Database
Amazon RDS
Managed relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, MariaDB).
Official docsOverview
Relational Database Service handles patching, backups, replication and failover for popular engines, so you focus on schema and queries.
When to use it
- Transactional apps needing SQL
- Reporting databases with read replicas
- Quick provisioning of QA databases per branch / PR
Setup
- Console → RDS → Create database. Pick engine and version.
- Choose Multi-AZ for prod; Single-AZ db.t3.micro for QA.
- Set master username/password (or use Secrets Manager).
- Place in private subnets; restrict SG to app SG only.
- Enable automated backups and Performance Insights.
How to use
Connect with psql
psql -h mydb.abc.us-east-1.rds.amazonaws.com -U admin -d appdbRestore from snapshot
aws rds restore-db-instance-from-db-snapshot --db-instance-identifier qa-restore --db-snapshot-identifier prod-snap-2025QA use cases
- Restore last night's prod snapshot into a QA RDS instance for realistic regression data.
- Use a read replica as the data source for performance and reporting tests without impacting prod.