Amazon RDS vs Amazon S3

Overview

Amazon S3

Stacks55.1K

Followers40.2K

Votes2.0K

Amazon RDS

Stacks16.1K

Followers10.8K

Votes761

Amazon RDS vs Amazon S3: What are the differences?

Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) and Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) are two popular services offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Let's explore the key differences between them.

Database vs. Storage: Amazon RDS is primarily a managed relational database service that allows users to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It provides fully-managed database instances for MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, and Amazon Aurora. On the other hand, Amazon S3 is a scalable object storage service designed for storing and retrieving large amounts of unstructured data, such as images, videos, documents, backups, logs, etc.
Data Structure: Amazon RDS deals with structured data and follows a fixed schema defined by the chosen database engine. It provides features like ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) properties, data indexing, transactions, and SQL querying. In contrast, Amazon S3 does not impose any schema and allows storing any type of object in its buckets, making it versatile for storing files, objects, and media content of any format.
Storage Management: Amazon RDS automatically manages database storage allocation, performance optimization, backups, and software patching. It provides features like automated backups, replication, and point-in-time recovery for data protection. On the other hand, Amazon S3 provides simple storage management, enabling users to create, delete, and organize buckets. It also offers various storage classes for cost optimization, data lifecycle policies, and server-side encryption for data security.
Performance and Scalability: Amazon RDS allows users to choose the database instance type and provides options for read replicas and multi-AZ deployments to enhance performance and availability. It also supports auto-scaling based on workload demands. In contrast, Amazon S3 is designed for high-scalability, providing consistent performance and virtually unlimited storage capacity with automatic scaling. It is ideal for applications that require storing and retrieving large volumes of data with high throughput.
Data Access and Integration: Amazon RDS allows direct access to the relational databases using standard database connectivity protocols like JDBC, ODBC, and network connectivity. It supports integrations with other AWS services like AWS Lambda, AWS Glue, and AWS Data Pipeline. On the other hand, Amazon S3 provides a RESTful API and SDKs for easy data access from applications. It integrates well with other AWS services like AWS Lambda, Amazon EMR, Amazon Athena, and Amazon Redshift for data processing and analytics.
Cost Structure: Amazon RDS pricing is based on the database instance type, allocated storage, provisioned IOPS, backups, and data transfer. It offers multiple pricing options similar to EC2 instances. On the contrary, Amazon S3 pricing is based on the amount of storage used, data transfer, and requests made. It offers different storage tiers with varying costs based on data access patterns and availability requirements.

In summary, Amazon RDS is a managed relational database service for structured data, while Amazon S3 is an object storage service for storing unstructured data. RDS focuses on database management, performance, and structured querying, whereas S3 provides simple storage management, scalability, and versatility for storing large volumes of objects.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs

CLI (Node.js)

Manual

Advice on Amazon S3, Amazon RDS

Gabriel

CEO at NaoLogic Inc

Dec 24, 2019

Decided

We offer our customer HIPAA compliant storage. After analyzing the market, we decided to go with Google Storage. The Nodejs API is ok, still not ES6 and can be very confusing to use. For each new customer, we created a different bucket so they can have individual data and not have to worry about data loss. After 1000+ customers we started seeing many problems with the creation of new buckets, with saving or retrieving a new file. Many false positive: the Promise returned ok, but in reality, it failed.

That's why we switched to S3 that just works.

330k views330k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

Amazon S3	Amazon RDS
Amazon Simple Storage Service provides a fully redundant data storage infrastructure for storing and retrieving any amount of data, at any time, from anywhere on the web	Amazon RDS gives you access to the capabilities of a familiar MySQL, Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server database engine. This means that the code, applications, and tools you already use today with your existing databases can be used with Amazon RDS. Amazon RDS automatically patches the database software and backs up your database, storing the backups for a user-defined retention period and enabling point-in-time recovery. You benefit from the flexibility of being able to scale the compute resources or storage capacity associated with your Database Instance (DB Instance) via a single API call.
Write, read, and delete objects containing from 1 byte to 5 terabytes of data each. The number of objects you can store is unlimited.;Each object is stored in a bucket and retrieved via a unique, developer-assigned key.;A bucket can be stored in one of several Regions. You can choose a Region to optimize for latency, minimize costs, or address regulatory requirements. Amazon S3 is currently available in the US Standard, US West (Oregon), US West (Northern California), EU (Ireland), Asia Pacific (Singapore), Asia Pacific (Tokyo), Asia Pacific (Sydney), South America (Sao Paulo), and GovCloud (US) Regions. The US Standard Region automatically routes requests to facilities in Northern Virginia or the Pacific Northwest using network maps.;Objects stored in a Region never leave the Region unless you transfer them out. For example, objects stored in the EU (Ireland) Region never leave the EU.;Authentication mechanisms are provided to ensure that data is kept secure from unauthorized access. Objects can be made private or public, and rights can be granted to specific users.;Options for secure data upload/download and encryption of data at rest are provided for additional data protection.;Uses standards-based REST and SOAP interfaces designed to work with any Internet-development toolkit.;Built to be flexible so that protocol or functional layers can easily be added. The default download protocol is HTTP. A BitTorrent protocol interface is provided to lower costs for high-scale distribution.;Provides functionality to simplify manageability of data through its lifetime. Includes options for segregating data by buckets, monitoring and controlling spend, and automatically archiving data to even lower cost storage options. These options can be easily administered from the Amazon S3 Management Console.;Reliability backed with the Amazon S3 Service Level Agreement.	Pre-configured Parameters;Monitoring and Metrics;Automatic Software Patching;Automated Backups;DB Snapshots;DB Event Notifications;Multi-Availability Zone (Multi-AZ) Deployments;Provisioned IOPS;Push-Button Scaling;Automatic Host Replacement;Replication;Isolation and Security
Statistics
Stacks 55.1K	Stacks 16.1K
Followers 40.2K	Followers 10.8K
Votes 2.0K	Votes 761
Pros & Cons
Pros 590 Reliable 492 Scalable 456 Cheap 329 Simple & easy 83 Many sdks Cons 7 Permissions take some time to get right 6 Takes time/work to organize buckets & folders properly 6 Requires a credit card 3 Complex to set up	Pros 165 Reliable failovers 156 Automated backups 130 Backed by amazon 92 Db snapshots 87 Multi-availability

What are some alternatives to Amazon S3, Amazon RDS?

Amazon EBS

Amazon EBS volumes are network-attached, and persist independently from the life of an instance. Amazon EBS provides highly available, highly reliable, predictable storage volumes that can be attached to a running Amazon EC2 instance and exposed as a device within the instance. Amazon EBS is particularly suited for applications that require a database, file system, or access to raw block level storage.

Google Cloud Storage

Google Cloud Storage allows world-wide storing and retrieval of any amount of data and at any time. It provides a simple programming interface which enables developers to take advantage of Google's own reliable and fast networking infrastructure to perform data operations in a secure and cost effective manner. If expansion needs arise, developers can benefit from the scalability provided by Google's infrastructure.

Amazon Aurora

Amazon Aurora is a MySQL-compatible, relational database engine that combines the speed and availability of high-end commercial databases with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of open source databases. Amazon Aurora provides up to five times better performance than MySQL at a price point one tenth that of a commercial database while delivering similar performance and availability.

Azure Storage

Azure Storage provides the flexibility to store and retrieve large amounts of unstructured data, such as documents and media files with Azure Blobs; structured nosql based data with Azure Tables; reliable messages with Azure Queues, and use SMB based Azure Files for migrating on-premises applications to the cloud.

Google Cloud SQL

Run the same relational databases you know with their rich extension collections, configuration flags and developer ecosystem, but without the hassle of self management.

Minio

Minio is an object storage server compatible with Amazon S3 and licensed under Apache 2.0 License

OpenEBS

OpenEBS allows you to treat your persistent workload containers, such as DBs on containers, just like other containers. OpenEBS itself is deployed as just another container on your host.

ClearDB

ClearDB uses a combination of advanced replication techniques, advanced cluster technology, and layered web services to provide you with a MySQL database that is "smarter" than usual.

Rackspace Cloud Files

Cloud Files, powered by OpenStack®, provides an easy to use online storage for files and media which can be delivered globally at blazing speeds over Akamai's content delivery network (CDN).

Storj

It is an open source, decentralized file storage solution. It uses encryption, file sharing, and a blockchain-based hash table to store files on a peer-to-peer network. The goal is to make cloud file storage faster, cheaper, and private.

Related Comparisons

Amazon RDS vs Amazon S3: What are the differences?

Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) and Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) are two popular services offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). Let's explore the key differences between them.

Database vs. Storage: Amazon RDS is primarily a managed relational database service that allows users to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It provides fully-managed database instances for MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, and Amazon Aurora. On the other hand, Amazon S3 is a scalable object storage service designed for storing and retrieving large amounts of unstructured data, such as images, videos, documents, backups, logs, etc.
Data Structure: Amazon RDS deals with structured data and follows a fixed schema defined by the chosen database engine. It provides features like ACID (Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, Durability) properties, data indexing, transactions, and SQL querying. In contrast, Amazon S3 does not impose any schema and allows storing any type of object in its buckets, making it versatile for storing files, objects, and media content of any format.
Storage Management: Amazon RDS automatically manages database storage allocation, performance optimization, backups, and software patching. It provides features like automated backups, replication, and point-in-time recovery for data protection. On the other hand, Amazon S3 provides simple storage management, enabling users to create, delete, and organize buckets. It also offers various storage classes for cost optimization, data lifecycle policies, and server-side encryption for data security.
Performance and Scalability: Amazon RDS allows users to choose the database instance type and provides options for read replicas and multi-AZ deployments to enhance performance and availability. It also supports auto-scaling based on workload demands. In contrast, Amazon S3 is designed for high-scalability, providing consistent performance and virtually unlimited storage capacity with automatic scaling. It is ideal for applications that require storing and retrieving large volumes of data with high throughput.
Data Access and Integration: Amazon RDS allows direct access to the relational databases using standard database connectivity protocols like JDBC, ODBC, and network connectivity. It supports integrations with other AWS services like AWS Lambda, AWS Glue, and AWS Data Pipeline. On the other hand, Amazon S3 provides a RESTful API and SDKs for easy data access from applications. It integrates well with other AWS services like AWS Lambda, Amazon EMR, Amazon Athena, and Amazon Redshift for data processing and analytics.
Cost Structure: Amazon RDS pricing is based on the database instance type, allocated storage, provisioned IOPS, backups, and data transfer. It offers multiple pricing options similar to EC2 instances. On the contrary, Amazon S3 pricing is based on the amount of storage used, data transfer, and requests made. It offers different storage tiers with varying costs based on data access patterns and availability requirements.

Amazon RDS vs Amazon S3

Overview