In Part 1 , we introduced a client moving from a monolithic system towards a microservices-based architecture on AWS, and how one decision stood out: the desire to run their database inside a container.

In Part 2 , we looked at what it actually takes to run a database on AWS Fargate, from storage options to the realities of backup and recovery. And while we established that it’s entirely possible to run a database this way, we also saw where the model starts to show strain, especially for production-grade, performance-sensitive workloads.

In this final piece, we look at two additional alternatives – EC2 and RDS. Both options take a fundamentally different approach to the problem. More importantly, they shift where complexity lives.

Option 2: Self-Managed Database on EC2

In this configuration, the database is installed directly on an EC2 instance running Linux.…