Cloud Service has many benefits, including storage and backup, security, scalability, agility, affordability, and easy access. This is why all businesses are now adopting Cloud-based solutions.
The Cloud market is dominated by three huge vendors – Amazon, Microsoft, and Google. Each of these Cloud solutions has a robust infrastructure and reliable services. The question that most enterprises face is not whether to go for Cloud or not, but which Cloud provider to choose.
In this blog on Amazon AWS vs Microsoft Azure vs Google Cloud, we will look into detail about the battle of the Cloud. Let’s look into each of these Cloud vendors in detail in this blog so you can identify the best Cloud provider for your organization.
Amazon AWS
AWS or Amazon Web Services was first released in 2002 and later re-launched in 2006. The first entrant in the Cloud Computing domain, AWS offers a host of customized Cloud-based services to its clients.
It is now available in 69 Availability Zones in 22 geographical locations. Its chief offerings are Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). AWS also enables creation of private IP addresses, subnets, route table, and network gateways.
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This Cloud Service from Amazon also features managed databases, data pipeline tools, development and management tools, Cloud storage, and machine learning.
AWS Elastic Compute Cloud enables both load balancing (ELB) and auto-scaling. Load balancing across instances amps up the performance of the Cloud while the auto-scaling feature enables up scaling or downscaling the ELB according to requirement.
Also, AWS allows you to use custom or pre-configured virtual machines. Based on your storage and networking requirements, you can decide on the size, number, power, and memory capacity of the virtual machines.
In terms of storage, AWS offers Simple Service Storage (S3), Elastic Compute Storage (EC2), and hybrid storage. Plus, it offers both public and private clouds as well as temporary storage.
Data is transferred using import/export disk, snowball edge, and snowmobile. AWS has automatic disaster recovery and all the data is backed up in Object Storage, Archive, Cold storage, and storage gateway. AWS has a Direct Connect private network connection and Virtual Private Cloud networking.
Authentication and Authorization of AWS are handled by Identity and Access management. It has Cognito identity management and Web Application firewall. Shield offers Cloud service protection.
Microsoft Azure
A product of Microsoft, Azure was launched in 2010. It is available in 162 Availability zones spread across 54 geographical locations. The services offered by Azure include PaaS, IaaS, SaaS, and hybrid services.
Designed to support both Windows and Linux, this Cloud computing platform is suitable for organizations that are already using Microsoft solutions.
A computer system called Virtual Hard Disk can be configured for deploying Azure Cloud solutions. Users can define the number of cores and memory capacity of the Virtual Hard Disk.
In terms of storage, Azure has Black Bob object storage, Cool and Archive storage. It also has a hybrid storage named StorSimple. Azure has automatic protection and disaster recovery – site recovery.
Data transfer happens via import/export and Azure Data Box. Azure features Express Route direct private network connection and virtual networking. VPN gateway enables cross-premises connectivity.
Active Directory handles authentication and authorization in Azure while Application Gateway acts as a Firewall. DDoS protection service and storage service encryption are the other security features available in Microsoft Azure.
Google Cloud
Google released the Cloud platform in 2008. It offers Serverless platform in addition to IaaS and PaaS. Google Cloud is classified into various platforms such as Google Cloud Datastore, Google Big Query, Google App Engine, Google Compute Engine, Google Cloud Storage, and Google Cloud SQL.
Google Cloud also offers different networking services such as Cloud DNS, Virtual private cloud, Cloud CDN, and Load Balancing. Users can launch virtual machines in any of the Availability regions using the Google Compute Engine.
This Cloud solution offers services such as extended OS support, live migration of virtual machines, and greater number of instances with higher number of cores, persistent disks, and load balancing.
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In terms of storage, Google Cloud has Cloud storage, Egnyte Sync hybrid storage, as well as Nearline and Coldline archive storage. Bulk data transfer is done via Storage Transfer Service.
Google Cloud has Subnet virtual networking and Cloud VPN cross-premises connectivity. Fortigate Next-generation Firewall takes care of Google Cloud security. As for the authentication and authorization, Cloud IAM and Cloud Identity-Aware Proxy take care of them.
Table of Comparison – Amazon AWS vs Microsoft Azure vs Google Cloud
The below table compares all the essential features and services of the three top Cloud providers – AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud.
| Feature | Amazon AWS | Microsoft Azure | Google Cloud |
| Initial Release | 2002 (again re-launched in 2006) | 2010 | 2008 |
| Vendor | Amazon | Microsoft | |
| Website | Aws.amazon.com | Azure.microsoft.com | Cloud.google.com |
| Services Offered | Software as s Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) | Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) | Serverless platform, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) |
| Cache | Elastic Cache | Redis Cache | Cloud CDN |
| Geographical Locations | 22 | 54 | 20 |
| Virtual Machine (VM) | EC2 | Azure Virtual Machines | Compute Engine |
| Maximum no. of processors in VMs | 128 | 128 | 96 |
| Maximum memory capacity of VMs | 3904 GiB | 3800 GiB | 1433 GiB |
| Authentication | Directory Service, Single Sign-on, IAM | Active Directory, Multifactor authentication | Cloud IAM and Cloud IAP |
| Administration | System Manager, Personal Health Dashboard, Application Discovery Service | Log Analytics, Resource Health, Storage Explorer, Operations Management Suite | Cloud Console |
| Object Storage | S3 with broad compatibility | Black Blob Storage offers CLI, Powershell, and REST access | Cloud Storage that offers immediate access from any storage class |
| File Storage | EFS (10 GB/sec) | Azure hybrid files | Filestore that is integrated with Kubernetes |
| Archive (Cold) Storage | Glacier | Archive Long-term Storage | Cold Line and Near Line |
| SQL Database | Aurora, RDS | SQL Database, Database for PostgreSQL, Database for MySQL | Cloud Spanner, Cloud SQL |
| No SQL Database | DyamoDB | Table Storage, Cosmos DB | Cloud Datastore, Cloud Bigtable |
| Data Transfer | Transfer to Cloud happens via Snowball | Transfer to Cloud happens via Import/Export service | Storage transport service |
| Peering | Direct Connect | Express Route | Google Cloud Interconnect |
| DNS | Amazon Route 53 | Azure DNS | Google Cloud DNS |
| Auto Scaling | Integrated and seamless auto scaling occurs across the network | Machine metrics triggers auto scaling | Google offers bi-directional auto scaling with auto healing and auto updating |
| Managed Data Warehouse | Redshift | SQL warehouse | Big Query |
| GIT Repositories | AWS source | Azure source | Cloud source |
| Function as a Service | Offered by Amazon Lambda, which is an ecosystem consisting of integrations | Azure Functions, which consists of all functions from coding to deployment. | Portable Google Cloud Functions, which integrates with other Google Cloud services |
| Platform as a Service | Elastic Beanstalk | Cloud Services | Google App Engine |
| Container as a Service | EKS – contains and supports hybrid container deployments | Fully-managed Azure Kubernetes, which offers enterprise-managed deployment | Google Kubernetes CaaS Engine |
| Serverless Functions | Lambda | Azure Functions | Google Cloud Functions |
| Docker Management | ECS | Container Service | Google Container Engine |
| Hybrid Cloud | Available | Available | Not Available |
| Search | Cloud Search | Azure Search | Not Available |
| Content Delivery | CloudFront | CDN | Cloud CDN |
| App Testing | Device Farm | DevTest Labs | Cloud Test Labs |
| Cloud Management | Management console, systems manager | Portal, cost management, Policy | Stackdriver |
| API Management | Cloud source repositories | Azure API gateway | Cloud endpoints |
| Application Lifecycle Management | CodePipeline, CodeStar | Team Studio, Visual Studio, | Not Available |
| Security | Shield, Macie, Guard Duty, WAF | Security Center | Cloud Security, Scanner, Cloud DLP |
| Virtual Network | VPC | VNet | Subnet |
| Big Data and Analytics | Kinesis, Redshift, EMR, Athena | HDInsight, Windows Azure Table, Stream Analytics, | Big Query, Cloud Datastore, Hadoop, Cloud Dataflow, Cloud Dataproc |
| AI/ML Tools | SageMaker, Rekognition, Translate, Transcribe, TensorFlow, DeepLens, Lex, Polly, Comprehend, Deep Learning | Machine Learning, Cognitive Service, Azure Bot Service | Cloud ML Enine, Cloud Natural Language, Cloud Video Intelligence, Dialogflow Enterprise Edition, Cloud Speech API, Cloud Translation API |
| IoT | Greengrass, IoT button, IoT Device, IoT-1 click, Free RTOS, oT Core | IoT Hub, IoT Edge, Time Series Insights, Stream Analytics | Cloud IoT Core |
| Third Party Services and Software | Available in Amazon Marketplace | Available in Microsoft Marketplace | Available in Cloud Launcher Partner Directory |
| Purchase Models | Reserved, Spot, On-demand | Short-term and on-demand | Sustain use, On Demand |
| Pricing Models | Rounded to per second | Rounded to per minute (monthly or pre-paid options) | Rounded to per minute (minimum of ten minutes) |
| Management & Monitoring | Trusted Advisor | Advisor | Cloud Platform Security |
| Major Clients | Netflix, BMW, Airbnb, MI, Unilever, Samsung | HP, Fujifilm, Honeywell, Apple, Johnson Controls | PayPal, HSBC, Bloomberg, Dominos, 20th Century Fox |
| Strengths | Dominate the market, has extensive offerings, and supports large organizations and enterprises | Hybrid Cloud with open-source support, integration with MS software and tools | Offers portability and open-source support, suitable for Cloud-native businesses, Flexible contracts |
| Weakness | Requires in-depth training and difficult to use, costs high | Management tools not comprehensive | Fewer features compared to other two vendors |
Conclusion
The Amazon AWS vs Microsoft Azure vs Google Cloud has shown us the top features, functions, strengths, and weakness of these three leading Cloud Service providers. Each of these vendors is strong in certain attributes and not so much in a few others.
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If you are looking for a Cloud-service provider who has been in the market for the longest time and has the highest number of regions, availability zones, and services, then Amazon AWS wins hands down. On the other hand, if you are looking for a Cloud provider that has been growing at a very fast rate and has budget-friendly pricing models, then Google Cloud is the best option.
However, most organizations already use Microsoft suite and tools, which makes integration with Microsoft Azure the best choice. Based on our comparison and an evaluation of your Cloud storage requirements, you can choose the best Cloud provider for your organization.
In conclusion, you need to go for a Cloud provider that doesn’t just have the “best” tag in the market, but one that meets and satisfies all your requirements.