DEV Community

Wakeup Flower
Wakeup Flower

Posted on

RDS for Oracle is not RDS Custom for Oracle

🔹 RDS for Oracle (standard)

  • Fully managed by AWS.
  • No OS access (you cannot log in to the host).
  • AWS controls patching, upgrades, backups, monitoring.
  • Limited to the Oracle features that AWS supports.
  • Best if you want low operational overhead and don’t need customizations.

🔹 RDS Custom for Oracle

  • Managed service + OS access.
  • AWS still automates many things (backups, monitoring, scaling).
  • But you also get root/SSH access to the underlying OS.
  • You can install third-party agents, configure OS-level settings, or use Oracle features that standard RDS doesn’t allow.
  • Best if you want reduced operational overhead but still need customization.

🔹 EC2 with Oracle (self-managed)

  • You install and manage everything yourself.
  • Full OS and DB access.
  • No automation from AWS (you handle backups, monitoring, patching).
  • Maximum flexibility but maximum operational burden.

So: RDS Custom for Oracle is not the same as standard RDS for Oracle.
It was created because many Oracle customers told AWS: “We like RDS automation, but we need to touch the OS sometimes.”
AWS’s answer: RDS Custom.


👉 Quick analogy:

  • RDS (standard) = Hotel room (everything managed, no access to back office).
  • RDS Custom = Serviced apartment (some services provided, but you also have keys to customize).
  • EC2 = Empty land (build and manage everything yourself).

Top comments (0)