Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Amazon RDS VS Amazon ElastiCache

Compare Amazon RDS VS Amazon ElastiCache and see what are their differences

Amazon RDS logo Amazon RDS

Easy to manage relational databases optimized for total cost of ownership.

Amazon ElastiCache logo Amazon ElastiCache

Amazon ElastiCache offers fully managed Redis and Memcached. Seamlessly deploy, operate, and scale popular open source compatible in-memory data stores.
  • Amazon RDS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-18
  • Amazon ElastiCache Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-28

Amazon RDS features and specs

  • Managed Service
    Amazon RDS takes care of routine database tasks such as backups, patch management, and scalability, reducing the operational burden on users.
  • Scalability
    Easily scale your database's compute and storage resources with a few clicks or automatically with Amazon RDS Auto Scaling.
  • High Availability
    Amazon RDS provides Multi-AZ deployments for disaster recovery and automated backups, ensuring high availability and durability.
  • Security
    Integrated with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), Amazon RDS offers encryption at rest and in transit, as well as network isolation using Amazon VPC.
  • Performance Monitoring
    Amazon RDS provides built-in performance monitoring tools such as Amazon CloudWatch for tracking key metrics and identifying issues.
  • Compatibility
    Supports multiple database engines including MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle, and SQL Server, offering flexibility based on your requirements.

Possible disadvantages of Amazon RDS

  • Cost
    The cost of using Amazon RDS can accumulate quickly, especially with high storage demands, high availability configurations, and extensive data transfer.
  • Limited Customization
    As a managed service, there are limits to the customization and fine-tuning compared to self-managed databases, which might not meet all specialized needs.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    Reliance on Amazon RDS ties you into the AWS ecosystem, making migration to another cloud provider or on-premise environment more challenging.
  • Performance Variability
    While generally reliable, users may sometimes experience variability in performance due to shared cloud infrastructure.
  • Configuration Restrictions
    Certain database configurations and features available in on-premise setups might not be supported or might have limited support in Amazon RDS.
  • Complexity in Hybrid Environments
    Integrating Amazon RDS with on-premise systems or other cloud providers can be complex and might require additional configuration and management.

Amazon ElastiCache features and specs

  • Scalability
    Amazon ElastiCache allows for seamless scaling of your cache cluster. You can easily add or remove nodes to adjust to the workload demands, ensuring efficient resource management.
  • Managed Service
    ElastiCache is fully managed by AWS, meaning that infrastructure tasks such as hardware provisioning, patching, and maintenance are handled by Amazon, reducing operational overhead for users.
  • High Performance
    Designed for delivering low latency and high throughput, ElastiCache can significantly improve the performance of applications by reducing the time to retrieve data from databases.
  • Compatibility
    It supports popular caching engines such as Redis and Memcached, allowing users to work with familiar technologies and migrate existing setups to the AWS environment with ease.
  • Security and Compliance
    ElastiCache provides robust security features including VPC integration, data encryption, and IAM policies, helping to ensure compliance with various industry standards.

Possible disadvantages of Amazon ElastiCache

  • Cost
    As a premium managed service, ElastiCache can become expensive, especially for large-scale deployments or when utilizing advanced features, which may not be ideal for all budget constraints.
  • Limited Customization
    Because it is a managed service, there are limits to the customization of infrastructure and configurations when compared to self-managed solutions, which might not accommodate all specific needs.
  • Dependency on AWS Ecosystem
    Using ElastiCache ties your infrastructure to AWS, which might not be suitable for organizations seeking a multi-cloud strategy or those who wish to avoid vendor lock-in.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may face a learning curve, especially if they are not already familiar with AWS services and console navigation, potentially requiring additional training or support.
  • Regional Limitations
    Not all features may be available in every AWS region, which could impact global deployments and necessitate strategic planning for distribution and redundancy.

Amazon RDS videos

Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS)

More videos:

  • Review - Getting Started with Amazon RDS - Relational Database Service on AWS

Amazon ElastiCache videos

Introduction to Amazon ElastiCache for Redis

More videos:

  • Review - AWS re:Invent 2019: Supercharge your real-time apps with Amazon ElastiCache (DAT208)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Amazon RDS and Amazon ElastiCache)
Databases
78 78%
22% 22
NoSQL Databases
73 73%
27% 27
Relational Databases
100 100%
0% 0
Key-Value Database
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Amazon RDS and Amazon ElastiCache

Amazon RDS Reviews

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Amazon ElastiCache Reviews

Comparing the new Redis6 multithreaded I/O to Elasticache & KeyDB
KeyDB was introduced nearly a year ago as a multithreaded fork of Redis with major performance gains. Soon after Amazon announced their enhanced io handling for Redis using Elasticache. Redis is now in the process of releasing their multithreaded io option in version 6.0. Unlike Redis6 and Elasticache, KeyDB multithreads several aspects including placing the event loop on...
Source: docs.keydb.dev

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Amazon RDS should be more popular than Amazon ElastiCache. It has been mentiond 72 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Amazon RDS mentions (72)

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Amazon ElastiCache mentions (13)

  • Setting up Ruby on Rails with RVM, Puma, Mina, Nginx, Sidekiq and Redis on Amazon Linux 2
    Sidekiq (For background jobs processing)+ Redis (As persistence engine for Sidekiq). Since you are in AWS ecosystem you could also use Elasticache instead of local Redis, just parameterize correctly your Sidekiq if you want to do so. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Choosing the Right AWS Database: A Guide for Modern Applications
    Key-value databases are designed to store and retrieve data using simple key-value pairs, making them ideal for applications that require fast and simple data access. AWS offers a fully managed key-value database service called Amazon ElastiCache that supports popular key-value engines such as Redis and Memcached. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • How to Effectively Use Caching to Improve Microservices Performance
    Cloud-Based Caching Services: Evaluate the use of cloud-based caching services, such as Amazon ElastiCache or Redis Cloud, for managed caching solutions that offer scalability, resilience, and reduced maintenance overhead. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • AWS Beginner's Key Terminologies
    Amazon ElastiCache (database) Amazon ElastiCache is a web service that simplifies deploying, operating and scaling an in-memory cache in the cloud. The service improves the performance of web applications by providing information retrieval from fast, managed, in-memory caches, instead of relying entirely on slower disk-based databases. Https://aws.amazon.com/elasticache/. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) vs ElastiCache : Which One to Use?
    Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) and ElastiCache both are fully managed caching services from AWS. DAX is designed especially for DynamoDB on the other hand ElastiCache can cache anything including DynamoDB. Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Amazon RDS and Amazon ElastiCache, you can also consider the following products

Microsoft SQL Server - Microsoft Azure is an open, flexible, enterprise-grade cloud computing platform. Move faster, do more, and save money with IaaS + PaaS. Try for FREE.

Redis - Redis is an open source in-memory data structure project implementing a distributed, in-memory key-value database with optional durability.

PostgreSQL - PostgreSQL is a powerful, open source object-relational database system.

memcached - High-performance, distributed memory object caching system

MariaDB - An enhanced, drop-in replacement for MySQL

ArangoDB - A distributed open-source database with a flexible data model for documents, graphs, and key-values.