Amazon RDS

Relational Database Service — a managed service for relational databases like MySQL and PostgreSQL.

Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) is a managed service that runs popular relational database engines — MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server, and Amazon Aurora — on AWS infrastructure. Because RDS handles OS patching, automated backups, Multi-AZ failover, and read replica provisioning, teams can focus on schema and query design rather than server maintenance.

The key CLF-C02 distinction is SQL versus NoSQL: RDS is the go-to when structured data and ACID transactions are required, while DynamoDB serves schema-less, high-throughput workloads. Aurora is often presented as a separate choice, but it is an engine offered through RDS, not a standalone database category.

PlayPrepHQ study notes are written and reviewed against primary exam sources. How we create & review content →

Related terms

Back to Cloud Technology and Services