Welcome to AuraDB Fundamentals
In this course, you will learn how to use Neo4j AuraDB, a fully managed graph database service in the cloud. You will learn how to create instances, import data, query your graph, and visualize insights.
Throughout this course, you will use the Movies dataset as an example to practice AuraDB features. The Movies dataset contains movies, actors, directors, and relationships between them—making it ideal for learning graph database concepts.
By the end of this course, you will understand how to manage AuraDB instances, import data, write queries, explore your graph visually, and create dashboards.
Before diving in, it’s important to understand where AuraDB fits within Neo4j’s cloud offerings and what makes it suitable for graph database workloads.
Where does AuraDB fit in?
Neo4j Aura is a fully managed Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) where Neo4j manages the cloud infrastructure on your chosen provider (AWS, GCP, or Azure). Aura offers two products:
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AuraDB — A managed graph database for transactional workloads (OLTP). This course focuses on AuraDB.
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AuraDS — A managed environment for graph data science, including graph algorithms and machine learning pipelines.
Understanding OLTP (Online Transaction Processing):
OLTP stands for Online Transaction Processing. It refers to database systems optimized for handling many small, fast transactions in real-time. AuraDB is optimized for OLTP workloads, which means:
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Fast reads and writes: The database quickly traverses relationships to retrieve data
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Concurrent operations: Multiple users can query the database simultaneously without blocking each other
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ACID compliance: Each query is atomic, consistent, isolated, and durable—ensuring data integrity
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Real-time responses: Queries return results in milliseconds, which is essential for interactive applications
Understanding OLTP and OLAP (Online Analytical Processing):
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AuraDB (OLTP): Optimized for transactional workloads—fast relationship traversal, real-time queries, and concurrent user access. Use AuraDB for applications that need immediate responses to queries.
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AuraDS (OLAP): Optimized for analytical workloads—running graph algorithms, machine learning pipelines, and batch analysis on large datasets. Use AuraDS when you need to analyze patterns across your entire dataset.
For most applications that need real-time query responses, you use AuraDB (OLTP). If you need to run analytical algorithms or machine learning on your graph data, you would use AuraDS for that analytical work.
What happens when creating an instance
When you create an Aura instance, Neo4j provisions:
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Load Balancer: Routes queries from your application to the database. The load balancer ensures queries reach an available database instance.
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Compute & Storage: Cloud resources allocated based on your selected size. You need enough memory to hold your graph in RAM for fast traversal, and storage for all your nodes and relationships.
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Backups: Automatic snapshots at intervals determined by your tier. If you accidentally delete data or need to restore to a previous state, backups protect your data.
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Security: TLS encryption ensures queries and results are encrypted in transit. Access controls prevent unauthorized access to your data.
This provisioning typically completes in under a minute, so you can start loading your data quickly.
Check your understanding
Where do Aura instances run?
Where do Aura instances run?
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❏ On infrastructure you manage yourself.
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✓ On cloud infrastructure managed by Neo4j.
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❏ Only offline, as self-managed Neo4j databases.
Hint
Aura is a fully managed cloud service where Neo4j handles the infrastructure on your behalf.
Solution
Aura databases run on cloud infrastructure (AWS, GCP, or Azure) that Neo4j manages on your behalf. Self-managed databases run on infrastructure you provision and maintain yourself.
Summary
In this lesson, you learned:
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Neo4j Aura is a fully managed Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) where Neo4j manages the cloud infrastructure, offering two products: AuraDB (transactional databases) and AuraDS (data science)
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AuraDB is a fully managed graph database service where Neo4j handles infrastructure, backups, security, and updates
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Different tiers provide different architectures: single instance (Free, Professional) and multi-Availability Zone clusters (Business Critical, Virtual Dedicated Cloud)
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Backup frequency and retention vary by tier
In the next lesson, you’ll examine the different AuraDB tiers and their specifications to determine which fits your use case.