Vendor lock-in: not even once

Vendor lock-in remains one of the most significant concerns when choosing a cloud platform. When your data becomes trapped in proprietary formats or services, migration costs skyrocket and your flexibility disappears. This challenge affects organizations of all sizes, from startups planning for growth to enterprises managing complex compliance requirements.

Why open source matters for data control

Open source database solutions provide a foundation for true data portability. Services built on MariaDB, PostgreSQL, RabbitMQ, and Valkey give you complete control over your data. You can extract information using standard open source clients without encountering proprietary formats or undocumented APIs. There's no vendor-specific tooling required, and no special cases that lock you into a particular ecosystem.

This approach ensures you can audit every aspect of how your data is stored and accessed. When you need to migrate or create backups, you have the technical capability to do so using well-documented, industry-standard tools.

The EU Data Act and data interoperability

The recent Data Act from the EU makes data portability even more critical. This legislation enforces easier data interoperability between cloud platforms, requiring providers to facilitate customer data movement. Open source solutions naturally align with these requirements since they use standardized formats that work across platforms.

When you build on open source infrastructure, you're already positioned to meet these regulatory demands. Your data exists in formats that any compliant platform can work with, eliminating the need for complex conversion processes or proprietary export tools.

Trade-offs: flexibility vs. advanced features

Open source solutions do come with limitations. Features like transparent re-sharding for horizontal database autoscaling remain exclusive to proprietary systems like Vitess or Google Spanner. However, this doesn't mean you're restricted in your scaling options.

Proprietary databases and open source solutions offer different mechanisms for addressing scale. Guaranteed resources provide dedicated CPU and memory allocations for consistent, high-performance workloads. For application-level scaling, horizontal scaling lets you run multiple instances of your applications with autoscaling that dynamically adjusts based on CPU usage. Workers enable you to handle background processes separately from web requests.

Open source solutions can still reach substantial scale with these approaches. The trade-off comes down to configuration effort versus data portability. Proprietary databases might offer more automated scaling features, but you maintain full control over your data and can reach the scale your applications need with open source alternatives.

Some services offered include solutions with complex licensing histories, such as Elasticsearch and MongoDB. Both technologies were fully open source before transitioning to the Server Side Public License (SSPL). These remain available because existing customers required upgrade paths, but they represent exceptions rather than the standard approach.

Balancing control with managed services

Data portability doesn't mean unrestricted access to every configuration setting. Managed database services apply Upsun's expertise to optimize settings based on infrastructure resources. For example, innodb_buffer_pool_size in MariaDB gets configured based on allocated memory rather than allowing manual adjustment.

You can always run databases as applications with full configuration control, but this approach trades the convenience and optimization of managed services. The key distinction is that your data remains accessible and portable, even when specific database tuning parameters are managed automatically.

Start building with data portability in mind

Your data represents your most valuable asset. Choosing platforms that prioritize open source solutions and data interoperability protects your ability to adapt as your needs evolve. Whether you're navigating regulatory compliance or planning for future growth, data portability provides the flexibility your organization needs.

Ready to explore a platform built on open source principles? Create a free Upsun account to see how open source infrastructure can support your applications, or explore our documentation to learn more about available services.