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I know...it seems counter intuitive. 

What are endpoints? 

To connect programmatically to an AWS service, you use an endpoint. An endpoint is a URL of the entry point to an AWS service. 

e.g.,

`custom-endpoint-name.cluster-identifier.region.rds.amazonaws.com`

Types of endpoints: 

1. You have service Endpoints: These are network addresses for accessing specific AWS services over the internet.

2. VPC Endpoints: Private connections within a VPC to AWS services, with types including interface (for private IP access) and gateway (for routing traffic).

3. PrivateLink Endpoints: Sedure private connections between VPCs and AWS services or third party services using private IP addresses. 

4. Endpoint Services: Services exposed to other VPCs using PrivateLink, allowing private access to your service without exposing it publicly. 

In Relational Database Service, you can have instance endpoints, cluster endpoints, reader endpoints, and custom endpoints. 

Why would you use any of these in RDS? 

Instance Endpoint

• Purpose: Connect to a specific RDS instance for both read and write operations.
• Use Case: Ideal for applications that need to interact with a single database instance for transactional operations, or when you have a specific instance that needs to be accessed directly.

Cluster Endpoint

• Purpose: Connect to the primary instance of an Aurora cluster for write operations.
• Use Case: Suitable for applications that need to perform write operations and require consistency by connecting to the primary database instance in an Aurora cluster.

Reader Endpoint

• Purpose: Distribute read traffic across read replicas within an Aurora cluster.
• Use Case: Best for applications that perform heavy read operations and can benefit from load balancing among read replicas to improve performance and scalability.

Custom Endpoint

• Purpose: Route traffic to specific instances or replicas in an Aurora cluster based on user-defined criteria.
• Use Case: Useful for applications with specific routing requirements, such as directing traffic to a particular instance for specialized tasks or separating different types of workloads.