Introduction
There is no clear cut answer to this question, it is down to individual circumstances and what your goals relating to Cloud Computing are. Azure by Microsoft and Amazon Web Services or AWS both provide a similar offering with their Cloud Hosting solutions with largely the same features and functionality. So how do you choose?
Firstly, when we refer to Cloud Computing we are essentially referring to the on-demand distribution of various types of computing services via the internet which are hosted out of Data Centers that belong to the providers of said services, rather than to the client. This is one of the core underpinnings of these service offerings in that client's are essentially renting their IT infrastructure as opposed to outright buying it which is where cost savings can become apparent for many. There are generally two types of models Cloud Computing providers such as AWS and Azure use to allow efficiencies - Pay as you go which is essentially paying for what you use, when you use it and the sharing of resources, meaning many other clients are accessing the same services as you are and renting the 'same' infrastructure.
With that out of the way, let's take a look at some of the key features of both AWS and Azure -
Compute
AWS -
- EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) - Provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud.
- Lambda - Serverless compute service that runs code in response to events.
- ECS (Elastic Container Service) - Orchestrates Docker containers.
- EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) - Managed Kubernetes service.
- Lightsail - Easy-to-use virtual private server.
Azure -
- Azure Virtual Machines - Provides scalable computing resources.
- Azure Functions - Serverless compute service.
- Azure Container Instances - Runs Docker containers directly.
- Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) - Managed Kubernetes service.
- Azure Batch - Managed batch processing service.
Storage
AWS -
- S3 (Simple Storage Service) - Scalable object storage.
- EBS (Elastic Block Store) - Persistent block storage for EC2.
- Glacier - Low-cost archival storage.
- RDS (Relational Database Service) - Managed relational database service.
- DynamoDB - Managed NoSQL database service.
Azure -
- Azure Blob Storage - Object storage service.
- Azure Disk Storage - Managed disk storage for VMs.
- Azure Archive Storage - Low-cost archival storage.
- Azure SQL Database - Managed relational database service.
- Azure Cosmos DB - Globally distributed, multi-model database service.
Networking
AWS -
- VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) - Isolated cloud resources.
- Route 53 - Scalable DNS and domain name registration.
- Direct Connect - Dedicated network connection to AWS.
- CloudFront - Content delivery network (CDN).
Azure -
- Virtual Network (VNet) - Isolated cloud resources.
- Azure DNS - DNS domain hosting.
- ExpressRoute - Dedicated network connection to Azure.
- Azure CDN - Content delivery network.
Security
AWS -
- IAM (Identity and Access Management) - Manage access to AWS services and resources.
- AWS Shield - DDoS protection.
- AWS WAF (Web Application Firewall): Protects web applications.
- AWS Key Management Service (KMS): Managed service for encryption keys.
Azure -
- Azure AD (Active Directory) - Identity and access management.
- Azure Security Center - Unified security management.
- Azure DDoS Protection - DDoS protection.
- Azure Key Vault - Manage and control encryption keys.
Analytics
AWS -
- Athena - Query data in S3 using SQL.
- Redshift - Data warehousing service.
- EMR (Elastic MapReduce) - Big data processing using Hadoop.
- Kinesis - Real-time data processing.
Azure -
- Azure Synapse Analytics - Analytics service that brings together big data and data warehousing.
- Azure Data Lake Analytics - On-demand analytics job service.
- HDInsight - Managed Hadoop and Spark service.
- Azure Stream Analytics - Real-time data processing.
AI and Machine Learning
AWS -
- SageMaker - Build, train, and deploy machine learning models.
- Rekognition - Image and video analysis.
- Lex - Build conversational interfaces.
- Comprehend - Natural language processing.
Azure -
- Azure Machine Learning - Build, train, and deploy machine learning models.
- Cognitive Services - Pre-built APIs for vision, speech, language, and decision-making.
- Bot Service - Develop intelligent bots.
- Azure Synapse Analytics - Unified analytics platform.
Developer Tools
AWS -
- CodeCommit: Managed source control service.
- CodeBuild: Build and test code.
- CodeDeploy: Automated code deployment.
- CodePipeline: Continuous integration and delivery.
Azure -
- Azure Repos - Source control service.
- Azure Pipelines - Build and release pipelines.
- Azure DevTest Labs - Quickly create environments for testing and development.
- Azure App Service - Build and host web apps.
Management and Monitoring
AWS -
- CloudWatch - Monitoring and management service.
- CloudTrail - Track user activity and API usage.
- Config - Record and evaluate configurations of AWS resources.
- Trusted Advisor - Optimise AWS infrastructure.
Azure -
- Azure Monitor - Full-stack monitoring.
- Azure Log Analytics - Collect and analyse log data.
- Azure Automation - Automate cloud tasks.
- Azure Advisor - Personalised best practices recommendations.
Pricing and Support
AWS -
- Pricing Models - Pay-as-you-go, reserved instances and savings plans.
- Support Plans - Basic, Developer, Business and Enterprise.
Azure -
- Pricing Models - Pay-as-you-go, reserved instances and spot instances.
- Support Plans - Basic, Developer, Standard, Professional Direct and Premier.
Conclusion
As we can see from the extensive comparison above, both AWS and Azure offer a comprehensive set of cloud services with similar core functionality. However, they each have unique features - both strengths and weaknesses. The choice between the two often should depend on your specific business needs, existing technology stacks and individual preferences for tools, technologies and services.
Further Reading
A Beginners Guide to Understanding Azure Cloud Computing
Mastering Microsoft Azure: A Comprehensive Pros and Cons Guide
