Viewing Amazon RDS recommendations

Amazon RDS generates recommendations for a resource when the resource is created or modified.

The configuration based recommendations are supported in the following regions:

US East (Ohio)
US East (N. Virginia)
US West (N. California)
US West (Oregon)
Asia Pacific (Mumbai)
Asia Pacific (Seoul)
Asia Pacific (Singapore)
Asia Pacific (Sydney)
Asia Pacific (Tokyo)
Canada (Central)
Europe (Frankfurt)
Europe (Ireland)
Europe (London)
Europe (Paris)
South America (São Paulo)

You can find examples of the configuration based recommendations in the following table.

Type	Description	Recommendation	Downtime required	Additional information
Magnetic volume is in use	Your DB instances are using magnetic storage. Magnetic storage isn't recommended for most of the DB instances. Choose a different storage type: General Purpose (SSD) or Provisioned IOPS.	Choose a different storage type: General Purpose (SSD) or Provisioned IOPS.	Yes	Previous generation volumes in the Amazon EC2 documentation.
Resource Automated backups is turned off	Automated backups aren't turned on for your DB instances. Automated backups are recommended because they enable point-in-time recovery of your DB instances.	Turn on automated backups with a retention period of up to 14 days.	Yes	Enabling automated backups Demystifying Amazon RDS backup storage costs on the AWS Database Blog
Engine minor version upgrade is required	Your database resources aren't running the latest minor DB engine version. The latest minor version contains the latest security fixes and other improvements.	Upgrade to latest engine version.	Yes	Upgrading a DB instance engine version
Enhanced Monitoring is turned off	Your database resources don't have Enhanced Monitoring turned on. Enhanced Monitoring provides real-time operating system metrics for monitoring and troubleshooting.	Turn on Enhanced Monitoring.	No	Monitoring OS metrics with Enhanced Monitoring
Storage encryption is turned off	Amazon RDS supports encryption at rest for all the database engines by using the keys that you manage in AWS Key Management Service (AWS KMS). On an active DB instance with Amazon RDS encryption, the data stored at rest in the storage is encrypted, similar to automated backups, read replicas, and snapshots. If encryption isn't turned on while creating a DB instance, you will need to create and restore an encrypted copy of the decrypted snapshot of the DB instance before you turn on the encryption.	Turn on encryption of data at rest for your DB instance.	Yes	Security in Amazon RDS Copying a DB snapshot
Performance Insights is turned off	Performance Insights monitors your DB instance load to help you analyze and resolve database performance issues. We recommend that you turn on Performance Insights.	Turn on Performance Insights.	No	Monitoring DB load with Performance Insights on Amazon RDS
DB instances have storage autoscaling turned off	Storage autoscaling isn't turned on for your DB instance. When the database workload increases, RDS storage autoscaling automatically scales the storage capacity with zero downtime.	Turn on Amazon RDS storage autoscaling with a specified maximum storage threshold	No	Managing capacity automatically with Amazon RDS storage autoscaling
RDS resources major versions update is required	Databases with the current major version for the DB engine won't be supported. We recommend that you upgrade to the latest major version which includes new functionality and enhancements.	Upgrade to the latest major version for the DB engine.	Yes	Upgrading a DB instance engine version Using Amazon RDS Blue/Green Deployments for database updates
RDS resources instance class update is required	Your DB instance is running an earlier generation DB instance class. We have replaced DB instance classes from an earlier generation with DB instance classes with better cost, performance, or both. We recommend that you run your DB instance with a DB instance class from a newer generation.	Upgrade the DB instance class.	Yes	Supported DB engines for DB instance classes
RDS resources using end of support engine edition under license-included	We recommend that you upgrade the major version to the latest engine version supported by Amazon RDS to continue with the current license support. The engine version of your database won't be supported with the current license.	We recommend that you upgrade your database to the latest supported version in Amazon RDS to continue using the licensed model.	Yes	Oracle major version upgrades
DB instances not using Multi-AZ deployment	We recommend that you use Multi-AZ deployment. The Multi-AZ deployments enhance the availability and durability of the DB instance.	Set up Multi-AZ for the impacted DB instances	No Downtime doesn't occur during this change. However, there is a possible performance impact. For more information, see Modifying a DB instance to be a Multi-AZ DB instance deployment	Pricing for Amazon RDS Multi-AZ
DB memory parameters are diverging from default	The memory parameters of the DB instances are significantly different from the default values. These settings can impact performance and cause errors. We recommend that you reset the custom memory parameters for the DB instance to their default values in the DB parameter group.	Reset the memory parameters to their default values.	No	Best practices for configuring performance parameters for Amazon RDS for MySQL on the AWS Database Blog
`InnoDB_Change_Buffering` parameter using less than optimum value	Change buffering allows a MySQL DB instance to defer a few writes, which are required to maintain secondary indexes. This feature was useful in environments with slow disks. The change buffering configuration improved the DB performance slightly but caused a delay in crash recovery and long shutdown times during upgrade.	Set `InnoDB_Change_Buffering` parameter value to `NONE` in your DB parameter groups.	No	Best practices for configuring performance parameters for Amazon RDS for MySQL on the AWS Database Blog
Query cache parameter is turned on	When changes require that your query cache is purged, your DB instance will appear to stall. Most workloads don't benefit from a query cache. The query cache was removed from MySQL version 8.0. We recommend that you set the query_cache_type parameter to 0.	Set the `query_cache_type` parameter value to `0` in your DB parameter groups.	Yes	Best practices for configuring performance parameters for Amazon RDS for MySQL on the AWS Database Blog
`log_output` parameter is set to table	When `log_output` is set to `TABLE`, more storage is used than when `log_output` is set to `FILE`. We recommend that you set the parameter to `FILE`, to avoid reaching the storage size limit.	Set the `log_output` parameter value to `FILE` in your DB parameter groups.	No	MySQL database log files
Parameter groups not using huge pages	Large pages can increase database scalability, but your DB instance isn't using large pages. We recommend that you set the `use_large_pages` parameter value to `ONLY` in the DB parameter group for your DB instance.	Set the `use_large_pages` parameter value to `ONLY` in your DB parameter groups.	Yes	Turning on HugePages for an RDS for Oracle instance
`autovacuum` parameter is turned off	The autovacuum parameter is turned off for your DB instances. Turning autovacuum off increases the table and index bloat and impacts the performance. We recommend that you turn on autovacuum in your DB parameter groups.	Turn on the autovacuum parameter in your DB parameter groups.	No	Understanding autovacuum in Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL environments on the AWS Database Blog
`synchronous_commit` parameter is turned off	When `synchronous_commit` parameter is turned off, data can be lost in a database crash. The durability of the database is at risk. We recommend that you turn on the `synchronous_commit` parameter.	Turn on `synchronous_commit` parameter in your DB parameter groups.	Yes	Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL parameters: Replication, security, and logging on the AWS Database Blog
`track_counts` parameter is turned off	When the `track_counts` parameter is turned off, the database doesn't collect the database activity statistics. Autovacuum requires these statistics to work correctly. We recommend that you set `track_counts` parameter to `1`.	Set `track_counts` parameter to `1`.	No	Run-time Statistics for PostgreSQL
`enable_indexonlyscan` parameter is turned off	The query planner or optimizer can't use the index-only scan plan type when it is turned off. We recommend that you set the `enable_indexonlyscan` parameter value to `1`.	Set the `enable_indexonlyscan` parameter value to `1`.	No	Planner Method Configuration for PostgreSQL
`enable_indexscan` parameter is turned off	The query planner or optimizer can't use the index scan plan type when it is turned off. We recommend that you set the `enable_indexscan` value to `1`.	Set the `enable_indexscan` parameter value to `1`.	No	Planner Method Configuration for PostgreSQL
`innodb_flush_log_at_trx` parameter is turned off	The value of the `innodb_flush_log_at_trx` parameter of your DB instance isn't safe value. This parameter controls the persistence of commit operations to disk. We recommend that you set the `innodb_flush_log_at_trx` parameter to `1`.	Set the `innodb_flush_log_at_trx` parameter value to `1`.	No	Best practices for configuring performance parameters for Amazon RDS for MySQL on the AWS Database Blog
`sync_binlog` parameter is turned off	The synchronization of the binary log to disk isn't enforced before the transaction commits are acknowledged in your DB instance. We recommend that you set the `sync_binlog` parameter value to `1`.	Set the `sync_binlog` parameter value to `1`.	No	Best practices for configuring replication parameters for Amazon RDS for MySQL on the AWS Database Blog
`innodb_stats_persistent` parameter is turned off	Your DB instance isn't configured to persist the InnoDB statistics to the disk. When the statistics aren't stored, they are recalculated each time the instance restarts and the table accessed. This leads to variations in the query execution plan. You can modify the value of this global parameter at the table level. We recommend that you set the `innodb_stats_persistent` parameter value to `ON`.	Set the `innodb_stats_persistent` parameter value to `ON`.	No	Best practices for configuring performance parameters for Amazon RDS for MySQL on the AWS Database Blog
`innodb_open_files` parameter is low	The `innodb_open_files` parameter controls the number of files InnoDB can open at one time. InnoDB opens all of the log and system tablespace files when mysqld is running. Your DB instance has a low value for the maximum number of files InnoDB can open at one time. We recommend that you set the `innodb_open_files` parameter to a minimum value of `65`.	Set the `innodb_open_files` parameter to a minimum value of `65`.	Yes	InnoDB open files for MySQL
`max_user_connections` parameter is low	Your DB instance has a low value for the maximum number of simultaneous connections for each database account. We recommend setting the `max_user_connections` parameter to a number greater than `5`.	Increase the value of the `max_user_connections` parameter to a number greater than `5`.	Yes	Setting Account Resource Limits for MySQL
Read Replicas are open in writable mode	Your DB instance has a read replica in writable mode, which allows updates from clients. We recommend that you set the the `read_only` parameter to `TrueIfReplica` so that the read replicas isn't in writable mode.	Set the `read_only` parameter value to `TrueIfReplica`.	No	Best practices for configuring replication parameters for Amazon RDS for MySQL on the AWS Database Blog
`innodb_default_row_format` parameter setting is unsafe	Your DB instance encounters a known issue: A table created in a MySQL version lower than 8.0.26 with the `row_format` set to `COMPACT` or `REDUNDANT` will be inaccessible and unrecoverable when the index exceeds 767 bytes. We recommend that you set the `innodb_default_row_format` parameter value to `DYNAMIC`.	Set the `innodb_default_row_format` parameter value to `DYNAMIC`.	No	Changes in MySQL 8.0.26
`general_logging` parameter is turned on	The general logging is turned on for your DB instance. This setting is useful while troubleshooting the database issues. However, turning on general logging increases the amount of I/O operations and allocated storage space, which might result in contention and performance degradation. Check your requirements for general logging usage. We recommend that you set the `general_logging` parameter value to `0`.	Check your requirements for general logging usage. If it isn't mandatory, we recommend that you to set the `general_logging` parameter value to `0`.	No	Overview of RDS for MySQL database logs
RDS instance under-provisioned for system memory capacity	We recommend that you tune your queries to use lesser memory or use a DB instance type with higher allocated memory. When the instance is running low on memory, then the database performance is impacted.	Use a DB instance with higher memory capacity	Yes	Scaling Your Amazon RDS Instance Vertically and Horizontally on the AWS Database Blog Amazon RDS instance types Amazon RDS pricing
RDS instance under-provisioned for system CPU capacity	We recommend that you tune your queries to use less CPU or modify your DB instance to use a DB instance class with higher allocated vCPUs. Database performance might decline when a DB instance is running low on CPU.	Use a DB instance with higher CPU capacity	Yes	Scaling Your Amazon RDS Instance Vertically and Horizontally on the AWS Database Blog Amazon RDS instance types Amazon RDS pricing
RDS resources are not utilizing connection pooling correctly	We recommend that you enable Amazon RDS Proxy to efficiently pool and share existing database connections. If you are already using a proxy for your database, configure it correctly to improve connection pooling and load balancing across multiple DB instances. RDS Proxy can help reduce the risk of connection exhaustion and downtime while improving availability and scalability.	Enable RDS Proxy or modify your existing proxy configuration	No	Scaling Your Amazon RDS Instance Vertically and Horizontally on the AWS Database Blog Using Amazon RDS Proxy Amazon RDS Proxy Pricing
RDS instances are creating excessive temporary objects	We recommend that you tune your workload to prevent creating excessive temporary objects, or switch to RDS instance classes supporting optimized reads. RDS Optimized Reads improves database performance for workloads involving a large number of temporary objects and/or large temporary objects. Evaluate your workload to determine if using an instance with RDS Optimized Reads benefits your database workload.	Use a DB instance type with RDS Optimized Reads	Yes	Amazon RDS instance types Improving query performance for RDS for MySQL with Amazon RDS Optimized Reads Improving query performance for RDS for MariaDB with Amazon RDS Optimized Reads Improving query performance for RDS for PostgreSQL with Amazon RDS Optimized Reads
RDS instances are under-provisioned for system IOPS capacity	We recommend using an instance class with a higher default IOPS limit, as you have provisioned more IOPS on Amazon EBS than your current instance class can support. Using an instance class with a supported IOPS limit lower than the provisioned Amazon EBS IOPS prevents you from utilizing the full potential of provisioned Amazon EBS IOPS.	Use a DB instance type with higher default IOPS limits	Yes	Amazon RDS instance types Amazon RDS DB instance storage Database load

Using the Amazon RDS console, you can view Amazon RDS recommendations for your database resources.

To view the Amazon RDS recommendations

Sign in to the AWS Management Console and open the Amazon RDS console at https://console.aws.amazon.com/rds/.
In the navigation pane, do any of the following:
- Choose Recommendations. The number of active recommendations for your resources and the number of recommendations with the highest severity is available next to Recommendations. To find the number of active recommendations for each severity, choose the number that shows the higest severity.
  
  The Recommendations page displays a list of recommendations sorted by the severity for all the resources in your account.
  
  You can choose a recommendation to view a section at the bottom of the page which contains the affected resources and details of how the recommendation will be applied.
- In the Databases page, choose Recommendations for a resource.
  
  The Recommendations tab displays the recommendations and its details for the selected resource.
The following details are available for the recommendations:
- Severity – The implication level of the issue. The severity levels are High, Medium, Low, and Informational.
- Detection – The number of affected resources and a short description of the issue. Choose this link to view the recommendation and the analysis details.
- Recommendation – A short description of the recommended action to apply.
- Impact – A short description of the possible impact when the recommendation isn't applied.
- Category – The type of recommendation. The categories are Performance efficiency, Security, Reliability, Cost optimization, Operational excellence, and Sustainability.
- Status – The current status of the recommendation. The possible statuses are All, Active, Dismissed, Resolved, and Pending.
- Start time – The time when the issue began. For example, 18 hours ago.
- Last modified – The time when the recommendation was last updated by the system because of a change in the Severity, or the time you responded to the recommendation. For example, 10 hours ago.
- End time – The time when the issue ended. The time won't display for any continuing issues.
- Resource identifier – The name of one or more resources.
(Optional) Choose Severity or Category operators in the field to filter the list of recommendations.

The recommendations for the selected operation appear.
(Optional) Choose any of the following recommendation status:
- Active (default) – Shows the current recommendations that you can apply, schedule it for the next maintenance window, or dismiss.
- All – Shows all the recommendations with the current status.
- Dismissed – Shows the dismissed recommendations.
- Resolved – Shows the recommendations that are resolved.
- Pending – Shows the recommendations whose recommended actions are in progress or scheduled for the next maintenance window.
(Optional) Choose Relative mode or Absolute mode in Last modified to modify the time period to display the recommendations. In the Absolute mode, you can choose the time period, or enter the time in Start date and End date fields.

The recommendations for the set time period display.
(Optional) Choose Preferences in the right to customize the details to display. You can choose a page size, wrap the lines of the text, and allow or hide the columns.
(Optional) Choose a recommendation and then choose View details.

The recommendation details page appears. The title provides the total count of the resources with the issue detected and the severity.

For information about the components on the details page for an anomaly based reactive recommendation, see Viewing reactive anomalies in the Amazon DevOps Guru User Guide.

For information about the components on the details page for a threshold based proactive recommendation, see Viewing Performance Insights proactive recommendations.

The other automated recommendations display the following components on the recommendation details page:
- Recommendation – A summary of the recommendation and whether downtime is required to apply the recommendation.
- Resources affected – Details of the affected resources.
- Recommendation details – Supported engine information, any required associated cost to apply the recommendation, and documentation link to learn more.