INTRODUCTION: With cloud computing, Amazon has enabled the use of the Internet and central remote servers to manage data and applications and has created an environment where connectivity and availability are discreet and widespread. Amazon offers two options for hosting applications and databases. Amazon EC2 with Elastic Block Storage lets you run a MySQL database server on Elastic Compute Cloud, an infrastructure-as-a-service provider, with Elastic Block Storage (EBS). Meanwhile, another option called Relational Database Services (RDS) from Amazon is a scalable relational database in the cloud with high availability. COMPARISON: Below is a detailed comparison of the different features of the two options. • SETUP: Once a MySQL is mounted on an EC2 instance, it can be up and running instantly without much time or effort required. Amazon's EC2 comes with a set of API command line tools for different Linux distributions and for use with different file systems to facilitate an easy transition to the cloud. If a MySQL database already exists, it can be easily migrated to EC2 by creating an EBS volume, attaching this volume to EC2 and finally mounting MySQL on this volume. On the other hand, Amazon RDS has an efficient management console that makes the task easier. implementation and monitoring of resources. RDS provides instant access to the user's database software by deploying it on its own database instance. It also provides 10GB of free data allowing users to experiment with RDS before taking the big step. Amazon RDS is more suitable for new projects because it's easier to start from scratch on RDS rather than migrating GBs of data to uncharted territory. It also offers several features during initial setup, such as Multi-AZ deployment...... middle of paper ...... chosen when a business is in its early stages and has no knowledge of the amount of storage it would need and cannot afford to rent its own servers and hire a database administrator to constantly monitor the database to optimize performance. Hosting MySQL on EC2 may be chosen by more sophisticated or established organizations who can devote resources and effort and whose priorities are data and database optimization, customization, maintenance and security . REFERENCES: (i) http://aws.amazon.com/articles/1663(ii) http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4806272/what-are-the-respective-advantages-limitations-of-amazon-rds -vs-ec2-with-mysql(iii) http://sysbench.sourceforge.net/(iv) http://blog.observu.com/2011/05/rds-vs-mysql-on-ec2-benchmark/ (v) http://programming.oreilly.com/2013/06/ins-and-outs-of-running-mysql-on-aws.html (vi) http://aws.amazon.com/rds/mysql/