I use Amazon RDS to store and manage data securely. It helps me retrieve information and gain insights from the data that comes in for my business or specific applications.
Senior DevSecOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Stores data and retrieves to information to gain insights
Pros and Cons
- "I use Amazon RDS to store and manage data securely. It helps me retrieve information and gain insights from the data that comes in for my business or specific applications."
- "I like using Amazon RDS because it offers quick operations for me. However, there are times when understanding how to use some of the services can be challenging, even with documentation. If I could add a feature, I'd improve navigation for related services."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
In one of our applications, customer interactions, such as subscriptions, transactions, and data from filled forms, are stored in Amazon RDS. This enables us to maintain a backup and aids in disaster recovery. Storing this data in the product allows us to analyze and gain insights into the details that come through the application when customers log in.
During our proof of concept, I had the opportunity to utilize the service alongside the vendor we were testing. Its most valuable feature is the scalability of the storage. It is easy to learn.
What needs improvement?
I like using Amazon RDS because it offers quick operations for me. However, there are times when understanding how to use some of the services can be challenging, even with documentation. If I could add a feature, I'd improve navigation for related services.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the product for a few years,
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Amazon RDS is a stable product with minimal bugs.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The product's scalability is good. It is used by over 1000 users in my company.
How are customer service and support?
I have contacted the tool's support.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
I find the tool's installation easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution is expensive.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Amazon RDS an eight out of ten.
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

Scrum Master at Inalpie Enterprise
Handles large-scale data migrations perfectly with pay-as-you-use pricing
Pros and Cons
- "It handles large-scale data migrations perfectly. Amazon RDS's performance is quite good. Charges are incurred after you utilize the service"
- "If Amazon RDS can be provided as a service platform, it would be beneficial for years. Instead of focusing on infrastructure, they can assist backend engineers and those with varying technical expertise in utilizing it effectively. It would be helpful if Amazon could provide a more predictable pricing strategy."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution for data storage.
How has it helped my organization?
It handles large-scale data migrations perfectly. Amazon RDS's performance is quite good. Charges are incurred after you utilize the service, which can lead to high expenses, especially for those who do not have a strategic approach. If you use the service without a clear plan, costs can quickly increase. Additionally, you must meet requirements such as GDPR and HIPAA compliance, which can add to the costs. It would be helpful if Amazon could provide a more predictable pricing strategy.
What needs improvement?
If Amazon RDS can be provided as a service platform, it would be beneficial for years. Instead of focusing on infrastructure, they can assist backend engineers and those with varying technical expertise in utilizing it effectively.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon RDS for quite some time.
How are customer service and support?
The support is quite good.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is complex. When using Amazon RDS, you must address compliance issues and determine the types of data you want to store, whether for long-term or short-term needs, and how to retrieve that data if necessary. Amazon RDS is user-friendly for both usage and data retrieval.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
You pay as per use. It depends on how you use it. It will be hard to specify, but it depends on your usage.
What other advice do I have?
AWS is not for everyone. My company is collaborating with someone who is an AWS Select Partner. I am working towards becoming an AWS Select Partner myself. I have been assisting in ensuring compliance with government data storage requirements. We utilize the platform or tool to comply with government requirements.
Microsoft solutions may be easier to use than AWS in some respects, but you still need a certain technical ability to use Amazon RDS easily. However, the features available are quite robust as long as you understand them. Sometimes, you will need to refer to the documentation. It's also important to check the requirements and know the associated costs. If using it, ensure you are fully informed about these aspects.
I advise people to ensure that they start it in terms of understanding their cost because it is one product that Amazon, as a whole, then compromises value. They ensure that they give you what you expect, but they also expect you to understand their value because you need to pay the price. They value the product tool because it's one of their best products. Amazon is one of the best products we have in the world in terms of performance and various tools they have. If you don't wanna compromise quality, just go for tools such as RDS.
Overall, I rate the solution a nine-point five out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
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Co-Founder & CEO at CLOUDEX
A good database solution that has an easy initial setup
Pros and Cons
- "Amazon RDS is very easy to use."
- "Amazon RDS should have a more user-friendly graphical user interface and include better database management options."
What is our primary use case?
Amazon RDS is a good database.
What is most valuable?
Amazon RDS is very easy to use.
What needs improvement?
Amazon RDS should have a more user-friendly graphical user interface and include better database management options.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon RDS for three years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Amazon RDS is a stable solution.
I rate Amazon RDS a nine out of ten for stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Around 100 people are using Amazon RDS in our organization.
I rate Amazon RDS an eight out of ten for scalability.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before Amazon RDS, I used Oracle and SQL Server. I switched to Amazon RDS to use the cloud.
How was the initial setup?
The solution's initial setup is easy.
What about the implementation team?
The solution was deployed through a consultant, and it took a few minutes to deploy it.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The solution's license was included in the payment of the cloud. On a scale from one to ten, where ten is the most expensive, and one is the cheapest, I rate the solution's pricing a seven out of ten.
What other advice do I have?
Amazon RDS is a cloud based solution.
I recommend Amazon RDS to other users. I advise users to enforce the DBA to be part of any database cloud. Sometimes, people think managing the database is easy because the cloud is easy. However, that is not always the case.
Overall, I rate Amazon RDS an eight out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Cloud Solutions Architect at gwcloud.company
A highly scalable and affordable solution that provides ease of management and a high return on investment
Pros and Cons
- "The solution’s scalability, usability, and availability are valuable to us."
- "The product must add more older versions of the database engines."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution to host databases.
How has it helped my organization?
The product provides ease of management. We do not have to worry about the database. We just worry about the data. It is really convenient.
What is most valuable?
The solution’s scalability, usability, and availability are valuable to us. It’s a really good solution.
What needs improvement?
The product must add more older versions of the database engines.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for six years. I am using the latest version of the product.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the product’s stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I rate the tool’s scalability a ten out of ten. It is really, really scalable.
How was the initial setup?
The initial deployment was straightforward. We can do it via CLI, or we can do it pretty much like a Windows machine. We can just click on the next button when prompted and click on finish at the end.
What was our ROI?
We see a 100% return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The cost varies depending on our use and our database engine. RDS is the database, and AWS manages it for us. It is cheaper to host on a cloud machine ourselves. RDS increases the cost because it manages the database. It’s really, really good. The solution is fairly priced.
What other advice do I have?
I use the solution every day. People who are considering the solution must use it. Forget about the price. It is way better to use RDS than to host a database ourselves. Overall, I rate the solution a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Good support, easy to deploy, and scalable
Pros and Cons
- "Encryption is the most valuable feature."
- "Amazon has a policy of automatically restarting the server every seven days."
What is our primary use case?
We use the solution to encrypt our data.
What is most valuable?
Encryption is the most valuable feature.
What needs improvement?
To save costs, I need to shut down my server. However, Amazon has a policy of automatically restarting the server every seven days. This means that I have to repeatedly shut down the server to avoid incurring extra expenses.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using the solution for almost eight years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution is stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The solution is scalable.
How are customer service and support?
The technical support is good and easy to use. The support will answer our questions even if the issue is not related to their service.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward. The deployment takes around ten minutes.
What about the implementation team?
We help our customers implement the solution in-house.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The price of Amazon RDS is expensive. We pay for the monitoring and the uploading.
What other advice do I have?
I give the solution a nine out of ten.
The solution supports all organization sizes.
Amazon RDS is utilized globally, but in certain regions, such as China, Ali Cloud is predominantly utilized due to specific requirements and restrictions.
Amazon RDS is a viable solution, however, storage and monitoring costs can add up significantly. Therefore, organizations should be mindful of these expenses and budget accordingly.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
Database Administrator at Cartrack
It gives us the ability to select as many tools, replicas, regions, and zones as we want
Pros and Cons
- "Amazon RDS gives us the ability to select as many tools, replicas, regions, and zones as we want."
- "Some of the features will not be there. For example, some on-premises things we want to set up will not be supported there. There are some challenges that they are fixing."
What is our primary use case?
We have on-prem servers and our database is hosted in the cloud on Amazon RDS. Everything is automated there, like setting up backups and replication. We have around 40 persons using RDS.
What is most valuable?
Amazon RDS gives us the ability to select as many tools, replicas, regions, and zones as we want.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used Amazon RDS for six or seven years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
RDS is stable. A cloud solution is always stable, and RDS servers are solid.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Amazon RDS is highly scalable. It is much simpler to scale up compared to an on-premise solution where you need to buy new hardware and migrate all the data. Ifwe need more capacity, there is a symbol that you can click on to upgrade your hardware.
If you want one more server in a different region, you can spin it up and everything is done on the cloud. You can just select what you need and go, whether you're going to downgrade or upgrade to system type TX for whatever configuration you want.
How are customer service and support?
Amazon support is good, but we've only communicated with them via email so far. We email support when we have questions, and they've always come up with the proper solution.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Before Amazon, we had MySQL and PostgreSQL, but it's not like we switched We still have on-premise solutions and some things in the cloud. Most of our stuff is still on-prem. It depends on if it's a critical application that is heavily used, so you don't have downtime.
How was the initial setup?
Installation is straightforward. You choose your database for RDS, like MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, etc., and select the distance type. It takes a maximum of five minutes time to select and set up the system. Our servers can be up and running in 10 to 15 minutes, and data migration took about an hour.
What about the implementation team?
We have several in-house teams with separate databases, so they usually take care of it for us. I worked on some databases. We have a different method for RDS. One stacked, so we build our own scripts and publish them in the stack.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Amazon RDS is a little costly, but it also reduces the number of full-time employees needed. We require fewer system admins or DBS because RDS reduces our workload.
It's pay as you go. Once you are using it, you will get support. You don't need to buy a yearly license to get support. If we deployed our server there, we would get support from them.
What other advice do I have?
I rate Amazon RDS nine out of 10. I recommend it. Cost is the only issue. RDS is one of the best choices if you need scalability and reliability, but you're not worried about the cost.
Some of the features will not be there. For example, some on-premises things we want to set up will not be supported there. There are some challenges there that they are fixing.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
Owner at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Great for backups and creating replicas and allows users to change the size of an RDS MySQL instance
Pros and Cons
- "Being able to change the size of an RDS MySQL instance is amazing."
- "The Performance Monitor they have is a little clanky, at least in regards to the UI."
What is our primary use case?
When I was working for at my previous organization, we wanted to bring stability to all our MySQL databases. As a DBA, at first, it was scary as I thought I would be out of a job, however, the RDS managed DB allowed me to focus more on optimization and less on administration. (both hardware and software).
When I was working at another organization we had a large amount of MySQL on-prem to manage. It required lots of time to set them up, monitoring, and maintain them. RDS really allowed us to remove all the painful administration parts.
How has it helped my organization?
Less time was spent maintaining MySQL. Having to configure each server and spinning up a new MySQL in RDS takes 10 to 15min. It's a huge time-saving in maintenance.
By using RDS, AWS takes care of the maintenance of the hardware and software updates. Being able to scale quickly or downsize with no impact is also great.
All of your databases are nicely organized under 1 interface; you have quick access to some monitors and Cloudwatch can be used to set up alerts based on thresholds and notify you.
Today, with Terraform, you can automate the full process of creating RDS servers, deprecating them, changing their size, adding a replica, etc.
What is most valuable?
Create Replicas. Being able to create a replica with just a few clicks is great. Setting replication before would require backup, restore, and synching replication.
Backups. The fact that you can take a snapshot of the database without impacting the server is great. In comparison, large backups could lock tables or take too long. Alternatively, you would have to use tools such as xtraDB backup. That requires lots of code and maintenance.
Change Size. Being able to change the size of an RDS MySQL instance is amazing. There's no need to provision new machines, setup replication, etc. It's all done for you.
What needs improvement?
The solution needs RDS Mysql support for both MySQL 8 and MariaDB.
The Performance Monitor they have is a little clanky, at least in regards to the UI.
I wish they had designed a better MySQL Monitoring solution. I personally like SolarWinds DPA.
The performance is not always as good as MySQL running on its own EC2 instance. I have done some benchmarks before between EC2 instances and RDS and EC2 were better.
Being unable to select Out-file is annoying. They do support select Out-files into S3 but only on Aurora. It would be nice if they had implemented that feature in RDS MySQL.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using AWS RDS for more than 8 years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
MySQL RDS is very stable. I cannot say that running MySQL on-premise or on EC2 instances is less stable than RDS MySQL. However, when there are hardware issues, if you have RDS MySQL standby "on", you'll appreciate the fail-over solution.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
MySQL RDS can scale very well. I have been using it in critical Production services.
How are customer service and support?
AWS Customer Support is pretty good. Their response time is usually adequate. They offer different support options and provide different support media (for example, phone, web, and email).
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I was using MySQL on-prem. I decided to switch due to the amount of time required to maintain on-premises databases.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is fairly straightforward. There is some tuning that needs to be done with RDS. The default settings are not always adequate.
What about the implementation team?
We handled the implementation in-house.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Make sure you provision your MySQL RDS properly. Don't over or under-provision.
Perform some benchmarks before migrating. Migrating to a new system is costly. You don't want to have your data migrated only to realize it performs much worse than before.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I did not evaluate other options. I did evaluate Aurora, however, for the project requirements, it was not needed.
What other advice do I have?
RDS MySQL (and Postgres) are great managed database services. AWS provides a large range of database instance sizes from micro to very large machines. RDS can scale, and creating Replicas is very easy to accomplish.
If you're unsure if you should start using RDS or not, I suggest you consult with a MySQL RDS DBA or Data Architect who has used RDS for several years before making a decision.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
IT Help Desk Specialist at Nafeza
Offers durability, security, and performance
Pros and Cons
- "The product's installation phase is easy."
- "The product's high price is an area of concern where improvements are required."
What is our primary use case?
I use the solution in my company as a database.
I use the solution for database setup and management, along with other factors like HA, durability, security, performance, automated backup, and maintenance.
What is most valuable?
Amazon RDS serves as a managed database service that supports database engines, improving areas involving MySQL cycle and PostgreSQL. The tool obviously handles the working of the database as a provider of managed services. The product also offers backup and recovery.
What needs improvement?
The product's high price is an area of concern where improvements are required.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Amazon RDS for less than a year. I am a user of the tool.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Around 4,000 people in my company use the product.
How are customer service and support?
If I face any problems with the product, I contact the solution's support team. I look online to see if I can resolve the problem by myself, and if I don't get any answers to my issues, then I contact the product's support team. The product's support team is very good.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I use AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM).
How was the initial setup?
The product's installation phase is easy.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The product is expensive. If Cisco needs two servers, Amazon uses four.
What other advice do I have?
I attend training sessions via calls with Amazon to learn about Amazon RDS.
If you have many sites for your company, using Amazon RDS can help with the database area. If you have any problem with the database, you can choose Amazon RDS.
I like the product very much.
I rate the tool a ten out of ten.
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.

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