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Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) vs. Microsoft Access

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Amazon RDS

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/AAmazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) is a database-as-a-service (DBaaS) from Amazon Web Services.N/A

    Microsoft Access

    Score7.7 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft Access is a database management system from Microsoft that combines the relational Microsoft Jet Database Engine with a graphical user interface and software-development tools.

    $139.99

    per PC

    Pricing
    Amazon RDSMicrosoft Access
    Editions & Modules
    Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
    $0.24 ($0.48)
    per hour, R5 Large (R5 Extra Large)
    Amazon RDS for MariaDB
    $0.25 ($0.50)
    per hour, R5 Large (R5 Extra Large)
    Amazon RDS for MySQL
    $0.29 ($0.58)
    per hour, R5 Large (R5 Extra Large)
    Amazon RDS for Oracle
    $0.482 ($0.964)
    per hour, R5 Large (R5 Extra Large)
    Amazon RDS for SQL Server
    $1.02 ($1.52)
    per hour, R5 Large (R5 Extra Large)
    Microsoft Access
    $139.99
    per PC
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Amazon RDSMicrosoft Access
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Amazon RDSMicrosoft Access
    Considered Both Products
    Amazon AWS
    Chose Amazon RDS
    Amazon Relational Database is more reliable and effective than the one I am using. Amazon Relational Database has more storage capacity and is easily accessible. Amazon Relational Database has multiple options. Amazon Relational Database cloud services are excellent. From the …
    Incentivized
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    99%
    Would buy again
    102 Answers
    100%
    Would buy again
    25 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    98 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    25 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    99%
    Happy with the feature set
    102 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    24 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    99%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    83 Answers
    90%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    18 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    96 Answers
    95%
    Implementation went as expected
    18 Answers
    User Ratings
    Amazon RDSMicrosoft Access
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.8
    (130 ratings)
    5.0
    (99 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.4
    (5 ratings)
    10.0
    (15 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (7 ratings)
    7.0
    (5 ratings)
    Availability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.6
    (13 ratings)
    6.4
    (5 ratings)
    Online Training
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    5.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Amazon RDSMicrosoft Access
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Amazon AWS
    If your application needs a relational data store and uses other AWS services, AWS RDS is a no-brainer. It offers all the traditional database features, makes it a snap to set up, creates cross-region replication, has advanced security, built-in monitoring, and much more at a very good price. You can also set up streaming to a data lake using various other AWS services on your RDS.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Microsoft Access can be easily implemented with training. It doesn't require expert level skill for basic reporting functions - but can be scaled to a complex database with sophisticated users. Its appropriate to consider if excel needs to be used to create reports, or if there are data entry needs - with corresponding reports.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Amazon AWS
    • Automated Database Management: We use it for streamlining routine tasks like software patching and database backups.
    • Scalability on Demand: we use it to handle traffic spikes, scaling both vertically and horizontally.
    • Database Engine Compatibility: It works amazingly with multiple database engines used by different departments within our organization including MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and Oracle.
    • Monitoring: It covers our extensive monitoring and logging, and also has great compatibility with Amazon CloudWatch
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • Very easy to create entity-relationship diagrams for various tables and designing mock layouts.
    • Really easy to navigate as it hold[s] the classic Microsoft UI. Another good thing is that it comes with the complete MS Office Suite.
    • It is really fast when joining multiple tables no matter what type of join.
    • Works on pretty much same SQL scripts so no need to learn a new language!
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Amazon AWS
    • It is a little difficult to configure and connect to an RDS instance. The integration with ECS can be made more seamless.
    • Exploring features within RDS is not very easy and intuitive. Either a human friendly documentation should be added or the User Interface be made intuitive so that people can explore and find features on their own.
    • There should be tools to analyze cost and minimize it according to the usage.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    • Microsoft Access has not really changed at all for several years. It might be nice to see some upgrades and changes.
    • The help info is often not helpful. Need more tutorials for Microsoft Access to show how to do specific things.
    • Be careful naming objects such as tables, forms, etc. Names that are too long can get cut off in dialog boxes to choose a table, form, report, etc. So, I wish they would have resizable dialog boxes to allow you to see objects with long names.
    • I wish it could show me objects that are not in use in the database for current queries, tables, reports, forms, and macros. That way unused objects can be deleted without worrying about losing a report or query because you deleted the underlying object.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Amazon AWS
    We do renew our use of Amazon Relational Database Service. We don't have any problems faced with RDS in place. RDS has taken away lot of overhead of hosting database, managing the database and keeping a team just to manage database. Even the backup, security and recovery another overhead that has been taken away by RDS. So, we will keep on using RDS.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    I and the rest of my team will renew our Microsoft Access in the future because we use and maintain many different applications and databases created using Microsoft Access so we will need to maintain them in the future. Additionally, it is a standard at our place of work so it is at $0 cost to us to use. Another reason for renewing Microsoft Access is that we just don' t have the resources needed to extend into a network of users so we need to remain a single-desktop application at this time.
    Read full review
    Usability
    Amazon AWS
    I've been using AWS Relational Database Services in several projects in different environments and from the AWS products, maybe this one together to EC2 are my favourite. They deliver what they promise. Reliable, fast, easy and with a fair price (in comparison to commercial products which have obscure license agreements).
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Microsoft Access is easy to use. It is compatible with spreadsheets. It is a very good data management tool. There is scope to save a large amount of data in one place. For using this database, one does not need much training, can be shared among multiple users. This database has to sort and filtering features which seem to be very useful.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    I don't think the program has ever failed me. It is one of those programs where there is always a solution if you know where to look.
    Incentivized
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    Support Rating
    Amazon AWS
    I have only had good experiences in working with AWS support. I will admit that my experience comes from the benefit of having a premium tier of support but even working with free-tier accounts I have not had problems getting help with AWS products when needed. And most often, the docs do a pretty good job of explaining how to operate a service so a quick spin through the docs has been useful in solving problems.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    While I have never contacted Microsoft directly for product support, for some reason there's a real prejudice against MS Access among most IT support professionals. They are usually discouraging when it comes to using MS Access. Most of this is due to their lack of understanding of MS Access and how it can improve one's productivity. If Microsoft invested more resources towards enhancing and promoting the use of MS Access then maybe things would be different.
    Incentivized
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    Online Training
    Amazon AWS
    the online training & digital content available on the web from AWS was having sufficient information to deploy and run the service
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Amazon AWS
    No answers on this topic
    Microsoft
    there is no key idea, since it is easy to implement Microsoft Access
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Amazon AWS
    Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) stands out among similar products due to its seamless integration with other AWS services, automated backups, and multi-AZ deployments for high availability. Its support for various database engines, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle, provides flexibility. Additionally, RDS offers managed security features, including encryption and IAM integration, enhancing data protection. The pay-as-you-go pricing model makes it cost-effective. Overall, Amazon RDS excels in ease of use, scalability, and a comprehensive feature set, making it a top choice for organizations seeking a reliable and scalable managed relational database service in the cloud.
    Read full review
    Microsoft
    Crystal is easier for report writing, but isn't a database solution. Salesforce is lovely, but much more expensive than an old copy of Microsoft Office. For a small budget, [Microsoft] Access was really the only viable option. I only wish it was easier to write complex reports.
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Amazon AWS
    • The overall cost increases, but we spect this and we can mitigate other risks.
    • Is easy to work from the cloud. Is reliable, but we keep our local solution as well where RDS works quite good.
    • RDS allow us to focurs on owr objetives instead of the other matters regarding databases.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • Not having to recreate queries or reports every time you want to use them.
    • Once an item is created and saved as part of the database, you save manpower by not having to recreate them.
    • ROI from a usability standpoint is great. Solid product with great functionality that requires low maintenance usually.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Amazon RDS Screenshots

    Screenshot of A look inside the RDS console.