Introduction
As we all know, Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides numerous services that cater to different needs of developers worldwide. Two popular services AWS offers are AWS RDS and AWS EC2, which provide excellent options for managing servers. In this blog post, we will compare AWS RDS and AWS EC2 to help you make an informed decision.
AWS EC2
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is a web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It is a powerful option for those who need complete control over their virtual servers. It allows users to choose from a wide range of instances, including CPU, memory, storage, and networking capacity. EC2 instances can be customized and configured based on specific needs.
AWS RDS
Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) is an AWS service that provides a high-performance database management system. RDS makes it simple to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It provides a managed database service that supports different database engines such as PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, and Microsoft SQL Server.
Comparison
Let's compare AWS RDS and AWS EC2 based on various parameters:
Price
EC2 instances are charged based on their usage on an hourly or per-second basis. Whereas, RDS instances pricing depends on various factors such as database engine, storage, and data transfer. In general, EC2 instances are relatively cheaper than RDS instances.
Storage
EC2 instances provide extensive local storage options, whereas RDS instances provide managed storage options.
Maintenance
With EC2 instances, users need to deal with the maintenance of the server regularly. On the other hand, RDS instances are managed by AWS, which means that the maintenance burden is on AWS, and users can solely focus on their application.
Scalability
EC2 instances can be scaled up or down based on the demand. RDS instances can also be scaled based on the demand, but the scaling process is different for each database engine.
Ease of Use
EC2 instances require a certain level of technical knowledge to set up, configure, and operate the instance. With RDS instances, users don't need to be experts in server setup; AWS takes care of it all.
Conclusion
AWS EC2 and AWS RDS are both excellent services provided by Amazon Web Services, and the best option depends on your needs. If you require full control over your virtual server with extensive local storage options, EC2 is the better option. However, suppose you need high availability and scalability, and a managed database service with minimal maintenance. In that case, RDS is the ideal option for you.