Oracle RDS on AWS - Connecting with DB tools

After taking some time to make sure security groups for my Oracle RDS instances were set properly, I was able to connect to two Oracle RDS instances I have spun up.  A few comments on the various tools:
1. SQL Plus - You can use the instant client latest 11g release.  You do need to make sure the connect string is set properly.  How to do this can be found here:
http://docs.amazonwebservices.com/AmazonRDS/2012-01-15/UserGuide/USER_ConnectToOracleInstance.html
2. SQL Developer - I used the 64 bit version that does not have the JDK installed so you will need to download the JDK separately,
3. TOAD - You need to point TOAD to the Oracle client software. This is done by adding Oracle client to the system path.  I have another blog entry on this.

Connecting to an EC2 based Oracle instance works the same way.

AWS EC2 and RDS Oracle access using Toad

Toad is a great tool for accessing the Oracle database for development.  However, there is one 'trick' regarding the configuration of Toad and the Oracle client.  The Oracle client software (in my case the Oracle 11g instant client) needs to be in the Windows path.  There are great instructions on how to do this here:
https://support.quest.com/SolutionDetail.aspx?id=SOL7712

If the class path is not set, you will get an error when you open up Toad that the Oracle client is not found.