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Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are the two leading cloud service providers in the world, each offering a variety of highly scalable services for businesses with limited IT resources. Both companies are growing rapidly and capturing market share from smaller players. So what sets them apart in a GCP vs AWS comparison?
While they both have their own pros and cons, it can be difficult to choose between them when you’re planning your next big project or data-driven initiative. To help you make an informed decision, this guide will go over some of the key similarities and differences between the two cloud service providers. Without further ado, let’s dive in.
GCP vs. AWS: Side-by-Side Comparison
| Google Cloud Platform | Amazon Web Services | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Google Cloud Platform is a collection of Google’s publicly available cloud computing resources and services | Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a secure cloud platform developed and managed by Amazon |
| Primary Use | Cloud service provider | Cloud service provider |
| Containers | Only Kubernetes | Kubernetes, Docker |
| VM Disk Storage | Persistent Disk (both SSD & HDD) | Amazon EBS (Amazon Elastic Block Store) |
| Volume Sizes | 1GB to 64TB | 500GB to 16TB |
| Pricing | Per minute basis | Per hour basis |
| File Storage | Cloud File Store | Amazon EFS (Amazon Elastic File System) |
| Data Transmission Format | Fully encrypted format | General format |
| Max IOPS Per Volume | 3000 read 15000 write | 500 |
GCP vs. AWS: Overview
The Google cloud computing platform assists businesses in growing and thriving. It also allows you to take advantage of Google’s infrastructure by providing secure, intelligent, and highly flexible cloud services. On the other hand, AWS is a platform that offers scalable, reliable, flexible, easy-to-use, and cost-effective cloud computing solutions.
The AWS cloud computing platform offers a vast array of cloud services that combine to form a full-fledged platform. It’s referred to as a powerhouse of storage, databases, networking, analytics, and delivery/deployment options provided to developers.
To use AWS service, customers must sign up for an AWS account. After completing this procedure, users can start any service under their account that falls within Amazon’s stated boundaries, and these services are billed to their account. If need be, users can create sub-accounts that roll up to their billing accounts. In this way, organizations can imitate a typical organizational billing structure.
Services
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Similarly, to use GCP’s services, users must set up a Google account. GCP, on the other hand, groups service consumption by projects rather than accounts. So, users can create multiple completely distinct projects using this concept while using the same account.
This concept can be useful in an organizational setting since it enables users to make project areas for various departments or groups within an organization. This architecture can be helpful for testing because it allows users to delete projects once done working on them, which also deletes all of the resources they generated.
In addition, AWS and GCP apply default soft limitations to new accounts. These “soft limits” aren’t related to a service’s technical constraints; rather, they’re put in place to help stop fraudulent accounts from consuming excess resources.
They also reduce the risk for new users by preventing them from spending more money than they meant to as they experiment with the platform. If you discover that your application has surpassed these restrictions, AWS and GCP offer simple channels for contacting the appropriate internal teams and requesting that the service’s limits be increased.
GCP vs. AWS: What’s the Difference?
Of course, the two major cloud providers have the experience and expertise to deliver dependable and feature-rich cloud services. However, before committing to a single cloud platform for business, research and analyze each one to understand its capabilities and unique characteristics. Here are the major differences between the two cloud service providers.
1. Availability
AWS was the first to offer cloud services worldwide. This implies that they have had far more time to build their global networks. Naturally, compared to their rivals, they have a lot more availability zones. Currently, over 84 of them are offered through Amazon Web Services. This figure exceeds Google Cloud’s 24 availability regions, which include a total of 73 zones.
2. Services Offered
The main difference between the two companies is the number of services offered. Cloud platforms are appropriate for a wide variety of enterprises due to the wide range of services they provide. AWS has the most products because it was the first to join the industry.
It provides a wide range of infrastructure as a service (IaaS), including networking, storage, database, and computation. By contrast, the Google Cloud Platform delivers payment configuration flexibility, cost-effectiveness, traffic security, privacy, and machine learning capabilities.
3. Compute, Storage, and Networking
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The primary compute service from AWS are its EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instances, which may be enhanced with several capabilities. Elastic Beanstalk for app deployment, AWS Lambda, EC2 Container Service, ECS for Kubernetes (EKS), and Autoscaling are all available.
In its data centers, Google’s customizable Compute Engine provides VMs (virtual machines). They boot quickly, have excellent performance and persistent disk storage, and are highly configurable based on customer needs.
Elastic File System (EFS), Simple Storage (S3), Elastic Block Storage (EBS), Glacier archive backup, Import/ Export large volume data transfer service, and Storage Gateway, which interacts with on-premise settings, are among the AWS storage services.
Both platforms provide robust networking capabilities, including automatic server load balancing and on-premise system connectivity.
4. Resource Management Interfaces
GCP and AWS each offer a command-line interface (CLI) to allow interaction with the services and resources. AWS offers Amazon CLI, whereas Google Cloud Platform provides the Cloud SDK. Each is a cross-platform CLI with binaries for Windows, Linux, and macOS, and each is a unified CLI for all services.
Additionally, Google Cloud Shell in GCP enables you to access the Cloud SDK in your Web browser. Both GCP and AWS also offer Web-based consoles. What’s more, users may build, administer, and monitor their resources via each console.
5. Pricing
Pricing is one area where these two market leaders do not differ significantly. AWS operates on a pay-as-you-go model, charging customers per hour—even if they only use one minute of it. Google Cloud uses a real-time pricing model.
Many experts advise enterprises to evaluate their public cloud needs on an individual basis and complement specific applications and workloads with the vendor that provides the best fit for their requirements. Each of the leading vendors has distinct qualities and flaws that make them an excellent choice for specific projects.
Google Cloud Platform: Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Excellent compatibility with other Google services | The majority of its components are based on Google proprietary technology; there is no real control over Virtual Machines |
| Fast I/O | Programming languages are scarce |
| Facilitates easy collaboration | Fewer features compared to AWS |
| Excellent data analytics and storage | Small and difficult components to start |
| Adjustable pricing | Compared to AWS, has fewer global data centers |
| Offers a better UI, hence improving user experience | |
| Good portability, and integration with open source |
Amazon Web Services: Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Provide centralized billing and management | The AWS deployment process is difficult and time-consuming, taking up to 15 to 20 minutes for a simple website |
| Hybrid capabilities | For startups without a strong technical background, AWS is not the best choice |
| A wide range of infrastructure applications | In AWS, launching multiple app instances is difficult |
| Highly flexible | Cost prohibitive |
| Transition is simple for users with existing digital infrastructure | |
| Frequently maintained and updated | |
| Support available for large enterprises |
GCP vs. AWS: 6 Must-Know Facts
- AWS volume sizes range from 500 GB to 16 TB, while those of Google Cloud from 1 GB to 64 TB.
- In contrast to AWS, which transmits data in a general format, Google Cloud Services transmit data in a fully encrypted format.
- AWS utilizes Cloud DNS, whereas Google Cloud Platform uses Amazon Route 53 as its DNS. Additionally, both platforms use the SSE 256-bit AES encryption algorithm.
- In AWS, Iaas (Infrastructure as a Service) is offered using Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud. GCP uses Google Compute Engine to provide this service.
- Google Cloud uses both Docker and Kubernetes, whereas AWS uses Kubernetes.
- Google Cloud is a collection of Google’s public cloud computing services and resources, whereas AWS is an Amazon-developed and managed secure cloud service.
GCP vs. AWS: Which One Should You Use?
Both GCP and AWS are excellent platforms. So, before making a decision, you should understand what type of feature your organization requires and how much you are willing to pay for it. Remember that the right cloud service provider can help you achieve your business goals by improving your organization’s functioning.
Also, keep in mind that a combination of two or three cloud service providers may be the solution. According to a 2022 report, 89% of organizations have a multi-cloud strategy, with 80% opting for a hybrid solution (combining private and public clouds).
Ultimately, the winner of this GCP vs. AWS comparison will depend on your needs and preferences. However, since Amazon Web Services is the market leader when it comes to reliability and features, our vote will tilt toward them.
