Interview › Databases & Caching
What database engines does RDS support?
Databases & Caching · Basic level
Answer
RDS supports multiple relational engines, including PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server, and Db2. Aurora is part of the RDS family but is a separate AWS-built engine compatible with MySQL and PostgreSQL. I always verify version and feature availability by Region before finalizing design.
Technical explanation
Engine choice affects HA behavior, licensing, extensions, replication, upgrade method, parameters, and operational tooling.
Open-source engines are often simpler from a licensing perspective, while Oracle, SQL Server, and Db2 need edition and option review.
Aurora should be evaluated separately because its storage, replica, failover, and endpoint behavior differs from standard RDS instances.
Hands-on example
Discovery example:
$ aws rds describe-db-engine-versions --engine postgres --query "DBEngineVersions[].EngineVersion" --output text
Decision checklist: required extensions, Region/version support, HA target, licensing, read scaling, backup/restore needs, and team experience.
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More Databases & Caching interview questions
- What is Amazon RDS, and what does it manage for you versus self-managed databases?
- What is the difference between RDS and Aurora?
- What is Multi-AZ in RDS, and how does automatic failover work?
- How long does an RDS Multi-AZ failover typically take, and what triggers it?
- What is the difference between Multi-AZ and a read replica?
- When would you use a read replica, and can it become a standalone database?
- Can a read replica be in a different region, and why would you do that?
- What is the difference between automated backups and manual snapshots in RDS?