Aurora vs RDS

Overview

What is being compared

Aurora is AWS's cloud-native relational database that redesigns the storage layer and separates compute from storage. Standard RDS runs unmodified database engines with a standby instance.

• Engines — MySQL-compatible and PostgreSQL-compatible — Unmodified PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server
• Replication — At the storage level, six copies across three AZs — Synchronous replication to a standby instance
• Fits — High-availability production, Serverless v2 auto-scaling, read-heavy workloads with up to 15 replicas, multi-master writes — Specific engine versions, Oracle or SQL Server licensing, on-premises migrations with compatibility limits, cost-sensitive smaller workloads

How each one fails over

Because Aurora keeps the data in a shared volume, losing the writer means reconnecting compute to storage; RDS has to promote a standby that holds its own copy.

> [!TIP] Both storage designs side by side, a write followed by a replica read on each, and the choice between them play step by step in Visual Explanation below.

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