AWS vs. Azure: Understanding the Key Differences

Azure by Microsoft and Amazon Web Services or AWS provide a similar set of core features and cloud capabilities. However, they differ from each other in some essential aspects. In this article, we discuss the differences between AWS and Azure. 

AWS vs. Azure

Azure by Microsoft and Amazon Web Services or AWS provide a similar set of core features and cloud capabilities. However, they differ from each other in some essential aspects.

Cloud computing refers to the on-demand distribution of computing services over the internet and remote data centers (i.e., the cloud) to drive faster innovation, increase resource provisioning flexibility, and help companies gain from economies of scale. Cloud providers like  Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have functions and services distributed across multiple data centers. Further, cloud computing relies on two methods to enable standardization and cost efficiency: a resource-sharing model and a “pay-as-you-go” paradigm. 

In simple words, cloud computing allows users to rent rather than buy their IT infrastructure. Customers choose to access computational power offered by service providers like AWS and Azure over the internet or the cloud and pay for it as they use it, rather than investing extensively in databases, software, and hardware. 

See More: What Is Cloud Computing? Definition, Benefits, Types, and Trends 

Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of the ecommerce and technology giant Amazon. It offers over 200 services from data centers worldwide and has millions of users across startups, large enterprises, and leading government agencies. 

Microsoft Azure, often known as Azure, is another top cloud computing service. It aids in the management of applications through Microsoft-operated data centers. The platform provides many cloud services including analytics, computing, storage, and networking. Azure, like AWS, has an extensive toolkit that is constantly growing and has been the industry leader in cloud computing for more than ten years. 

AWS and Azure resemble each other in terms of basic features and functionalities — however, they differ in other aspects. 

	AWS	Azure
Computing powerÂ	AWS leverages EC2 tailored to customer needs.Â	Azure users are given the option of creating a VM from a virtual hard disc (VHD).
Cloud storage offerings	AWS has services like AWS S3, EBS, and Glacier.	Azure Storage Services offers Blob Storage, Disk Storage, and Standard Archive.
Privacy and security enforcement methods	AWS performs an excellent job of selecting secure alternatives by default, ensuring enhanced privacy.	Azure is protected by a dedicated Cloud Defender service, an AI-powered tool.
Ease of use and documentation model	AWS provides a feature-rich and user-friendly dashboard, along with extensive documentation.	Azure keeps the account information in one place, although its documentation system is less intuitive and search-friendly.
Licensing and license mobility	AWS licenses are more configurable and feature-rich.Â	Azure provides more software as a service (SaaS) features and is easier to set up for Windows administrators.
Networking	Users can build private networks using AWS’ VPC.Â	Azure relies on a VPNÂ
Machine learning (ML) modelingÂ	AWS’ SageMaker gives total freedom and flexibility in creating ML models.	Azure ML Studio is primarily focused on providing a codeless experience through drag-and-drop elements.
Logging and monitoring	SageMaker logs model metrics and historical data via CloudWatch.	Azure ML Studio utilizes MLFlow for data recording and monitoring.
Database capabilities	Amazon RDS is a database service that supports six standard database engines.	Azure’s SQL Server Database and Cortana Intelligence Suite supports Hadoop, Spark, Storm, and HBase.
Open-source presenceÂ	AWS is ideal for open-source developers as it is compatible with Linux and provides integrations for open-source applications.Â	Microsoft Azure is still in the process of  embracing the open-source community.
Processes for deploying applications	AWS offers Elastic Beanstalk, Batch, Lambda, container services, etc., but it lacks a few features in terms of app hosting	Azure offers a variety of app deployment options, including cloud services, container services, functions, batches, and app services, among others.
Containerization and orchestration support	Containerized apps in AWS run using Elastic Beanstalk, which supports Docker files through a command-line interface.	In Azure, the same functionality is performed by App Service, but the process is slightly more complex as one must run the container inside of a web app.Â
Cloud market growth	For the first quarter of 2021, Amazon reported revenues of $13.5 billion, significantly higher than the first quarter of 2020 ($10.33 billion).Â	Azure saw a 50% increase in revenue during Q2 of 2021, higher than the 46% predicted by analysts, but lesser than the 59% of the previous year.
Pricing model	AWS is billed on an hourly basis.	Azure is billed as per a per-minute model.

See More: AWS vs. Azure: Your Guide to Choosing the Best Cloud Provider in 2021

14 Key Differences Between AWS and Azure

Here are the leading differences between AWS and Azure, explained in detail. 

1. The approach to computing power provisioning and usage

The primary issue with computing is scalability. To address this, AWS uses elastic cloud computing (EC2), in which the resource footprint available may increase or shrink on-demand as a result of elastic cloud computing resource provisioning. Local clusters provide just a piece of the resource pool that is accessible to all processes simultaneously. 

EC2 users may construct their virtual machines (VMs), pick machine images (MIs) that are pre-configured, or modify MIs, and they can change the power, size, and memory of the VMs required. They can also choose the number of virtual machines they need. On the other hand, Azure users are given the option of creating a VM from a virtual hard disc (VHD). It uses virtual scale sets to provide scalability and enable load balancing. The main distinction is that EC2 may be customized for various uses, whereas Azure VMs work in tandem with other cloud-deployment tools.

2. Cloud storage offerings

Success of cloud deployment depends on having adequate storage. In this aspect, Azure and AWS are almost equally strong — however, their offerings in this regard are different. AWS has services like Amazon simple storage service (S3), elastic block store (EBS), and Glacier, whereas Azure Storage Services offers blob storage, disk storage, and standard archive.

Using AWS S3, customers can gain from a scalable, secure, and robust storage solution for unstructured and structured data use cases. In contrast, Azure offers data storage in Azure Blogs, Azure Queues, Azure Disks, Azure Tables, and Azure Files. Both offer an infinite number of permissible objects. However, AWS has a 5 TB object size restriction, whereas Azure has a 4.75 TB limit. 

3. Security and data privacy 

AWS performs an excellent job of selecting secure alternatives and settings by default, ensuring enhanced privacy. Azure uses Microsoft’s Cloud Defender service for security and data privacy – an artificial intelligence-powered solution that protects against new and emerging threats. However, Azure services may not be 100% secure by default, such as virtual machine instances deployed with all ports open unless otherwise configured. 

4. Documentation and simplicity of use 

AWS offers greater ease of use and is good for first-time cloud platform adopters. The first is the dashboard, which is both feature-rich and user-friendly. AWS also provides extensive documentation for its cloud services. To host a simple EC2 instance, users can type their queries into the AWS search box and navigate to “Documentation” for a video or written lesson.

However, adding users and access rules is more complex in AWS. Azure keeps all the user accounts and information in one place, although its documentation and recommendations system is less intuitive and search-friendly.

5. Licensing and license mobility

Both Azure and AWS ensure that customers do not have to deal with licensing hassles or license mobility issues. As both follow a pay-as-you-go pricing structure, customers only need to pay for the services that they use, and if they’ve previously paid for the service, they’re qualified for license mobility in Microsoft Azure. 

Although Azure is easier to set up for Windows administrators, AWS is more configurable and feature-rich. When comparing AWS vs. Azure, it’s evident that most of the services are identical on both platforms. On the other hand, Azure has a greater number of software as a service (SaaS) features than AWS. This includes SaaS offerings like Azure Scheduler, Azure Site Recovery, Azure Visual Studio Online, and Azure Event Hubs. However, AWS appears to be leading in terms of flexibility and adaptation to the open-source community and revenue generation.

See More: What Is Cloud Migration? Definition, Process, Benefits, and Trends

6. Networking and content delivery

Finding a secure and isolated network is vital for cloud users, and network performance is a key parameter in cloud solutions. Both AWS and Azure have their perspective on the creation of isolated networks.

Users can use the cloud to generate isolated private networks using AWS’ virtual private cloud (VPC). Application programming interfaces (API) gateways are then used for cross-premises connectivity. During network connectivity, elastic load balancing is used to ensure smooth operation. Within a VPC, users have many possibilities for creating private IP ranges, route tables, network gateways, etc. 

In comparison, Azure leverages a virtual network instead of a VPC. A virtual private network (VPN) gateway provides cross-network communication. 

Cloud-compatible firewall alternatives are available from both AWS and Microsoft Azure to extend on-premise data centers into the cloud without endangering data or business processes.

7. Machine learning (ML) modeling

Both AWS and Azure have machine learning studios for machine learning (ML) model development. To work with AWS artificial intelligence (AI) tools, one needs coding and data science skills. AWS’s SageMaker gives total freedom and flexibility in creating ML models. To implement an idea and take full advantage of AWS capabilities, the user needs to be well-versed in Jupiter Notebook and have an expert level in Python, making SageMaker ideal for developers with experience, coding knowledge, and strong data engineering expertise. 

On the contrary, Azure ML Studio is primarily focused on providing a codeless experience. Its interface features easy drag-and-drop pieces that let users build a comprehensive ML model with little to no programming knowledge. One doesn’t need to know Python or be an expert in advanced data science techniques to participate. The service aims at data analysts who prefer a simple interface and a visual presentation of elements.

Because artifacts and resources are stored in the same bucket and organized into distinct folders, finding them in SageMaker is pretty simple. In Azure, everything merges together. Artifacts related to the same model launch are often placed in different locations, so it isn’t easy to find and study them.

8. Logging and monitoring 

SageMaker logs model metrics and historical data via CloudWatch. CloudWatch converts the data into a usable format and retains the information for 15 months; additionally, it allows you to track model behavior and make modifications or updates as needed.

Azure ML Studio uses MLFlow for monitoring and recording data. With visual presentation and graphical features, the overall procedure is incredibly intuitive. One can set up automated logging for convenient recording, eliminating the need to log statements explicitly. When comparing the two systems, the Azure mechanism is ahead regarding simplicity of use and data presentation.

9. Database capabilities

The two solutions offer a wide range of database services to handle both structured and unstructured information or big data. In terms of durability in data management, AWS users can gain from Amazon RDS, whereas Azure has the Azure SQL server database option. 

Amazon’s relational database service (RDS) is compatible with six database engines: MariaDB, Amazon Aurora, MySQL, Microsoft SQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle.

The SQL server database solution is based solely on Microsoft SQL, when it comes to Azure. Concerning the interface, Azure has a friendlier or smoother interface, whereas AWS offers better provisioning and more instances. In terms of reach, these services are pretty comparable, offering analytics and big data capabilities. For the same, AWS has Elastic MapReduce (EMR), and Azure offers HD Insights. Further, Azure users can access the Cortana Intelligence Suite, covering Spark, Hadoop, HBase, and Storm. 

In comparison to Azure, AWS provides a relatively mature environment for big data handling. Both systems are compatible with relational and NoSQL databases. They’re widely available, long-lasting, and provide simple, automatic replication. Although AWS offers additional instance kinds, Azure’s tooling  and interface are incredibly easy to use, making it straightforward to complete numerous database operations.

10. Open-source development 

AWS is good for open-source developers as it is compatible with Linux and offers many integrations for varied open-source applications. In contrast, Azure provides an option for corporate customers that allows users to utilize existing active directory accounts to sign on to Azure and execute apps based on the .net framework on Linux, Windows, and macOS environments, of which .net and Linux are important for open-source development. Microsoft Azure is still in the process of embracing the open-source community, which contributes to the domination of AWS in the open-source cloud hosting space. 

See More: Top 10 Public Cloud Hosting Service Providers in 2021

11. Processes for deploying applications

One of the benefits of cloud providers is the ease with which an application may be deployed. Users in developer roles may want to deliver their applications on multiple servers virtually by leveraging platform as a service (PaaS) capabilities. To support this, Azure offers a variety of app deployment options, including cloud services, container services, functions, batches, and app services, among others. AWS also has similar capabilities with Elastic Beanstalk, Batch, Lambda, containers, etc. However, it lacks a few features in terms of app hosting – for example, Azure safeguards intellectual property and provides better processing for backend data streams. 

12. Containerization and container orchestration support

AWS offers several container services for use cases such as IoT, mobile application development, and the development of desktop computing environments, and it also provides native Docker support for containerization. Microsoft is at par with AWS in this area and may go further, as it offers Hadoop support through Azure HDInsight. Both Windows containers and Hyper-V containers can be integrated with Docker in Azure with Windows Server 2016. Windows or Linux containers can also be run on the platform.

Containerized apps in AWS run using Elastic Beanstalk, which supports Docker files through a command-line interface. In Azure, the same functionality is performed by App Service, but the process is slightly more complex as one must run the container inside of a web app. 

13. Cloud market growth

For the first quarter of 2021, Amazon reported revenues of $13.5 billion, higher than expert expectations of $13.1 billion. This is significantly higher than the first quarter of 2020 when AWS brought in revenues of $10.33 billion. AWS revenue increased by 32% in the quarter, up from 28% in the previous quarter. AWS revenue represented approximately 12% of Amazon’s total revenue in that quarter and nearly 47% of Amazon’s overall operating profits. AWS’s growing profitability is a major driver of Amazon’s growth.

While Amazon discloses AWS revenue, Microsoft discloses the growth rate of Azure. This accounted for a 50% revenue increase during the previous quarter in Q2 of 2021, higher than the 46% growth predicted by analysts. Growth was reported at 59% this time last year. However, the data regarding the revenue that Microsoft does provide is from the “Intelligence Cloud” division, of which Azure is a part. It had a 23% increase in revenue to $15.1 billion. Server goods and cloud services are also included in the functional group of its quarterly reports, which saw 26% growth.

14. Pricing model

In terms of pricing, AWS and Azure both offer reasonable pricing and a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Moreover, both provide free introductory packages to give users an idea about how their systems can be integrated with on-premise software. AWS is billed on an hourly basis, with instances purchasable: 

• On-demand: Pay only for the resources and services you use
• Spot: Bid for extra capacity availability
• Reserved: Reserve an instance for up to three years with an upfront payment

Meanwhile, Azure is billed on a per-minute basis, which means users can gain from a more exact pricing component than AWS. It also allows you to enter short-term commitments to choose from prepaid or monthly charges. Short-term subscription plans on Azure provide more flexibility. Furthermore, pricing for Microsoft Azure using BT MPLS ExpressRoute is available, allowing you to improve private corporate networks into the cloud with appropriate functionality. 

However, when the two are compared, Azure usually turns out to be the more expensive option and can add to a company’s cloud costs. This can be demonstrated in the example of Azure instances, which get more expensive as they grow in size. Azure will cost nearly twice as much as AWS for a 256GB RAM and 64vPCU configuration.

See More: Top 10 Cloud Security Challenges 2021 Needs to Address

Takeaways 

Azure and AWS offer similar features to their customers, and both cloud products are incredibly comprehensive. Users will be able to host various applications, learn about the cloud offering, use AI and ML, and gain from open-source contributions. However, a few key differences remain, mainly in the pricing model and documentation approach.

Most Azure adopters are influenced by the availability of the larger Microsoft ecosystem, including various productivity tools, business apps, and, of course, Windows. On the other hand, AWS can be more affordable and is often the better choice for first-time adopters. 

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