What feature of Amazon RDS simplifies database maintenance?

Amazon RDS simplifies database maintenance primarily through its automated backups feature. This feature automatically performs backups of your database instances and retains them for a user-defined retention period. This means that you don't have to worry about manually creating backups or ensuring that they are scheduled at regular intervals.

The automated backups functionality allows you to revert to a specific time easily, providing point-in-time recovery for your data. It also includes support for database snapshots, which can be a crucial part of maintaining the integrity and availability of your databases over time. Overall, this significantly reduces the operational overhead involved in managing database backups and helps ensure that data is protected against loss without requiring extensive manual intervention.

Other options mentioned do not directly relate to simplifying routine maintenance tasks as effectively as automated backups. For instance, multi-region availability focuses on improving redundancy and operational continuity across geographical locations rather than daily maintenance tasks. Manual configuration typically involves more user effort and does not simplify the maintenance process, while data encryption, while critical for security, is not a maintenance feature per se.