Comparison of AWS, GCP and Azure
Many experts recommend that companies evaluate their public cloud needs on a case-by-case basis and match specific applications and workloads to the vendors that best meet their needs. Each leading supplier has its unique advantages and disadvantages, making it an ideal choice for certain projects.
1. General
1.1 Pros and cons of AWS
Amazon’s biggest advantage lies in its dominant position in the public cloud market.
Part of the reason for its popularity is undoubtedly the large scope of its operations. AWS has a huge and growing number of available services, as well as the most comprehensive network of data centers in the world.
Amazon’s huge weakness is related to cost. Although AWS regularly lowers prices, many companies find it difficult to understand the company’s cost structure and manage these costs effectively when running large workloads on services.
However, in general, these advantages exceed Amazon’s shortcomings, and organizations of all sizes continue to use AWS for a variety of workloads.
1.2 Pros and cons of Google Cloud Platform
Because Google has developed the Kubernetes standard that AWS and Azure now provide, Google has a powerful container product. GCP focuses on high computing products such as big data, analytics and machine learning. It also provides considerable scale and load balancing —— Google knows the data center and fast response time.
The downside is that Google ranks third in market share, probably because it does not provide as many different services and features as AWS and Azure. It also does not have as many global data centers as AWS or Azure, although it is rapidly expanding.
1.3 Pros and cons of Microsoft Azure
Microsoft has not entered the cloud market, but essentially uses on-premises software ——Windows Server, Office, SQL Server, Sharepoint, Dynamics Active Directory, .Net, etc. —— and reuses it for cloud computing to get it started .
An important reason for the success of Azure is related to the fact that many enterprises deploy Windows and other Microsoft software. Because Azure is tightly integrated with these other applications, companies that use a lot of Microsoft software often find it useful to use Azure. This builds loyalty for existing Microsoft customers. In addition, if you are already an existing Microsoft enterprise customer, you can enjoy substantial discounts on service contracts.
Azure does not provide as much support for DevOps methods as some other cloud platforms. For example, it does not have as much integrated automation and requires employees to manually perform many management tasks.
2. Compute
2.1 AWS Compute
Elastic computing cloud: Amazon’s flagship computing service is Elastic Compute Cloud, or EC2. Amazon describes EC2 as “a web service that provides secure, resizable computing capacity in the cloud.” EC2 provides a variety of options, including a variety of instances, supports Windows and Linux, bare metal instances (currently preview), GPU instances, high-performance computing, automatic scaling, etc. AWS also offers a free tier for EC2, which includes 750 hours of t2.micro instances per month for up to 12 months.
Container services: In the computing category, Amazon’s various container services are becoming more popular, and it has options to support Docker, Kubernetes, and its own Fargate services, which automate server and cluster management when using containers. It also offers a virtual private cloud option called Lightsail, batch processing for batch computing jobs, Elastic Beanstalk for running and extending web applications, and some other services.
2.2 GCP Compute
Computing engine: In comparison, Google’s computing service catalog is shorter than competitors’ catalogs. Its main service is called the computing engine, which has custom and predefined machine types, billing per second, Linux and Windows support, automatic discounts, and carbon-neutral infrastructure. It uses half the energy of a typical data center. It offers a free tier and contains one f1-micro instance every month for up to 12 months.
Focus on Kubernetes: Google also provides a Kubernetes engine for organizations interested in deploying containers. It is worth noting that Google has actively participated in the Kubernetes project, providing it with additional expertise in the field.
2.3 Azure Compute
Virtual Machine: Microsoft’s main computing service is referred to as a virtual machine for short. It supports Linux, Windows Server, SQL Server, Oracle, IBM and SAP, as well as enhanced security, hybrid cloud capabilities and integrated support for Microsoft software. Like AWS, it has a very large catalog of available examples, including GPU and high-performance computing options, as well as examples optimized for artificial intelligence and machine learning. It also has a free plan, 750 hours per month of Windows or Linux B1S virtual machine for one year.
Additional services: Azure’s Auto Scaling version is called a virtual machine scale set. It has two container services: Azure Container Service is based on Kubernetes, and Container Service is managed using Docker Hub and Azure Container Registry. It has batch services, and cloud services for scalable web applications are similar to AWS Elastic Beanstalk. It also has a unique product called Service Fabric, designed for applications with a microservice architecture.
3. Storage
3.1 AWS storage
SSS to EFS: AWS provides a long list of storage services, including simple storage services for object storage (S3), elastic block storage (EBS) for persistent block storage used with EC2, and file storage Flexible File System (EFS). Some of its more innovative storage products include Storage Gateway and Snowball, which support a hybrid storage environment. It is a physical hardware device that organizations can use to transfer petabytes of data when Internet transmission is not practical. .
Database and archiving In terms of databases, Amazon has a SQL-compatible database called Aurora, Relational Database Service (RDS), DynamoDB NoSQL database, ElastiCache in-memory data storage, Redshift data warehouse, Neptune graph database and database migration service. Amazon does not provide backup services, but it does have Glacier, which is designed for long-term archival storage at a very low rate. In addition, its Storage Gateway can be used to easily set up backup and archiving processes.
3.2 GCP storage
Unified storage, etc.: As with computing, GCP offers a smaller storage service menu. Cloud storage is its unified object storage service, and it also has a permanent disk option. It provides a transfer device similar to AWS Snowball, and an online transfer service.
SQL and NoSQL In terms of databases, GCP has SQL-based Cloud SQL and a relational database called Cloud Spanner, designed for mission-critical workloads. It also has two NoSQL options: Cloud Bigtable and Cloud Datastore. It has no backup and archive services.
3.3 Azure storage
Storage services: Microsoft Azure’s basic storage services include Blob storage for REST-based unstructured data object storage, queue storage for large-volume workloads, file storage, and disk storage. It also has a Data Lake Store that can be used for big data applications. .
Extensive database: Azure’s database options are particularly extensive. It has three SQL-based options: SQL database, MySQL database and PostgreSQL database. It also has data warehouse services, as well as Cosmos DB and table storage for NoSQL. Redis Cache is its memory service, and Server Stretch Database is its hybrid storage service, designed for organizations that use Microsoft SQL Server in their own data centers. Unlike AWS, Microsoft does provide actual backup services, as well as Site Recovery services and archive storage.
4. AWS & GCP & Azure: Which one is best for you?
As mentioned at the beginning of this article, the best public cloud provider for you will depend on your needs and workload. In fact, the best supplier for some projects may not be the best supplier for other projects in your project. Many experts believe that most enterprises will adopt a multi-cloud strategy in the near future to prevent vendors from locking or trying to match workloads to the best available services.
AWS: Because of its rich tools and services and large-scale collection, you can’t go wrong. The only reason not to choose Amazon is if you want a more private relationship, a small boutique can provide it. In terms of its size, it is difficult for Amazon to maintain a close relationship with each customer, but there are dealers and consultants who can provide this focused attention.
GCP: Google is growing rapidly, but it is in progress. Its products are few and there is no traditional background in handling business. But it fully invested and invested billions of dollars in its cloud computing work. It works with Cisco, which does understand the enterprise. People who should follow Google now are those who saw it a year ago, and they don’t like what they see. They may be surprised. Google built cloud computing with its scale and machine learning power. This is clearly worth a look.
Azure: Microsoft’s biggest attraction is of course Microsoft’s store. All your existing .Net code can be run on Azure, your server environment will be connected to Azure, and you will find it easy to migrate local applications. However, if you want Linux, DevOps or bare metal, Microsoft will not be the ideal choice. It provides Linux, but it has priority over Windows. DevOps is mainly Linux/open source games, which is also not good at Microsoft.
In Short
If your company runs Windows and many Microsoft software, you may want to look into Azure.
If you are a small web-based startup that wants to scale quickly, you may need to study Google Cloud Platform carefully.
If you are looking for a provider with the most extensive service catalog and global scope, AWS may be there for you.
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