Alibaba ECS vs. AWS EC2
The standard compute services offered by Alibaba and AWS are ECS (Elastic Compute Service) and EC2 (Elastic Cloud Compute), respectively. Both of them are Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) offerings, and provide the same following features:
- The ability to choose from multiple instance types
- The ability to create custom images
- Support for virtual and bare-metal servers
- Compatibility with a number of Windows and Linux-based operating systems
To be specific, Alibaba ECS offers auto-scaling and auto-provisioning of ECS instances and different scenario-based instance types for small and large companies. It offers Dedicated Host Clusters for companies that want servers reserved for their use only and CPU options such as turning off hyperthreading. Alibaba Cloud ECS is considered the number one IaaS provider in the Asia-Pacific market.
Storage
Both Alibaba Cloud and AWS offer block, object, and file storage service.
Alibaba Cloud’s storage services include Elastic Block Storage (EBS), Object Storage Service (OSS), and Network Attached Storage (NAS). On AWS, the equivalents are Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Elastic File System (EFS), and Elastic Block Store (EBS).
Both of them also provide “cold” storage services for cost-effectiveness. Almost all the core features are the same. So, you can consider the lower price point of Alibaba Cloud as the winning point.
Advanced security features
Alibaba Cloud and AWS take security very seriously, which comes with many standard features, such as malware removal software, proprietary web application firewall, malicious traffic filtering, and automatic backups.
Alibaba Cloud is well-known for its premium Anti-DDoS software and infrastructure. While most services only offer protection against DDoS attacks of a certain magnitude, Alibaba Cloud provides global protection thanks to its Global Traffic Scrubbing policies. Whenever you’re subject to a DDoS attack, malicious traffic will be redirected to scrubbing centers that are closest to the source, so that your service availability is not affected.
Alibaba Cloud vs. AWS: Pricing
Alibaba Cloud offers two payment options to customers: pay-as-you-go and subscription. The pay-as-you-go method allows payment for the actual resources your company uses, and is recommended for use cases where traffic can spike or drop at any time. The subscription option requires upfront payments over a particular billing period, and is ideal for long-term use in applications without sporadic traffic levels.
AWS also offers the pay-as-you-go pricing option, and your company gets volume-based discounts when you use more services. Besides, Reserved Instances (RI) is another AWS billing option, which allows you to buy reserved capacity for your needs and choose from No Upfront, Partial Upfront, and Full Upfront payment options.
In terms of pricing, Alibaba Cloud seems to gain a distinct advantage over AWS.
Advantages Alibaba Cloud Over AWS
- Growing rapidly and strongly
- A wide range of services
- Top-notch security features
- Has the funding to become a powerhouse
- Reasonable and affordable pricing plans
The bottom line
It’s said that it is always better to go with the leader in the group. Alibaba Cloud is the leader in China and Asia Pacific. Alibaba Cloud has penetrated the market aggressively and is looking to compete directly with AWS.
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