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Amazon RDS VS Apache Flink

Compare Amazon RDS VS Apache Flink and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Amazon RDS logo Amazon RDS

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

Apache Flink logo Apache Flink

Flink is a streaming dataflow engine that provides data distribution, communication, and fault tolerance for distributed computations.
  • Amazon RDS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-18
  • Apache Flink Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-03

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.

Apache Flink features and specs

  • Real-time Stream Processing
    Apache Flink is designed for real-time data streaming, offering low-latency processing capabilities that are essential for applications requiring immediate data insights.
  • Event Time Processing
    Flink supports event time processing, which allows it to handle out-of-order events effectively and provide accurate results based on the time events actually occurred rather than when they were processed.
  • State Management
    Flink provides robust state management features, making it easier to maintain and query state across distributed nodes, which is crucial for managing long-running applications.
  • Fault Tolerance
    The framework includes built-in mechanisms for fault tolerance, such as consistent checkpoints and savepoints, ensuring high reliability and data consistency even in the case of failures.
  • Scalability
    Apache Flink is highly scalable, capable of handling both batch and stream processing workloads across a distributed cluster, making it suitable for large-scale data processing tasks.
  • Rich Ecosystem
    Flink has a rich set of APIs and integrations with other big data tools, such as Apache Kafka, Apache Hadoop, and Apache Cassandra, enhancing its versatility and ease of integration into existing data pipelines.

Possible disadvantages of Apache Flink

  • Complexity
    Flink’s advanced features and capabilities come with a steep learning curve, making it more challenging to set up and use compared to simpler stream processing frameworks.
  • Resource Intensive
    The framework can be resource-intensive, requiring substantial memory and CPU resources for optimal performance, which might be a concern for smaller setups or cost-sensitive environments.
  • Community Support
    While growing, the community around Apache Flink is not as large or mature as some other big data frameworks like Apache Spark, potentially limiting the availability of community-contributed resources and support.
  • Ecosystem Maturity
    Despite its integrations, the Flink ecosystem is still maturing, and certain tools and plugins may not be as developed or stable as those available for more established frameworks.
  • Operational Overhead
    Running and maintaining a Flink cluster can involve significant operational overhead, including monitoring, scaling, and troubleshooting, which might require a dedicated team or additional expertise.

Amazon RDS videos

Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS)

More videos:

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

Apache Flink videos

GOTO 2019 • Introduction to Stateful Stream Processing with Apache Flink • Robert Metzger

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Apache Flink Tutorial | Flink vs Spark | Real Time Analytics Using Flink | Apache Flink Training
  • Tutorial - How to build a modern stream processor: The science behind Apache Flink - Stefan Richter

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Amazon RDS and Apache Flink)
Databases
74 74%
26% 26
Big Data
0 0%
100% 100
NoSQL Databases
100 100%
0% 0
Stream Processing
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Amazon RDS should be more popular than Apache Flink. 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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Apache Flink mentions (41)

  • What is Apache Flink? Exploring Its Open Source Business Model, Funding, and Community
    Continuous Learning: Leverage online tutorials from the official Flink website and attend webinars for deeper insights. - Source: dev.to / 8 days ago
  • Is RisingWave the Next Apache Flink?
    Apache Flink, known initially as Stratosphere, is a distributed stream processing engine initiated by a group of researchers at TU Berlin. Since its initial release in May 2011, Flink has gained immense popularity in both academia and industry. And it is currently the most well-known streaming system globally (challenge me if you think I got it wrong!). - Source: dev.to / 21 days ago
  • Every Database Will Support Iceberg — Here's Why
    Apache Iceberg defines a table format that separates how data is stored from how data is queried. Any engine that implements the Iceberg integration — Spark, Flink, Trino, DuckDB, Snowflake, RisingWave — can read and/or write Iceberg data directly. - Source: dev.to / 26 days ago
  • RisingWave Turns Four: Our Journey Beyond Democratizing Stream Processing
    The last decade saw the rise of open-source frameworks like Apache Flink, Spark Streaming, and Apache Samza. These offered more flexibility but still demanded significant engineering muscle to run effectively at scale. Companies using them often needed specialized stream processing engineers just to manage internal state, tune performance, and handle the day-to-day operational challenges. The barrier to entry... - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Twitter's 600-Tweet Daily Limit Crisis: Soaring GCP Costs and the Open Source Fix Elon Musk Ignored
    Apache Flink: Flink is a unified streaming and batching platform developed under the Apache Foundation. It provides support for Java API and a SQL interface. Flink boasts a large ecosystem and can seamlessly integrate with various services, including Kafka, Pulsar, HDFS, Iceberg, Hudi, and other systems. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
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What are some alternatives?

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

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

Apache Spark - Apache Spark is an engine for big data processing, with built-in modules for streaming, SQL, machine learning and graph processing.

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.

Amazon Kinesis - Amazon Kinesis services make it easy to work with real-time streaming data in the AWS cloud.

MariaDB - An enhanced, drop-in replacement for MySQL

Spring Framework - The Spring Framework provides a comprehensive programming and configuration model for modern Java-based enterprise applications - on any kind of deployment platform.