt data and connections.
These features are in addition to features related to database access and security in Amazon Redshift.
For more information about database security, see Managing Database Security in the Amazon Redshift
Database Developer Guide.
API Version 2012-12-01
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Amazon Redshift Management Guide
Amazon Redshift Management Overview