AWS vs. Azure vs. GCP – Cloud Comparison Study
Cheat Sheet for Cloud Platforms
Are you still confused about which cloud services offer the solutions you need? Here is an easy comparison table to understand the services provided by the popular cloud computing platforms: AWS, Azure, and GCP.
Cloud services eliminate the problems associated with setting up and maintaining a physical IT infrastructure when your business gets modernized or expands its service capabilities.
Top cloud computing service providers provide IT resources whenever your business needs them. To identify the best cloud service for your organization, you need to consider cost, performance, and scalability based on use case.
How Cloud Services Work
- Clouds use virtualization to divide physical hardware into isolated computing environments.
- Kubernetes and Docker systems help with efficient resource and application management.
- Cloud services are commonly controlled through APIs. Applications and automation tools interact with cloud resources through these interfaces.
- IaC reduces manual setup and makes cloud deployments more consistent.
Cloud Services in Real-World Applications
Netflix:
Uses AWS infrastructure. It supports large-scale video streaming and data processing.
Spotify and Airbnb:
Depend on cloud platforms to support customers across different regions.
Public Cloud Vs. Private Cloud Comparison Data
AWS vs. Azure vs. GCP
| Public Cloud | Private Cloud |
|---|---|
| Operated by providers like AWS, Azure, and GCP | Owned by a particular business |
| Cloud service providers buy and maintain physical infrastructure. (servers, storage devices, and networking components) | Businesses should procure the resources. |
| Located in a remote environment | It is an on-premises environment. |
| Does not require setup and maintenance | Hosting can be done by an external service provider. |
| Shared by multiple organizations | Used by a single organization |
| Scalable resources | Limited by physical hardware capacity |
| No upfront cost | Huge upfront cost |
| Built-in security + security can be enhanced with the help of experts. | Hyper-customizable security configurations |
| Suitable for businesses that need limited customization | Suitable for businesses that need high customization |
| Industry use cases: E-commerce and retail, software and technology,and manufacturing businesses) | Industry use cases: Banking and finance, healthcare organizations, and government agencies |
A Comparison of Leading Public Cloud Platforms
AWS vs. Azure vs. GCP
| AWS | Azure | GCP | |||
| Services | Main Use / Benefit | Services | Main Use/Benefit | Services | Main Use/Benefit |
| EC2 – Elastic Compute Cloud | Runs virtual servers for applications and workloads. | Virtual Machines | Runs virtual servers for applications and workloads. | Compute Engine | Runs virtual machines for applications and workloads. |
| EKS – Elastic Kubernetes Service | Runs and manages Kubernetes applications. | AKS – Azure Kubernetes Service | Runs and manages containerized applications with Kubernetes. | Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) | Runs and manages Kubernetes-based applications. |
| Lambda | Runs code without managing servers. | Azure Functions | Runs application code without managing servers. | Cloud Functions | Runs event-driven code without managing servers. |
| S3 – Simple Storage Service | Stores files, backups, images, videos, and other data. | Blob Storage | Stores unstructured data such as files, images, and videos. | Cloud Storage | Stores files, backups, media, and other data. |
| EBS – Elastic Block Store | Provides persistent storage for EC2 instances. | Managed Disk | Provides persistent storage for Azure virtual machines. | Persistent Disk | Provides persistent storage for virtual machines. |
| EFS – Elastic File System | Provides shared file storage for multiple systems. | File Storage | Provides shared file storage for applications and users. | Filestore | Provides managed file storage for applications. |
| VPC – Virtual Private Cloud | Creates an isolated network environment in AWS. | Virtual Network | Creates private networks for Azure resources. | Virtual Private Cloud | Creates private networks for Google Cloud resources. |
| Route 53 | Handles DNS and directs users to applications and services. | DNS | Converts domain names into IP addresses and manages DNS records. | Cloud DNS | Manages DNS records and domain resolution. |
| Elastic Load Balancing | Distributes traffic across multiple servers. | Load Balancer | Distributes network traffic across multiple resources. | Cloud Load Balancing | Distributes application traffic across resources. |
| WAF – Web Application Firewall | Protects web applications from common attacks. | Web Application Firewall | Protects web applications against common web attacks. | Cloud Armor | Protects applications against network and web attacks. |
| RDS – Relational Database Service | Runs and manages relational databases. | SQL Database | Provides a managed relational database service. | Cloud SQL | Provides managed relational databases. |
| DynamoDB | Provides a scalable NoSQL database for applications. | Cosmos DB | Provides a globally distributed NoSQL database. | Firebase Realtime Database | Stores and synchronizes application data in real time. |
| Redshift | Stores large business data and analyzes it. | Synapse Analytics | Combines data warehousing and analytics capabilities. | BigQuery | Large data sets can be analyzed. |
| Elastic MapReduce (EMR) | Processes and analyzes large datasets. | HDInsight | Processes and analyzes large datasets using big-data technologies. | Dataproc | Runs big-data processing workloads. |
| Kinesis | Processes and analyzes real-time streaming data. | Stream Analytics | Analyzes real-time data streams. | Dataflow | Processes batch and streaming data. |
| SageMaker | Builds, trains, and deploys machine learning models. | Machine Learning | Builds, trains, and deploys machine learning models. | Vertex AI | Builds, trains, and deploys AI and machine learning models. |
| Glue | Helps discover, prepare, and integrate data. | Data Factory | Moves and transforms data between different sources. | Data Fusion | Helps integrate data from different sources. |
| EventBridge | Connects applications and triggers actions based on events. | Event Grid | Connects applications through event-based communication. | Eventarc | Connects applications through event-driven workflows. |
| SQS – Simple Queue Service | Queues messages between applications for reliable communication. | Storage Queues | Stores messages between application components. | Pub/Sub | Enables messaging between applications and services. |
| SNS – Simple Notification Service | Sends notifications and messages to applications or users. | Service Bus | Provides reliable messaging between applications and services. | Firebase Cloud Messaging | Sends notifications to mobile and web applications. |
| CloudWatch | Monitors applications, servers, logs, and cloud resources. | Monitor | Tracks application health and resource performance. | Cloud Monitoring | Monitors applications, infrastructure, and cloud resources. |
| CloudFormation | Creates and manages AWS infrastructure using templates. | Resource Manager | Organizes and manages Azure resources and deployments. | Deployment Manager | Deployment automation and cloud resource management automation |
| IAM – Identity and Access Management | Controls user access and permissions. | Active Directory / Microsoft Entra ID | Manages identities and access to applications and resources. | Cloud Identity | Manages users and access to cloud applications. |
| KMS – Key Management Service | Creates and manages encryption keys. | Key Vault | Securely stores passwords, keys, certificates, and secrets. | Cloud KMS | Creates and manages encryption keys. |
Questions and Answers About Cloud Services
You can go through the cloud cheat sheet to get a clear idea about available cloud services. If you still need guidance, connect with our experts for a cloud consultation. The team will assess your existing environment, your needs, and compatibility levels to help you identify the suitable services for your business.
Velan Remote IT Support is a top cloud managed IT service provider for small, medium, and large-sized businesses worldwide. We provide customized cloud services from migration to monitoring and maintenance with flexible pricing models. Our team expertly handles private, public, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.
As an experienced MSP for cloud solutions, Velan Remote IT Support offers the following services.
Cloud consultation services
Cloud monitoring services
Cloud maintenance services
Cloud migration services
Cloud cost optimization services
Cloud security services
Read our cloud case study to understand how we helped an accounting firm improve productivity through our Azure cloud services.
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