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AWS vs Azure: Which Is Better for Your Business?

By December 31, 2020No Comments6 min read
AWS vs Azure

Cloud computing is rapidly growing with time. Azure and AWS are currently the biggest cloud providers available in the market. However, it can be very difficult to choose between these two cloud providers.

AWS have access to more than 2 million servers and their annual revenue is $10 billion. They are currently powering more than 40% of the market. Most companies trust AWS as they are the oldest cloud player in the market. Azure is a new platform when compared with AWS. However, it is growing rapidly every month. They are adding 120,000 customers every month. Azure already has a user base of 5 million developers.

You should know about the different functionalities and features provided by these platforms. In this article, we are going to compare these two platforms.

  1. Computational Power

Cloud players are offering excellent computational power to their users. If you are a developer, then you can create your own virtual machines. There are also readymade machine images available on these platforms. You can use the AWS EC2 version for customizing these machine images. AWS ensures that you can customize the power, capacity, and AWS of the Virtual machines. You can pick different zones and locations to launch and store your virtual machines.

Azure is offering VHD or Virtual hard disk to its users. You can also customize the VHD but you need to specify the location, amount, and memory of your VMs.

  1. Storage

Many companies still think that cloud storage is unlimited. However, cloud storage is not unlimited in nature. AWS is using temporary storage systems for allocating and creating instances. The memory will be deleted when the instance is destroyed by the users. AWS is also offering block storage options that are similar to the external hard disks. You can also attach or separate storage locations with your instance. AWS also supports Big Data and NoSQL.

Azure is also offering temporary storage to their customers. They are offering both block storage and D drive features to their users. You can execute them by using Files, Block Blobs, and Page Blobs. Azure supports RDBMS like Big Data and NoSQL by using HDInsight platforms and Azure Table. They are also offering import-export, azure backup, and site recovery. This will help you in adding extra recovery and archiving options.

  1. Networking features

You can improve your network capabilities by using cloud services. It will help you in establishing a transparent and solid communication channel. Cloud platforms will offer flexibility to your developers. AWS is offering VPC or Virtual private cloud to its users. This will help you in creating isolated networks in your cloud.

Azure is also offering VNET or Virtual network to its users. You can use it for producing subnets, remote networks, private IP addresses, network gateways, and route tables.

  1. Pricing models

Azure and AWS are providing various business models to their customers. They are trying to provide affordable pricing schemes to their customers. You can choose between various different options. Also, you can customize these plans according to your business needs.

AWS is already providing a pay-as-you-go model to its users. They will charge you on an hourly basis. You can buy instances whenever you need them. Also, you don’t need to worry about any upfront charges. You will only pay for the resources that you are actually using. They are also offering a reserved option to their users. This will help you in reserving some instances for 1-3 years. However, you need to pay some upfront costs. There is also a spot option available in the AWS which will help you in bidding for extra storage capacity.

Azure is also offering similar pricing to their customers. They are also using a pay-as-you-go model. However, Azure will actually charge you per minute. This is better when compared to AWS as they will charge you per hour. Azure is also offering short term pledges to its customers. You can pay these pledges as monthly charges. The AWS pricing actually depends on your usage but Azure instances mostly have a fixed monthly rate.

  1. Open Source networks and integrations

Amazon has great relations with the open-source community. This gives an extra boost to AWS users. You can easily integrate open-source tools on AWS like GitHub and Jenkins. AWS also works smoothly with the Linux servers. Thus, most developers love working on AWS.

Azure is a new platform and they don’t have access to a large open-source community. However, they are also offering various development tools like Active Directory, SQL Databases, and VBS. If you have already worked on the Widows framework, then Azure is perfect for you. Most .Net developers also prefer Azure. Azure can also support Apache Hadoop clusters and Enterprise Linux. Thus, they are slowly going to catch up with AWS.

  1. Legal Compliance

AWS always follows all government regulations and rules. Amazon has developed AWS In such a way that they can company with most of the government certifications. Thus, AWS is the most credible cloud platform available in the market. They are providing proper protection to their users. AWS is also offering a strong screening process to its users. This will ensure that only authorized users can access protected and sensitive files.

MS is also offering more than 50 compliant offerings like FIPS, HIPAA, CJIS, DISA, and ITAR. They also give a lot of importance to the security of their users. Azure is actually on par with AWS when compared to web security. You can protect your data by using data encryption tools. These files will be only screened on secure cloud systems and only authorized users can access them. Even MS employees won’t have access to your files.

Conclusion

Azure and AWS are similar in many aspects. Also, it is not fair to compare these two platforms. Both of these platforms are offering great services to their customers. The choice will ultimately depend on your business needs. There are pros and cons associated with both of these platforms. You should first evaluate your business needs. After that, you can find the best cloud platform for your business. Experienced MSPs like Bleuwire can help you in taking the right choice. They will help you in finding the best cloud provider for your business. Also, they will help you in migrating your data and applications to the cloud. If you need more information regarding cloud platforms, then you can contact Bleuwire.

Contact us today to learn about Bleuwire™  services and solutions in how we can help your business.