Amazon EC2 or RDS for SQL server deployment

Question

I want to host my sql server database on the cloud using amazon web services. Do I need to buy EC2 or RDS?

Answer 1

You are asking the wrong question, because EC2 != RDS

One is a server, a deployed OS (EC2), which can be Windows, Linux, etc

While the other is a database (you don't see the OS behind it)

So you cannot compare the two, each has its own function

If you are looking for a "hassle free" (depends on end-goal) database, RDS is the best option, requires "zero knowledge" of how to install an OS, maintain it, install packages, etc - it does require other types of knowledge which are RDS specific