Choosing your database engine for Amazon RDS - Amazon Relational Database Service
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Choosing your database engine for Amazon RDS

To set up your Amazon RDS DB instance, you must first choose the appropriate database engine. Amazon RDS supports several widely-used relational database engines, each suited to specific use cases and application requirements.

If you're new to Amazon RDS or relational databases, consider starting with MySQL or PostgreSQL. Both engines are open-source, cost-effective, and widely supported by the development community. Choose MySQL if your application needs broad compatibility with existing tools or frameworks, or if your workload involves simple transactional operations. Choose PostgreSQL if your application requires advanced features such as JSON data handling, complex queries, or support for custom extensions.

Note

This guide primarily uses MySQL for examples, but most steps are similar for PostgreSQL. By selecting an engine that aligns with your project requirements, you can ensure better performance and scalability as your database evolves.

Amazon RDS supports the following database engines, each designed for specific use cases and performance needs.

MySQL

  • When to choose: Best for for web-based applications, content management systems, and workloads that require simple transactional operations. Its broad compatibility with frameworks and tools makes it an ideal choice for general-purpose use cases.

  • Key features: Read replicas, point-in-time recovery, multiple storage engines.

  • Documentation: Amazon RDS for MySQL

PostgreSQL

  • When to choose: Ideal for applications that require advanced features like support for JSON, geospatial data, or complex queries. It's also well-suited for data analysis and custom application development.

  • Key features: Extensibility with custom modules, high availability, advanced indexing options.

  • Documentation: Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL

Oracle

  • When to choose: Designed for enterprise-grade workloads that require high performance, advanced analytics, or extensive transactional capabilities. Common in financial services and large-scale Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.

  • Key features: Advanced security, analytics capabilities, and database partitioning.

  • Documentation: Amazon RDS for Oracle

SQL Server

  • When to choose: Best suited for organizations that use the Microsoft ecosystem or developing applications with tight integration to Windows-based services. Common in Business Intelligence (BI) workloads and reporting solutions.

  • Key features: Built-in analytics, data compression, and high availability options.

  • Documentation: Amazon RDS for Microsoft SQL Server

MariaDB

  • When to choose: An open-source alternative to MySQL, MariaDB is ideal if you need enterprise-grade performance and features with community-driven development.

  • Key features: Dynamic thread pooling, enhanced replication, and compatibility with MySQL.

  • Documentation: Amazon RDS for MariaDB

IBM Db2

  • When to choose: Preferred for mission-critical applications that require advanced analytics, data integrity, and scalability. Common in industries such as finance and healthcare.

  • Key features: Advanced compression, scalability, and high availability.

  • Documentation: Amazon RDS for Db2

Next steps

Now that you selected the database engine that best suits your needs, it's time to create your first Amazon RDS DB instance.

Next step: Creating your first DB instance