What service would you use to configure an automated cloud resource deployment?

Using AWS CloudFormation is the most suitable choice for configuring automated cloud resource deployment. CloudFormation is designed to streamline the provisioning of AWS resources by allowing users to define their infrastructure as code. This means you can create a JSON or YAML template that outlines all the resources you need, such as EC2 instances, S3 buckets, and IAM roles, along with their configurations and relationships.

Once your template is ready, you can deploy it to provision and manage those resources in a consistent and repeatable manner. This automation significantly reduces the risk of manual error and enables teams to deploy infrastructure quickly and efficiently.

In contrast, Amazon VPC Peering is used for networking purposes, specifically connecting two Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) to allow communication. Amazon RDS is a managed database service, which does not directly pertain to resource deployment. AWS Cost Explorer is a tool for visualizing and managing AWS costs, but does not involve the configuration of resources. Thus, AWS CloudFormation is the definitive service for enabling automated and reliable cloud resource deployment.