We’ll here take a deep dive into both Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services (AWS), comparing them side-by-side on a number of criteria to help you make an informed decision for your business:
1. Compute Services:
There are basically 4 service models available for compute services:
Let’s walk through each one by one:
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS):
To automate some of the common tasks, this computing model delivers servers, network, OS and storage resources to consumers’ on-demand.
For IaaS, Amazon provides Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) and Google Cloud provides Compute Engine. Amazon EC2 and Compute Engine offer quite a similar set of features:
Platform as a Service (PaaS):
PaaS is a type of cloud computing service in which a cloud vendor offers a platform to clients through which they can develop, run and manage complete business applications.
For PaaS, Amazon offers AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Google Cloud offers App Engine.
Function as a Service (FaaS):
It’s a serverless cloud computing model that provides a platform to run individual functions in response to certain events.
For FaaS, Google Cloud offers Cloud Functions whereas Amazon provides AWS Lambda.
Comparing the 2, it can be observed that Google Cloud’s terminology and concepts matches that of AWS Lambda:
Containers as a Service (CaaS):
CaaS is a container-based virtualization in which container engines and the underlying resources are provided to users by cloud vendors.
Google Cloud offer Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) and Amazon offers Amazon EC2 Container Service (ECS) for CaaS.
2. Storage Services:
The type of storage used by cloud providers have direct impact on performance parameters such as expected throughput and max IOPs per volume/instance among others. Hence it is crucial to know the kind of storage system used by cloud service providers.
Let’s here compare the storage services provided by Google and Amazon in cloud environment. There are mainly 2 storage options available in both GCP and AWS: Block Storage and Object Storage
a. Block Storage:
In Block Storage System, data is stored in blocks and volumes. Google Compute Engine offers this via persistent disks, whereas Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud offers it via Elastic Block Storage(EBS).
a. Object Storage:
Mainly known as Distributed Object Storage, it’s a storage system for storing and accessing large number of binary objects or blobs of varying sizes.
For Object Storage, Google Compute Engine offers Google Cloud Storage and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) offers Amazon S3 service.
3. Free Trials :
If you are just starting out in the cloud ecosystem and want to test the cloud ‘waters’, you can get started with varied free trials offered by both the cloud service providers.
Google Cloud Free Tier:
Google Cloud Free Tier includes 2 different types of free offers:
a. $300 Free Credit: A 3-month free trial for any cloud services with $300 in credit.
b. Always Free: A limited access to many of Google’s common cloud resources completely free of charge. Moreover, it is not time-bound.
AWS Free Tier:
AWS provides 3 different types of offers depending on the product used:
a. 12 Months Free: This program offers customer a chance to explore and try out Amazon Cloud resources free of charge for 12 months.
b. Always Free: The Always Free program offers limited access to several AWS services free of charge.
c. Free Trials: A short-term free trial offers that starts with the first usage.
Before starting, make sure to check out the free trial offerings by each cloud service providers on their respective websites.
4. Billing & Pricing:
Next coming down to the costing comparisons, the pricing structure is pretty complex among both the service providers. Thus, AWS and Google Cloud Platform offers monthly calculators to help you get started:
Google Cloud Pricing Calculator
Moreover, there are several third-party management apps and tools available in the market to help you understand your bills better and even optimize for your options thereby reducing the overall cloud costs. I strongly recommend using a Cloud Cost Management Software like Cloudability or ParkMyCloud for usage monitoring.
To take a deeper dive in the pricing ocean, visit individual cloud service providers’ website. We here discuss the pricing details of both the platforms superficially:
Google Cloud Platform:
In the Cloud Service industry, Google stands out by trying to make the pricing more open and customer-friendly. Customers can get estimated exports on GCP via their BigQuery tool. If you are looking for a budget-friendly cloud services that shows promising growth potential, you must definitely opt for Google Cloud Platform.
AWS:
AWS offers non-transparent pricing structure, however, it does offer a dashboard to get deeper insights into your bill.
Over to You: Which Cloud Service Provider Wins the Game?
It is clear from all the above mentioned points that there is no clear winner when it comes to selecting between the 2 cloud giants — Google Cloud Platform and AWS.
Being in the cloud industry for around 15 years now, AWS holds a good experience of serving several large businesses and enterprises. It is therefore a perfect platform for larger companies looking for cloud-based enterprise solutions. On the other hand, though being a late entrant in the cloud industry, Google Cloud Platform is expanding at a rapid rate! Step up your game with Google Cloud Platform if you are looking for innovative and cost-efficient cloud solutions for your business.
The tactic is to analyze the key parameters of both the cloud service providers and then to pick one that helps you solve your crucial business problems.
Which cloud service provider will you prefer for your business? Share with me your thoughts by commenting below.
