SkillByAIOpen interactive version →

Lesson 13 / 28

RDS vs Self-Managed Database

Compare RDS with a self-managed database on EC2 and know when to hand off operations.

The tradeoff

A self-managed database on EC2 gives full control — custom extensions, exact tuning, root access — at the cost of doing your own patching, backups, and HA setup.

Default to RDS

Choose RDS when database operations aren't your team's core differentiator — which is most teams. Reach for self-managed only when you need something RDS genuinely can't offer.

Quick check: A small team wants a Postgres database and has no dedicated DBA. What's usually the better starting choice?

  • Self-manage Postgres on EC2
  • Avoid a database entirely
  • Use RDS for Postgres
  • Run it on a laptop
Answer

Use RDS for Postgres — Without dedicated ops expertise, a managed service like RDS removes patching, backup, and failover burden.