AWS to Azure services comparison

08/11/2020

21 minutes to read

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In this article

This article helps you understand how Microsoft Azure services compare to Amazon Web Services (AWS). Whether you are planning a multicloud solution with Azure and AWS, or migrating to Azure, you can compare the IT capabilities of Azure and AWS services in all categories.

This article compares services that are roughly comparable. Not every AWS service or Azure service is listed, and not every matched service has exact feature-for-feature parity.

Azure and AWS for multicloud solutions

As the leading public cloud platforms, Azure and AWS each offer a broad and deep set of capabilities with global coverage. Yet many organizations choose to use both platforms together for greater choice and flexibility, as well as to spread their risk and dependencies with a multicloud approach. Consulting companies and software vendors might also build on and use both Azure and AWS, as these platforms represent most of the cloud market demand.

For an overview of Azure for AWS users, see Introduction to Azure for AWS professionals.

Marketplace

AWS service Azure service Description AWS Marketplace Azure Marketplace Easy-to-deploy and automatically configured third-party applications, including single virtual machine or multiple virtual machine solutions.

AI and machine learning

AI and machine learning architectures

Image classification on Azure 7/05/2018 4 min read Learn how to build image processing into your applications by using Azure services such as the Computer Vision API and Azure Functions.

Predictive Marketing with Machine Learning 12/16/2019 2 min read Learn how to build a machine-learning model with Microsoft R Server on Azure HDInsight Spark clusters to recommend actions to maximize the purchase rate.

Scalable personalization on Azure 5/31/2019 6 min read Use machine learning to automate content-based personalization for customers.



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Big data and analytics

Data warehouse

AWS service Azure service Description Redshift Synapse Analytics Cloud-based Enterprise Data Warehouse (EDW) that uses Massively Parallel Processing (MPP) to quickly run complex queries across petabytes of data. Lake Formation Data Share A simple and safe service for sharing big data

Data warehouse architectures

Modern Data Warehouse Architecture 12/16/2019 2 min read Explore a cloud data warehouse that uses big data. Modern data warehouse brings together all your data and scales easily as your data grows.

Automated enterprise BI 6/03/2020 13 min read Automate an extract, load, and transform (ELT) workflow in Azure using Azure Data Factory with Azure Synapse Analytics.



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Big data processing

AWS service Azure service Description EMR Databricks Apache Spark-based analytics platform. EMR HDInsight Managed Hadoop service. Deploy and manage Hadoop clusters in Azure. EMR Data Lake Storage Massively scalable, secure data lake functionality built on Azure Blob Storage.

Big data architectures

Azure data platform end-to-end 1/31/2020 7 min read Use Azure services to ingest, process, store, serve, and visualize data from different sources.

Campaign Optimization with Azure HDInsight Spark Clusters 12/16/2019 4 min read This solution demonstrates how to build and deploy a machine learning model with Microsoft R Server on Azure HDInsight Spark clusters to recommend actions to maximize the purchase rate of leads targeted by a campaign. This solution enables efficient handling of big data on Spark with Microsoft R Server.



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Data orchestration / ETL

AWS service Azure service Description Data Pipeline, Glue Data Factory Processes and moves data between different compute and storage services, as well as on-premises data sources at specified intervals. Create, schedule, orchestrate, and manage data pipelines. Glue Data Catalog A fully managed service that serves as a system of registration and system of discovery for enterprise data sources Dynamo DB Table Storage, Cosmos DB NoSQL key-value store for rapid development using massive semi-structured datasets.

Analytics and visualization

Analytics architectures

Advanced Analytics Architecture 12/16/2019 2 min read Get near real-time data analytics on streaming services. This big data architecture allows you to combine any data at any scale with custom machine learning.

Automated enterprise BI 6/03/2020 13 min read Automate an extract, load, and transform (ELT) workflow in Azure using Azure Data Factory with Azure Synapse Analytics.

Mass ingestion and analysis of news feeds on Azure 2/01/2019 5 min read Create a pipeline for ingesting and analyzing text, images, sentiment, and other data from RSS news feeds using only Azure services, including Azure Cosmos DB and Azure Cognitive Services.



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Compute

Virtual servers

Containers and container orchestrators

Container architectures

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Serverless

AWS service Azure service Description Lambda Functions Integrate systems and run backend processes in response to events or schedules without provisioning or managing servers.

Serverless architectures

Database

Database architectures

Gaming using Cosmos DB 12/16/2019 1 min read Elastically scale your database to accommodate unpredictable bursts of traffic and deliver low-latency multi-player experiences on a global scale.

Oracle Database Migration to Azure 12/16/2019 2 min read Oracle DB migrations can be accomplished in multiple ways. This architecture covers one of these options wherein Oracle Active Data Guard is used to migrate the Database.

Retail and e-commerce using Azure MySQL 12/16/2019 1 min read Build secure and scalable e-commerce solutions that meet the demands of both customers and business. Engage customers through customized products and offers, process transactions quickly and securely, and focus on fulfillment and customer service.



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DevOps and application monitoring

Devops architectures

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Internet of things (IoT)

AWS service Azure service Description IoT IoT Hub A cloud gateway for managing bidirectional communication with billions of IoT devices, securely and at scale. Greengrass IoT Edge Deploy cloud intelligence directly on IoT devices to run in on-premises scenarios. Kinesis Firehose, Kinesis Streams Event Hubs Services that allow the mass ingestion of small data inputs, typically from devices and sensors, to process and route the data. IoT Things Graph Digital Twins Azure Digital Twins is an IoT service that helps you create comprehensive models of physical environments. Create spatial intelligence graphs to model the relationships and interactions between people, places, and devices. Query data from a physical space rather than disparate sensors.

IOT architectures

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Management

Messaging and eventing

Messaging architectures

Anomaly Detector Process 12/16/2019 1 min read Learn more about Anomaly Detector with a step-by-step flowchart that details the process. See how anomaly detection models are selected with time-series data.



Mobile services

Device Farm

The AWS Device Farm provides cross-device testing services. In Azure, Visual Studio App Center provides similar cross-device front-end testing for mobile devices.

In addition to front-end testing, the Azure DevTest Labs provides back-end testing resources for Linux and Windows environments.

Mobile architectures

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Networking

Networking architectures

Deploy highly available NVAs 12/08/2018 7 min read Learn how to deploy network virtual appliances for high availability in Azure. This article includes example architectures for ingress, egress, and both.

Hub-spoke network topology in Azure 5/21/2020 11 min read Learn how to implement a hub-spoke topology in Azure, where the hub is a virtual network and the spokes are virtual networks that peer with the hub.

Implement a secure hybrid network 1/07/2020 9 min read See a secure hybrid network that extends an on-premises network to Azure with a perimeter network between the on-premises network and an Azure virtual network.



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Security, identity, and access

Authentication and authorization

Encryption

Firewall

AWS service Azure service Description Web Application Firewall Web Application Firewall A firewall that protects web applications from common web exploits. Web Application Firewall Firewall Provides inbound protection for non-HTTP/S protocols, outbound network-level protection for all ports and protocols, and application-level protection for outbound HTTP/S.

Security

Security architectures

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Storage

Object storage

AWS service Azure service Description Simple Storage Services (S3) Blob storage Object storage service, for use cases including cloud applications, content distribution, backup, archiving, disaster recovery, and big data analytics.

Virtual server disks

AWS service Azure service Description Elastic Block Store (EBS) managed disks SSD storage optimized for I/O intensive read/write operations. For use as high-performance Azure virtual machine storage.

Shared files

AWS service Azure service Description Elastic File System Files Provides a simple interface to create and configure file systems quickly, and share common files. Can be used with traditional protocols that access files over a network.

Archiving and backup

AWS service Azure service Description S3 Infrequent Access (IA) Storage cool tier Cool storage is a lower-cost tier for storing data that is infrequently accessed and long-lived. S3 Glacier, Deep Archive Storage archive access tier Archive storage has the lowest storage cost and higher data retrieval costs compared to hot and cool storage. Backup Backup Back up and recover files and folders from the cloud, and provide offsite protection against data loss.

Hybrid storage

AWS service Azure service Description Storage Gateway StorSimple Integrates on-premises IT environments with cloud storage. Automates data management and storage, plus supports disaster recovery. DataSync File Sync Azure Files can be deployed in two main ways: by directly mounting the serverless Azure file shares or by caching Azure file shares on-premises using Azure File Sync.

Bulk data transfer

AWS service Azure service Description Import/Export Disk Import/Export A data transport solution that uses secure disks and appliances to transfer large amounts of data. Also offers data protection during transit. Import/Export Snowball, Snowball Edge, Snowmobile Data Box Petabyte- to exabyte-scale data transport solution that uses secure data storage devices to transfer large amounts of data to and from Azure.

Storage architectures

HIPAA and HITRUST compliant health data AI 12/16/2019 2 min read Store healthcare data effectively and affordably with cloud-based solutions from Azure. Manage medical records with the highest level of built-in security.

HPC Media Rendering 12/16/2019 2 min read Optimize the media rendering process with a step-by-step HPC solution architecture from Azure that combines Azure CycleCloud and Avere vFXT.

Medical Data Storage Solutions 12/16/2019 2 min read Store healthcare data effectively and affordably with cloud-based solutions from Azure. Manage medical records with the highest level of built-in security.



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Web applications

Web architectures

Architect scalable e-commerce web app 12/16/2019 1 min read The e-commerce website includes simple order processing workflows with the help of Azure services. Using Azure Functions and Web Apps, developers can focus on building personalized experiences and let Azure take care of the infrastructure.

Multi-region N-tier application 6/18/2019 10 min read Deploy an application on Azure virtual machines in multiple regions for high availability and resiliency.

Serverless web application 5/28/2019 16 min read This reference architecture shows a serverless web application, which serves static content from Azure Blob Storage and implements an API using Azure Functions.



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Miscellaneous

More learning

If you are new to Azure, review the interactive Core Cloud Services - Introduction to Azure module on Microsoft Learn.