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Cloud Services Terminology Guide: Comparing AWS vs Azure vs Google
As more and more organizations move to multicloud, feature-by-feature comparisons between the top cloud providers are becoming crucial for determining which platform will ultimately be the best fit. We know it can be a challenge to research each provider’s extensive product portfolio, so we’ve compiled the most common elements below (e.g. compute, storage, discounts, databases, security, and network services) to help you cross-identify comparable services across AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.
Developing a feature-by-feature comparison of the leading cloud providers’ platform offerings can help inform you when determining which provider(s) can meet your organization’s unique cloud requirements.
Compute
| Service | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deploy, manage, and maintain virtual servers | Elastic Compute Cloud | Virtual Machine | |
| PaaS; deploying applications | |||
| Management support for Docker/Kubernetes containers | EC2 Container Service (ECS), Amazon Kubernetes (EKS) | Azure Container Service (AKS) | Kubernetes Engine, Container Engine |
|
Docker Container registry |
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Serverless compute |
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Autoscaling instances |
Just because containers are the cloud industry’s hottest new toy doesn’t mean they are easy to understand—let alone optimize. Here are some additional resources to help get you started on your container journey:
Why Everyone Is Talking About Cloud Containers
Are Cloud Containers Really More Effective?
6 Ways To Dip Your Toes Into The World Of Containers (Including Amazon EKS!)
Storage
| Service | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object storage | Simple Storage Services (S3) | Storage (Block Blob) | |
| Block storage | Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) | ||
| Archive storage | Amazon Glacier, S3 Infrequent Access (IA) | ||
| File storage | Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) | ||
| Bulk data transport | AWS Import/Export Disk, AWS Snowball, AWS Snowmobile | ||
| Backup | Cold Archive Storage, Storage Gateway | ||
| Disaster recovery and protection | Disaster Recovery |
Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) is the world’s most popular cloud object storage solution due to its durability, availability, and scalability. S3 cost calculations are far from simple, so we’ve broken it all down for you.
S3 Cost: Amazon Cloud Storage Cost Explained
Discounts
| Service | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commitment length | |||
|
Discount cancellations |
Yes, 12% fee on remainder value of Reserved VM Instance |
No | |
|
Flexibility |
Convertible: can be exchanged for Reserved Instances of equal or greater value |
Can exchange for other Reserved Instances |
Automatically applies to all instances in the region |
|
Payment option: All Upfront |
Yes |
Yes | No |
|
Payment option: No Upfront |
Yes |
No | Yes |
|
Payment option: Partial Upfront |
Yes |
No | No |
Comparing costs between AWS, Azure, and GCP is difficult. Each provider updates their pricing model multiple times a year in response to both market trends and business strategy, and to ensure they are staying competitive with one another. We’ve compiled some resources to help tackle this problem.
Azure vs. AWS Comparison: Is Azure Really Catching Up?
Comparing AWS vs. Google Cloud Pricing
How Can I Reduce Cloud Computing Costs?
Databases
| Service | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Custom database |
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Managed relational database-as-a-service |
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NoSQL |
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Data Warehouse |
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Database Migration |
n/a |
||
|
Data Pipelines |
One of the most effective ways to reduce your cloud spend is by rightsizing your infrastructure. With Azure, not only can you rightsize your infrastructure-as-a-service, you can also save significant money by rightsizing your Azure platform-as-a-service. Check out our blog to learn how you can gain visibility into how your SQL Databases are being utilized:
Azure SQL Database Rightsizing Made Simple
Security
| Service | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Authentication and Authorization |
|||
|
Directory Services |
n/a |
||
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Web Firewall |
n/a | ||
|
Security Assessment |
|||
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Threat Detection and Monitoring |
The cloud offers many benefits in terms of flexibility, scalability, and agility, but a cloud environment may create significant risks that were not present in the on-premises deployment of applications and systems. Security must be a priority for every cloud-ready organization—here are three reasons why:
3 Reasons Why Cloud Security Needs To Be A Priority
Network Services
| Service | AWS | Azure | GCP |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Global Content Delivery Networks (CDN) |
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Direct connection |
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DNS |
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Load balancing |
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Virtual private cloud network |
Compiling a cloud services comparison is challenging in the rapidly-evolving cloud industry. We’ve compiled a cloud services comparison guide of Amazon Web Service (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) to help inform you in your multicloud journey. Check out our eBook to learn how the top three cloud providers differ in their product portfolios, including pricing, storage services, geographic availability, and more.
