Cloud Computing : Comparing with GCP, AWS, and Azure

By Atharv Gyan

Cloud Computing has become an essential technology for businesses of all sizes, and three major cloud service providers are leading the way: Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Microsoft Azure. Each cloud platform has its strengths and weaknesses when it comes to configurability, ease of use, features, AI , data engineering , Kubernetes , and speed. In this article, we’ll compare these three cloud platforms based on these criteria and help you decide which platform is the best for your needs.

Configurability

GCP offers great flexibility and configurability, allowing you to customize the platform to meet your specific requirements. GCP’s infrastructure is entirely open-source, making it easy to integrate with your existing systems. AWS is also highly configurable, with a range of configuration options available. Azure is less configurable than the other two platforms, with limited customization options.


In terms of configurability, all three cloud platforms offer a high level of flexibility and customization. However, GCP is often considered to be the most user-friendly and easy to configure, while AWS and Azure are known for their extensive set of services and tools that provide users with a high level of configurability. Ultimately, the choice of cloud platform will depend on the specific needs and requirements of the user.


Ease of Use

AWS is widely considered the most accessible platform for beginners, with a user-friendly interface and a vast array of documentation and tutorials available. GCP is slightly more complex but still relatively easy to use, while Azure can be more challenging for beginners to get to grips with.


Features

All three cloud platforms offer a broad range of features and services, but there are some differences. GCP offers unique features like Google Bigtable and Google Kubernetes Engine, while AWS offers its own set of features such as AWS Lambda and Amazon DynamoDB. Azure offers features such as Azure Machine Learning and Azure SQL Database.


GCP is highly proficient in cluster computing using Kubernetes, with Google GKE being faster in scaling than EKS (AWS) and AKS (Azure). Google’s Bigtable is a key-value and wide-column store that’s perfect for fast access to large amounts of data, powering many core Google services such as YouTube, Google Analytics, Search, Ads, Drive, and Maps.


AWS has excellent serverless capabilities like AWS Lambda, which is user-friendly, but GCP also has comparable solutions like Cloud Run. However, AWS Lambda supports multiple language runtimes, including JavaScript, Java, Python, and Go, while Cloud Run only supports OCI (container images).


Artificial intelligence

All three platforms offer various AI services, but GCP and Azure have a more extensive set of AI services compared to AWS. GCP offers services such as Google Cloud Machine Learning, while Azure provides Azure Machine Learning Studio. AWS offers Amazon SageMaker, which is also an excellent service.


GCP is the clear winner when it comes to AI services. It is also relatively easy to use and integrate with other services running on GCP.


Data engineering

All three platforms offer a range of data engineering services, such as data storage, analytics, and machine learning. GCP offers features like BigQuery, Cloud SQL, and Cloud Spanner, compose, while AWS provides Redshift, RDS, and Kinesis. Azure offers Azure SQL Database and Azure Data Lake Analytics


If you’re already using other Microsoft services, Azure may be the most natural fit. If you’re looking for the fastest processing speed and scalability, GCP might be the best option. If you’re looking for the broadest range of services and tools, AWS could be the way to go. I personally like how GCP’s compose works. It is apache airflow under the hood, although AWS also gives similar services I have found compose to be more powerful for building data engineering pipelines using a managed version of airflow. If we are comparing data warehousing GCP’s BigQuery costs $20 per TB per month for the storage line and $5 per TB processed on that storage line. RedShift costs $306 per TB per month for storage and unlimited processing on that storage. RedShift is more economical for everyday data warehouse operations for most businesses. But, BigQuery is better for businesses looking to do data mining or those who deal with extremely variant workloads.


Kubernetes

All three platforms offer managed Kubernetes services. GCP offers Google Kubernetes Engine, AWS offers Amazon EKS, and Azure offers Azure Kubernetes Service. All three platforms offer an excellent Kubernetes service, but GCP has a more extensive set of Kubernetes features.


In terms of features, all three managed Kubernetes services offer similar capabilities for deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications. However, GKE has a reputation for being the fastest and most reliable, while AKS is known for its ease of use and integration with Azure services. EKS has a strong focus on security and integrates well with other AWS services. I personally prefer GKE over the other two because of its fast scaling capabilities.


Scaling Speed

All three platforms offer fast scaling and can scale up or down depending on your needs. However, GCP has the edge when it comes to scaling speed, with the ability to scale up or down almost instantaneously. AWS and Azure are also fast, but not as fast as GCP.


Conclusion

In conclusion, all three cloud platforms offer a range of features and services, and which one is best for you will depend on your needs. If you’re a beginner, AWS might be the best choice because of its user-friendly interface and extensive documentations and tutorials available online. If you’re looking for a highly configurable platform, then GCP might be the way to go. For AI use cases, GCP and Azure are the best choices, and for data engineering use cases, GCP and AWS have more extensive features. When it comes to Kubernetes, all three platforms are good, but GCP has an edge over the other two. Finally, if speed is your primary concern, GCP is the clear winner.


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