Cloud Services Comparison at a glance.
Cloud Computing
cloud computing means storing and accessing data and programs over the Internet instead of your computer’s hard drive. The cloud is just a metaphor for the Internet. Storing data on a home or office network does not count as utilizing the cloud.
Service | Amazon Web Services | Microsoft Azure | Oracle Cloud |
| Platform-as-a-Service | Elastic Beanstalk | Cloud Services | |
| Virtual private servers made easy | Lightsail | Virtual Machine Images | |
| Deploy, manage, and maintain virtual servers | Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) | Virtual Machines Virtual Machine Scale Sets | |
| Automatically scale instances | Auto Scaling | Virtual Machine Scale Sets App Service Scale Capability (PAAS) AutoScaling | |
| Docker container registry | EC2 Container Registry (ECR) | Container Registry | |
| Management support for Docker/Kubernetes containers | EC2 Container Service (ECS) Kubernetes (EKS) | Container Service Container Service (AKS) | |
| Orchestrate and manage microservice-based applications | Service Fabric | ||
| Integrate systems and run backend logic processes | Lamda | Functions Event Grid Web Jobs | |
| Run large-scale parallel and high-performance batch computing | Batch | Batch | |
Storage
A key function of cloud services is its storage capabilities. While AWS’ storage services are the longest running, Google’s and Microsoft Azure’s are also very respectable and reliable options.
| Service | Amazon Web Services | Microsoft Azure | Oracle Cloud |
| Virtual server disk infrastructure | Elastic Block Store (EBS) | Storage (Page Blobs) | |
| Object storage service for use cases | Simple Storage Services (S3) | Storage (Block Blob) | |
| Archive storage | S3 Infrequent Access (IA) Glacier Data Archive | Storage (Cool) Storage (Archive) | |
| Create and configure shared file systems | Elastic File System (EFS) | Files | |
| Hybrid storage | Storage Gateway | StorSimple | |
| Bulk data transfer solutions | Import/Export Disk Snowball Edge Snowmobile | Import/Export Azure Data Box | |
| Backup | Object Storage Cold Archive Storage Storage Gateway | Backup | |
| Automatic protection and disaster recovery | Disaster Recovery | Site Recovery | |
Networking and Content Delivery
Each provider offers different networks and partners which interconnect their data centers across the globe using a variety of different products to achieve this.
| Service | Amazon Web Services | Microsoft Azure | Oracle Cloud |
| Isolated, private cloud private networking | Virtual Private Cloud | Virtual Network | |
| Cross-premises connectivity | API Gateway | VPN Gateway | |
| Manage DNS names and records | Route 53 | Azure DNS Traffic Manager | |
| Global content delivery networks | CloudFront | Content Delivery Network | |
| Dedicated, private network connection | Direct Connect | ExpressRoute | |
| Load balancing configuration | Elastic Load Balancing | Load Balancer Application Gateway | |
Database
All three providers allow you to implement both SQL and NoSQL solutions. Alternatively, if you don’t need a database, go for their caching capabilities instead.
| Service | Amazon Web Services | Microsoft Azure | Oracle Cloud |
| Managed relational database-as-a-service | RDS | SQL Database Database for MySQL Database for PostgreSQL | |
| NoSQL (Indexed) | DynamoDB | Cosmos DB | |
| NoSQL (Key-value) | DynamoDB SimpleDB | Table Storage | |
| Application or Memory Caching | ElastiCache | Redis Cache | |
| Database migration | Database Migration Service | Database Migration Service | |
| Managed data warehouse | Redshift | SQL Data Warehouse | |
Security
Here, we cover the range of capabilities provided to protect services and data.
| Service | Amazon Web Services | Microsoft Azure | Oracle Cloud |
| Authentication and authorization | Identity and Access Management (IAM) Organizations | Active Directory Active Directory Premium | |
| Protect and safeguard with data encryption | Key Management Service | Storage Service Encryption | |
| Hardware-based security modules | CloudHSM | Key Vault | |
| Cloud security assessment and certification services | Inspector Certificate Manager | Security Center App Service Certificates | |
| Firewall | Web Application Firewall | Application Gateway | |
| Directory services | AWS Directory Service | Active Directory Domain Services | |
| Identity management | Cognito | Active Directory B2C | |
| Cloud security assessment and certification services | certification services Inspector Certificate Manager | Security Center App Service Certificates | |
| Support cloud directories | Directory Service | Windows Server Active Directory | |
| Compliance | Artifact | Service Trust Portal | |
| Cloud services with protection | Shield | DDoS Protection Service | |
Management and Monitoring
Each of the top three offers a range of management and monitoring services which provide visibility into the health, performance, and utilization of applications, workloads, and infrastructure.
| Service | Amazon Web Services | Microsoft Azure | Oracle Cloud |
| Cloud adviser capabilities | Trusted Advisor | Advisor | |
| DevOps deployment orchestration | OpsWorks (Chef-based) CloudFormation | Automation Resource Manager VM extensions | |
| Cloud resources management & monitoring | CloudWatch X-Ray Management Console | Portal Monitor Application Insights | |
| Administration | Application Discovery Service Systems Manager Personal Health Dashboard | Log Analytics Operations Management Suite Resource Health Storage Explorer | |
| Billing | Billing API | Billing API | |
Developer Tools
And finally, the tools you need to build, deploy, diagnose, debug, and manage multiplatform, scalable applications and services.
| Service | Amazon Web Services | Microsoft Azure | Oracle Cloud |
| Media transcoding | Elastic Transcoder | Media Services | |
| Improve and optimize workflow | Simple Workflow Service (SWF) | Logic Apps | |
| API management | API Gateway | API Management | |
| App testing | Device Farm | DevTest Labs (backend) | |
| Git Repositories | AWS Source Repositories | Azure Source Repositories | |
| DevOps | CodeBuild | Visual Studio Team Services | |
| Programmatic access | Command Line Interface | Command Line Interface (CLI) PowerShell | |
| Predefined templates | Quick Start | Quickstart templates | |
| Managed hosting platforms | Elastic Beanstalk | Web Apps (App Service) Cloud Services API Apps (App Service) | |
| Application deployment | CodeDeploy CodeCommit CodePipeline | Visual Studio Team Services | |
| Developer Tools | Developer Tools | Developer Tools | |
Services names
