RDS and DynamoDB Essentials
Amazon offers services for two main categories types of databases
- RDS for Relational Database known as “SQL“
- DynamoDB for Non-Relational Databases known as “NoSQL“
RDS Definition
“Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) is a web service that makes it easier to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It provides cost-efficient, resizable capacity for an industry relational database and manages common database administration tasks.”
Simplified: RDS is a SQL database service that provides a wide range of SQL database to select from.
SQL Options Include:
- Amazon Aurora
- MySQL
- MariaDB
- PostgreSQL
- Oracle (server Oracle options are available)
- Microsoft SQL Server (several Microsoft options are available)
DynamoDB Definition
“Amazon DynamoDB is a fast and flexible NoSQL database Service for all applications that need consistent, single-digit millisecond latency at any scale. Its flexible data model and reliable performance make it a great fit for mobile, web, gaming, ad-tech IoT, and many other applications.”
Simplified: DynamoDB is NoSQL database service. Unlike RDS, DynamoDB does NOT provide other NoSQL software options.
DynamoDB can replace (or is very similar to):
- MongoDB
- CassandraDB
- Oracle NoSQL
SQL vs. NoSQL
| RDS (SQL) | DynamoDB (NoSQL) |
|---|---|
| Stores related data in tables (using columns and rows). | Stores related data in JSON-like, name-value documents. |
| Typically used for very structured data, such as contact list. | Typically used for non-structured data such as cataloging documents. |
Pricing
RDS Pricing
Free Tier use is available for all RDS options EXCEPT Aurora
- The RDS “engine” you choose
- Amazon Aurora
- MySQL
- MariaDB
- PostgreSQL
- Oracle (server options are available)
- Microsoft SQL Server (server Microsoft options are available)
- RDS Instance Classes
- This is very similar to EC2 Instance types
- Purchasing Terms
- On-Demand
- Reserved
- Database Storage
- Data Transfer In/Out of RDS
DynamoDB Pricing
Free Tier use is availaable for DynamoDB
- Provisioned Throughput Capacity
- Indexed Data Storage
- DynamoDB Streams
- Reserved Capacity
- Data Transfer In/Out of DynamoDB
