In this article, we will look at the differences between AWS and Azure.
Both the cloud platforms are very popular.
Let’s get started!
AWS vs Azure
Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure are two of the most popular providers of cloud services. AWS is an American company that offers cloud computing services to businesses and organizations, whereas Azure is a multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington.
Like AWS, Azure offers several cloud computing services. However, it is important to understand the differences between these two platforms before making a decision.
This article will highlight the key differences between AWS and Azure so that users can decide which platform best suits their needs. Note that this comparison does not include every service offered by AWS and Azure. Readers are encouraged to visit the individual websites of both providers for a complete list of services.
AWS and Azure offer different storage options. AWS provides three types of storage: Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon Glacier, and Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS). In contrast, Azure only provides two types of storage: Microsoft Azure Blob Storage and Microsoft Azure File Storage.
Amazon S3 is one of AWS’ most popular storage options. It offers its users high throughput, durability, elasticity, low latency at consistent performance.
Amazon S3 also gives users fine control over access to data through detailed permissions management. Amazon Glacier was created for “cold” data that needs to be stored in a less readily accessible location.
Data stored in Amazon Glacier is retained for up to 99 years, and it costs less than one cent per gigabyte per month. Amazon EFS was designed to provide flexible, durable, highly available network file storage for use with AWS compute instances running in the public cloud.
Azure Blob Storage is designed to store unstructured data in the cloud. It supports both public and private scenarios, and it features strong consistency for reads and writes.
Data can be written to Azure Blob storage through streams or blocks, which improves the performance of large document uploads. Microsoft Azure File Storage is a service that provides SMB file shares in the cloud.
It was designed for customers who need to access the same set of files from on-premises and multiple tenants in Azure.
AWS offers 12 different database services, whereas Azure only provides four: Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Azure Database for MySQL, Microsoft Azure Database for PostgreSQL, and Microsoft Azure Cosmos DB.
AWS Relational Database Service (RDS) is one of the most popular AWS database services.
It provides cloud-based relational databases, and it allows users to choose between MySQL, MariaDB, Oracle, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and Amazon Aurora.
AWS managed instances for Amazon RDS are fully managed by Amazon RDS; customers can launch an instance with just a few clicks and avoid managing software, patches, or a database schema.
Microsoft Azure Database for MySQL was designed to help users build multi-tier applications that use a relational database in the cloud.
It is a fully managed relational database service that offers automated provisioning, scaling, and operational management with minimal downtime. The service provides HA with no single point of failure.
Microsoft Azure Database for PostgreSQL offers the same capabilities as MySQL, but it was built specifically for PostgreSQL compatibility. This service also features automated provisioning, HA, and minimal downtime during scaling events.
Azure Cosmos DB is Microsoft’s globally distributed multi-model database that supports SQL API, Cassandra API, and Gremlin API.
It was built to power planet-scale cloud services and DevOps.
Azure Cosmos DB provides multi-tenancy for up to 100,000 requests per second per storage account and unlimited throughput per partition and request. This service features high availability with no single point of failure designed to meet users’ performance and scale requirements.
AWS offers Lambda, a serverless compute platform that allows users to run code without provisioning or managing servers. Serverless computing provides many different benefits, including scalability and reduced operational overhead.
With AWS Lambda, users can write applications in functions as a service (FaaS), which eliminates the need for infrastructure management around code deployment and scaling. In addition, Lambda automatically manages the compute resources for users.
Azure Functions is a serverless compute platform that brings event-driven programming to cloud applications and services.
It offers developers a way to run their code without having to manage infrastructure or application hosting.
This service simplifies application development by allowing them to focus on the business logic for their application instead of worrying about the underlying infrastructure that supports it.
In addition, Azure Functions allows users to create event-based actions that trigger independent pieces of code in response to a wide array of events.
AWS Server Migration Service (SMS) is designed to help enterprises migrate production or non-production workloads to AWS while minimizing downtime.
SMS uses an agentless approach that ensures all data is transferred securely using native Windows features for faster, easier transfers.
Azure Site Recovery (ASR) is designed to help organizations replicate their on-premises Hyper-V virtual machines running non-Windows operating systems or physical servers to Azure.
ASR transfers data over the network during a planned or unplanned failover. The service provides a pre-tested disaster recovery solution that replicates and recovers Hyper-V virtual machines to Azure via a native agent, which reduces downtime.
AWS Database Migration Service (DMS) is designed to help organizations migrate databases from on-premises or other cloud-based databases to AWS.
The service uses a hybrid approach that allows users to choose the source and target of their data based on their own requirements, including objects from relational sources such as Oracle, SQL Server, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft SQL Server to nonrelational sources such as Oracle Berkeley DB and Amazon SimpleDB.
DMS also supports database compatibility between different versions, such as Oracle to Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server to MySQL.
So this is all about the differences between Azure and AWS.
