Amazon EKS vs Amazon ECS: Pricing, Security, Compatibility

The introduction to container-based architecture in 2013 marked a new beginning in the method of utilizing mission-critical applications. Container orchestration services play a major role in the management of containers. While some tasks may relate to the use of hardware, software complements its functioning. Together, they not only contribute to the efficient organization of containers but also the execution of all requisite tasks.

For this reason, most container service providers seek ways to figure out the right container orchestration service. After all, the success of these companies hinges on it.

In recent years, Amazon EKS and Amazon ECS have emerged as popular choices on this front. Both these services are popular for a different set of reasons.

Are you on two minds about which one you should go with? You have hit the right spot to find an answer to it. Our feature-wise analysis of Amazon EKS vs Amazon ECS comparison will shed light on it. Read on to know about the features of these services to determine which one suits you better between the two options.

An Overview of Amazon ECS

Amazon ECS refers to Amazon’s elastic container service. Its integration with an impressive array of EWS services aims at meeting security requirements and availability.

Among other things, it promises to deliver stellar performance with the accurate calibration of various applications for containers with AWS. The list of applications in question includes AWS IAM, Amazon VPC, Elastic Load Balancing, and more.

Speaking of its features, the most prominent one is AWS Fargate. This crucial feature eases the workload of container management on users by handling the majority of its tedious tasks.

An Overview of Amazon EKS

Also known as the Kubernetes version of Amazon’s elastic container service, Amazon EKS is the service that is aimed at easy management, deployment, and scaling of applications for containers. Just like the ECS version, the Kubernetes version also works on Amazon AWS.

However, the only difference is that it works on the Kubernetes environment. One of the important things to notice is that it works perfectly with any Kubernetes standard environment, as it is compatible with all Kubernetes environments.

Amazon EKS vs ECS: Feature-by-feature comparison

After a brief overview of the services, it is the right time to compare and contrast the features of both services to find out which one is better than the other.

Here is a comparison between the features of both services in terms of pricing, security, and compatibility.

Pricing

When it comes to pricing, ECS follows a simple and common pricing model. One of the remarkable features of its pricing model is that it does not necessitate a user to pay an extra amount of money. A user is billed as per their usage in terms of storing and running applications.

Amazon EKS also follows a similar pricing model, it has certain subtle differences. For instance, a user needs to pay $.20 for using the EKS cluster on an hourly basis. It benefits those who use only a few clusters. They can bypass the need for paying a flat amount in case they need to use only a few clusters. Thus, it is suitable for companies that deal with a lesser number of EKS clusters.

Security

The deep integration with IAM amounts to reliable security features for Amazon ECS service users. It helps users in two-fold ways: apart from allowing the users the luxury of granting granular access, it also allows them to revoke or restrict the permissions of others to access the services. Plus, a user can also assign resources to others at their will.

EKS may not have the high-security features that ECS has, but it has the capability of supporting a larger number of containers per EC2. While it may not be possible on the part of a user to entrust resources directly, some add-ons can help them do the job. It has KIAM and other add-ons to do the job in this regard.

Compatibility

As far as the feature of compatibility in terms of EKS and ECS comparison is concerned, EKS has an edge over the other container orchestration service. This advantage stems from how both services operate.

While EKS works just about fine with any infrastructure, this is not the case with ECS. The latter is exclusively meant for the AWS environment. This is what proves to be a deal-breaker for it.

Final Thoughts

Going by the comparison of both services in terms of the aforementioned features, it is hard to pick and choose one of the two. Both have their own share of advantages and disadvantages based on how they are used.

Thus, making a choice between the two is difficult as the choice between the two is a matter of one’s needs and objectives. The best way to make a decision is to weigh the pros and cons of both options with one’s business goals or service requirements.

Keep smiling and stay tuned!