What interactive query service allows data analysis directly in Amazon S3 using standard SQL?

The interactive query service that allows data analysis directly in Amazon S3 using standard SQL is Amazon Athena. This service enables users to analyze data stored in Amazon S3 without having to load it into a database or data warehouse, making it highly convenient for ad-hoc querying and data analysis scenarios.

Amazon Athena operates on a serverless architecture, which means users do not need to manage any infrastructure or scale resources, and they only pay for the queries they run. It supports various file formats such as CSV, JSON, ORC, Avro, and Parquet, which enhances its versatility for data analysis. The ability to execute standard SQL queries on data directly in S3 also allows for seamless integration with existing workflows and data analysis tools.

In contrast, while services like Amazon Kinesis Data Analytics focus on real-time stream processing, Amazon EMR is more extensive with its capabilities for big data processing frameworks and does require users to manage clusters. Amazon Redshift Spectrum enables querying data in S3 but is primarily associated with the Redshift data warehousing solution, involving some level of infrastructure management and a different query architecture compared to Athena's direct SQL capabilities in S3.