Overview of the database proxy service

Limits

Only cluster instances support the proxy service. This feature is not available for tenant instances.

Background information

The OceanBase database proxy is positioned between the client and the database. It receives client requests and forwards them to the backend OceanBase database. The proxy ensures optimal routing and avoids distributed transactions when possible. In multi-replica scenarios, it also ensures that a single server failure does not affect applications, which improves the high availability (HA) of the OceanBase database.

Starting December 17, 2025, the database proxy cluster will be upgraded to architecture version 2.0. It maintains the same high performance and HA as version 1.0 but provides more flexible scaling. You can create separate proxy clusters for a specific address by adding or removing nodes. This gives you more granular control over cluster specifications. For more information, see Manage the database proxy service.

Proxy types

ApsaraDB for OceanBase provides two types of proxy services: General-purpose and Dedicated.

• General-purpose: Database proxy service instances share compute resources with other customers. The system allocates a fixed database proxy instance type based on the size of your cluster. This type is suitable for services with stable and average traffic.

• Dedicated: Database proxy service instances use dedicated compute resources. You can scale out the database proxy resource specifications at any time as needed. This type is suitable for services with high access traffic. After you enable the Dedicated proxy service, you are charged hourly based on the resources you use.

The following describes the features and differences between the two specification types: