Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud: Which One to Choose

Cloud computing has made networking easy and eliminated complicated server rooms that, in the past, gave people in business headaches.

Cloud technology is crucial when building a successful business because it is very efficient and reliable compared to working manually. The major players in this sector, Google Cloud Platform (GCP) and Amazon Web Services (AWS), have invested heavily in improving the software and hardware to enhance the networking strategies.

Customers have benefited from this because of the improved services. Let’s go through a detailed comparative analysis of Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform based on key parameters.

1. Network

Google clouds and WPS use different structures to connect with their customers. For PVC products, Google clouds use a virtual private cloud while AWS uses Amazon VPC. Google cloud uses cloud DNS for DNS products, while WPS uses Amazon route 53. 

The network capacities of GCP and AWS vary as the platforms offer different numbers of virtual CPUs your business can have. GCPs caps peak performance at 2Gbps with the option of scalability by up to 16 Gbps using additional cores. Amazon Web Services offers a relatively higher bandwidth of up to 25Gbps. The minimum bandwidth of an EC2 instance is 10 Gbps. 

The technology advisor for an admission essay writing service that helps students enter the best engineering colleges says that the network latency used by the two tech companies varies. Google Cloud offers better latency, although performance could vary with location.

To avoid buffering, choose a network spot near you. Compare the performance of the network; reliability is a significant consideration.

Another distinctive feature from a network perspective is the load balance services that AWS and GCP offer. Amazon Web Services customers can use load balancing on both internal and external layers.

On the other hand, Google Cloud separates internal and load balancing services such that it restricts access. 

2. Storage

The type of storage used by a cloud provider impacts the performance directly. There are only two significant modes of storing data, block storage, and object storage.

Both cloud providers use these storage methods, but Google cloud has a bigger space compared to Amazon Web Services. Google cloud can accommodate between 1GB and 64 TB of data, giving the businessman plenty of room to keep records. 

WPS has storage space ranges from 1GB to 16GB. However, if the storage is a provisioned IOPS, the range starts from 4GB to 16TB. 

Fast access to data is one of the critical factors you consider when choosing between AWS and GCP. Google Cloud offers higher standard IOPs for both reads and writes and the highest IOPs-per-volume. Besides, Google Cloud offers a wider selection of storage volumes for businesses. 

3. Pricing

Businesses have become more cost-conscious. Most organizations prefer leaner systems that cut costs.

Despite the differences in their offerings, Google Cloud and Amazon Web Services have waged a price war and continuously reduce their prices. Google Cloud employs more of a market penetration strategy by offering its services at lower costs relative to AWS. 

GCP has discount programs that proffer price advantages to users. GCP is a preferable platform for organizations that require Big Data analysis. From this perspective, AWS prices are, on average, 20 percent higher than Google Cloud’s. Google Cloud also offers relatively cheaper database services.

Amazon Web Services uses per-hour billing with a minimum duration of one minute, especially on EC2 instances. The company’s pricing strategy is motivated by the greater flexibility this would offer for clients. Google uses per-second pricing.

Nonetheless, Google Cloud offers a more affordable alternative, with GCP’s 1-year and 3-year Committed Use Discount 28% and 35% lower than AWS 1-year and 3-year Reserved Instances, respectively. 

4. Security

Amazon Web Services prides itself on building a robust security infrastructure. The company has a large network of security partners that uses advanced security solutions.

Using cutting-edge technology, such as artificial intelligence, Amazon Web Services systems can detect anomalous network activity and initiate an automated response to mitigate attacks. AWS promises to respond to incidents in real-time, making its services worth purchasing. 

Rest assured of increased employee awareness of cybersecurity risks when you purchase AWS. Amazon Web Services offers online information security courses that enhance their clients’ responses to incidents and threats.

AWS emphasizes that its systems offer the same level of security that would be available to your business on-premises. Another attribute is the scalability of Amazon Web Services security. 

Google Cloud, on the other hand, offers flexibility that gives it an edge over the competition. Customers can either manage their profile keys or assign the responsibility to Google Cloud. The former option means GCP’s clients can effectively rotate, dispose, and manage keys. They can also audit or track key use.

AWBesides, GCP enables you to apply two-factor authentication. This provides an extra layer that secures your systems in case hackers crack your systems’ passwords. 

Despite boasting of secure platforms, both Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud have previously encountered severe breaches. For instance, a recent hack exposed the details of over 200 million Americans, which had been saved on GCP platforms in the US.

Hackers have also previously successfully infiltrated AWS platforms. This indicates that both platforms rank equal in terms of security.  

5. Global reach

Amazon Web Services has a better global reach than Google Cloud. AWS operates in over 77 zones spread across 24 regions in 245 countries.

GCP, on the other hand, is available in 73 zones in 35 countries. AWS also edges out GCP in terms of the number of additional data centers created annually.  

Their relative market share is another indicator of AWS’s stronger presence. As of the third quarter of 2020, AWS dominated the cloud computing industry with its market share of 32 percent. This was significantly higher than GCP, which had a share of 7 percent.

Therefore, Amazon Web Services is a better choice for multinational companies or firms based outside Europe and the United States. Better global reach and higher availability imply that AWS offers more scalable resources to businesses.

Nonetheless, it is important to note that some Amazon Web Services are exclusively offered to specific regions. 

6. Free Trials

One striking similarity is that both AWS and GCP offer free trials. As you are starting out, you may consider comparing the two through practical experience. GCP offers $300 free credits valid for one year and over 20 perpetually free products. This means you can enjoy some of Google Cloud’s services free for a lifetime. 

AWS free tiers include 750 hours of t2 and t3 micro instances for 12 months. AWS also offers 5GB of Amazon S3 standard storage with 20,000 guest requests and 2,000 put requests. The AWS one-year trial tier also includes 750 hours of db.t2.micro database usage, 20GB of SSD storage, and 20GB backup storage, among others. 

Although the two offer free annual trials, it is important to note that some offers are subject to several conditions. In this case, the recommended step is to visit each of these providers’ websites for more information. This enables you to get more informed before subscribing to either trial version. 

7. Key Tools

Amazon Web Services offers a range of powerful services to its customers. SageMaker is one of the prominent tools for tasks that involve machine learning. The Lex leverages natural language processing to power Alexa, while Greengrass IoT and Lambda provide messaging and serverless computing functionalities to users. 

DeepLeens is another outstanding service from Amazon Web Services. Businesses can use this computer vision technology in image and optical character recognition tasks. The offer gets better if your business is in the tech industry.

AWS Gluon enables both programmers and non-programmers to train neural networks on datasets. AWS clients can leverage the power of AI to improve business processes. 

However, GCP offers more powerful tools. Google has carved a niche as a leader in AI. Google’s Tensorflow has become the most popular library for machine learning tasks. It is also one of the most regarded software. AWS integration of Tensorflow with some of its services is a clear indication of Tensorflow’s prowess. 

Google Cloud also outperforms AWS in IoT and serverless computing. These services have strong APIs. GCP, therefore, offers better platforms for both machine learning and reporting tasks.  

8. Compute

Cloud providers use different computing technologies to run their machines. Google cloud uses KVM technology, while AWS uses Xen technology.

The RAM and ROM of both of them also vary. Google Cloud offers 160 virtual CPUs with up to 3,844GB of RAM, while AWS offers up to 128 virtual CPUs with 3,904 GB of RAM. 

Both offer wide arrays of instances. On one hand, AWS offers m4/m5 GP, c5 compute-optimized, and f1 Family FPGA. On the other hand, GCP offers a standard shared N1 core, high memory, and high CPU. 

However, GCP offers more flexibility since you can customized machine types based on your preferences. You can also upscale both the CPU time and memory or add premium processors at extra costs. Google cloud ranks better if your intention is to expand your business computing capabilities. 

Conclusion: Amazon Web Services or Google Cloud Platform

You must carefully read the services that each service provider offers. Before even thinking of looking for a cloud provider, ensure that your business has proper structures that can sustain it economically. The need for a broader market is entirely due to growth.

After successfully fulfilling the customers’ needs, you can consider widening your markets. This calls for alternative ideas like looking for a cloud service to scale your business in a secure cyber environment.