a RDS instance is way less labor intensive that properly roll your own backed up, automatically updating server that can be snapshotted at your will and can be

a RDS instance is way less labor intensive that properly roll your own backed up, automatically updating server that can be snapshotted at your will and can be upgraded and restored with no downtime, I've spent about six day in five years of continuous operations to keep it running, and that'd probably be two dozen postgres upgrades I'd had to roll and test manually if I went the unmanaged route Now it isn't cheap, but the five year ownership cost difference compared to iron doesn't cover a month of my salary, so.