Top 5 Cloud Service Providers

Top 5 Cloud Service Providers
top-5-cloud-providers

Getting cloud services has become very important because you trade CAPEX to OPEX and does need to run on upfront costs purchasing servers. Also, cloud providers will help you to keep using the most up to date technologies available in the market. This will allow your company to gain a competitive technology edge with minor investments and time allocation.

Many companies are providing their cloud services which are helping businesses by replacing the hard drive technology with the internet. These companies provide SaaS, PaaS, Iaas, and many other services. All of them are distinct in some way due to their features and services. Here is our list of cloud services we will cover on this article:

  • AWS – Amazon Web Services
  • Microsoft Azure
  • Digital Ocean
  • Alibaba Cloud
  • GCP – Google Cloud Platform

The Top 5 Cloud Providers

AWS – Amazon Web Services

Overview

It’s one of the pioneers on the market and it’s running since 2006. AWS is a platform developed with a combination of IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS. It is offered by Amazon. Here the web service platform is offering cloud computing solutions that are reliable, easy to use, flexible, cost-efficient and scalable.

It offers many different cloud-based products that are purposed for the betterment of all kinds of online businesses. The better part is that they are offering more than 160 cloud service products for all different kinds of your needs.

AWS Essential Services

  • EC2 is the elastic compute cloud where you can run this service from wherever and whenever you want. This service will give you an operating system level control over the device. It is just like having a virtual computer with the power of a very powerful computer running on your smartphone with the help of an internet connection.
  • S3 is a simple service that helps to give you more storage space by the using internet. It is a very optimal solution for many people who are tired of carrying different hard drives for accessing data. Here all you need is an internet connection and all your files will be on the go.
  • EBS – Elastic Block Storage provides block-level storage. Here storage is available in different volumes where they can be joined to give you the amount of storage that you want associated to your EC2 instance. These can now be mounted to your devices where you can use them by creating your file system. One thing to consider is that they are limited by the limits which are specified by your AWS account.
  • ELB – Elastic Load Balancer is a feature that optimizes the traffic for your application. It automatically divides the incoming traffic on your application for various goals like lambda functions, containers, AWS EC2, etc.This works in three basic types which are application load balancer, network load balancer, and classic load balancer, and these all are required to make your application fault-tolerant.
  • AWS Lambda enables you to run and execute your code without having any problems like server management, continuous scaling, subsecond metering and it gives consistent performance. You can use it from any mobile device, application, or web.
  • Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery service that does the job of delivering the videos, documents, and applications with very low latency. The transfer speed is very high, and it is also very developer-friendly.
  • Amazon Elastic Beanstalk is a service which is used to scale and deploy applications and services which are developed using different languages like Java, .NET, Ruby, Python, and many others. all you need to do is to upload your code and it will automatically take care of deployment and the whole process.
  • Elastic Cache lets you run, scale and set up open-source stores in the cloud. The data is retrieved at higher rates which helps in boosting the performance of the entire procedure.
  • Route 53 is a domain name system that helps developers get a very reliable yet cost-efficient method to route the end-users to applications over the internet by changing the names of those internet applications into different IP addresses.
  • CloudWatch helps the developers to look after the working of your application. It provides with all the data treated to performance changes which help them improve the system.

AWS Pricing Model

There are two main distinct pricing option on AWS:

  • Pay as you with no contract commitment
  • Long term comments that vary between 12 to 36 months

The pricing policies of AWS are very interesting for the consumers. Here you will only be charged for what you are using. There are no complex contracts or licensing needed to use their services. Their pricing policies are very simple.

You can take the example of utility bills, the pricing policies which AWS has set are just like paying those utility bills where you pay for what you use. You will only be charged for the time when you are using their services and as soon as you stop using their services, you will not be charged anything, not even taxes.

  • If you buy their services for a long-term basis, you can save up to 75% of your money. Here these services will stay reserved for you for the time that you have paid.
  • While other service providers are charging according to your usage, AWS charges you less for more usage which means that if you use their services more then you will certainly get more discounts which will give you more savings.
  • There are no fixed rates for anything, you can select the service that you want to get, and then you will have to contact them. They will decide what you have to pay according to your usage requirements. This is very suitable for most of the customers because here they have to pay for what they use.

Benefits of AWS

Large set of services available

AWS can be considered to be a complete cloud service provider as it provides with more than 160 tools at hand. There are some others too. The best thing is the user interface as it is very user friendly.

Scalability and Reliability

Considering that AWS was the first cloud provider to enter the market they have a higher market share and huge scalability. They can handle massive workloads easily. Also, the service is extremely reliable and downtimes are very rare.

Cost Effective

Here you can get unlimited server capacity which will be specified by your account. This is a very cost-effective solution because you have to pay only for the services which you use. Also, you can get expressive discounts (up to 75%) if you opt for long term commitment.

Digital Ocean

Overview

It’s a cloud provider that is focused on the simplicity and the easy of use. Using their services users can deploy a server in less than 5 minutes. They are much smaller in comparison to the other players of the article, but may be a good option if you want to reduce the time to market and simplify your app management.

Digital Ocean Essential Services

Droplets is a virtual machine services which is based on Linux operating systems. A droplet created means a new server is online which you can use in many ways. These servers can be used alone or in parts of large infrastructures that are based on cloud systems.

Kubernetes It enables to deploy Kubernetes clusters without having to control the infrastructure. These clusters are very flexible in terms of compatibility as they are compatible with most tools and block storage volumes.

Databases are fully managed; they are confirmed to give you high performance. They can be used for using standby nodes without the need of installing and managing and configuring systems.

Spaces are their service which enables you to have cloud storage for storing huge amounts of data. It is the best solution for storing any kind of data for easier access.

Digital Ocean Pricing Model

They charge differently for all of their services and they work with fixed pricing for each package. It’s more predictable in comparison to the pay as you go mode.

  • For standard droplets service, they charge $5 per month for the cheapest package and the cost rises up to $960 for the most expensive package.
  • For general purpose droplets service, they charge $60 per month for the cheapest package and the cost rises to $1200 for the most expensive package.
  • For CPU optimized droplets service, they charge $40 per month for the cheapest package and the cost rises to $640 for the most expensive package.
  • For memory-optimized droplets service, they charge $0.134 per hour for the cheapest package and the cost rises to $2.619 for the most expensive package.
  • For managed database service, they charge $15 per month for the cheapest package and the cost rises to $2240 for the most expensive package.
  • For spaces object storage service, they charge $5 per month.

Exclusive from these charges, they have some other charges like snapshot charges, backup charges, and block storage charges which are charged separately. You can also calculate and compare your saving when you are using their services as compared to some competitors in the market.

Digital Ocean Benefits

Every service has some benefits which make you select that. The same is the case here. This is a very appropriate solution for cloud services for developers and businesses. There are several reasons behind this.

UX is Amazing

The first thing that every person notices is the user interface and Digital ocean has a remarkable user interface which is very user friendly and is loved by the users. The performance of all of its services is great. The data transfer rates are very high because of the low latency properties.

Simple Pricing

The prices are very affordable for most consumers as it starts providing its services at as low as $5 per month. The documentation provided for understanding the tools and the services is very comprehensive and resourceful.

Engaged Developer Coommunity

This service provider has a whole community of active users and supporting individuals who can help you in solving your problems.

GCP-Google Cloud Platform

Overview

It’s a cloud platform owned by Google. It offers a wide range of services like computing, machine learning, storage, IoT, and may more. The market share is relatively small in comparison to AWS or Azure, but it’s growing quickly.

GCP Featured Products

  • Compute engine is a customized machine that is predefined to increase the speed of your cloud transformations. It provides easy integration with more scalability.
  • Storage is a better storage option for people of all kinds who want access to their data on the go without carrying any additional hard drives.
  • Databases can help you in managing your data in a more reliable database using the most basic database knowledge.
  • Networking is a feature that provides a network that is in virtual form. It can be used for many purposes like deploying projects, managing, or testing them.
  • Operations is all about managing, monitoring, improving, and troubleshooting the performance of your google cloud and applications.
  • Developer tools are the tools that are purposed to make developers more productive. Here they will be able to produce mode using google cloud platform.
  • Data analysis is a fully managed service where you can improve your business with real-time results which helps you in better decision-making.
  • AI and Machine learning is a whole new level of innovation where the system can perform intelligently to boost the rate of improvement of your application.
  • API management feature from google cloud platforms improved the efficiency of your system using its intelligent decision making, faster scaling, and optimization services.

GCP Pricing Model

Their pricing policies are very customer friendly as they are offering various discounts and there are no things like no hidden charges. Another good thing is that you need to pay only for the services which you are using.

They have applied some innovative pricing strategies for the betterment of their customers like pay per second and many other options. And this is very good to know that despite all these innovative strategies and other discounts, their prices were already very low as compared to their competitors.

GCP Benefits

Pricing – It’s less expensive

The benefits of using google cloud platform services is that the pricing policies are very customer friendly, every customer can experience the feel of using a private network. According to GCP’s pricing page their services costs less in comparison to AWS. For example, storage will cost on average 28% less and mobile backend 50% less.

Security and Backups

The control, security, and backup features of the google cloud platform are awesome.

Users can also have the added benefit of enhanced execution if they opt to go for enterprise-level services. Live migration is also beneficial because users can easily migrate their machines.

Alibaba Cloud

Overview

It provides cloud services to mainly online businesses and also to Alibaba`s own ecosystem. It is the largest cloud service provider in China. It’s a great option if you want to run workloads in mainland China.

Alibaba Cloud Services

  • Elastic Computing provides better cloud computer services through their cloud services which may help you in increasing the speed of results with higher transfer rates. They also have protection against DDoS attacks and some viruses.
  • Storage & CDN can be used to transfer the data from one device to another. Usually used in businesses or multimedia transfers.
  • Networking provides low latency connections with hybrid cloud-based connections which are flexible in many ways.
  • Database services are paired with some of the most powerful AI solutions for providing better options along with the market proved reliability and scalability.
  • Security services are constantly up against attacks to provide you with the surety that your data will stay safe with them.

Alibaba Cloud Pricing Model

The company has taken special care of their customer`s comfort as their pricing policies are very customer friendly. You get special discounts here if you buy their subscription. There is also an option which tells you that you need only to pay for the services which you are using which keeps things very economical.

There are some different billing policies from which, you can choose the one which suits your budget in the best possible way. there is also an option where you can qualify to get the extended grace periods in case you are using monthly payment methods.

For enterprise users, the handling fee is also covered by the company if they pay from the bank.

Alibaba Cloud Benefits

China Hosting

A major benefit of Alibaba is the possibility to run server in Mainland China. They have datacenter in several locations around China and centralize the billing in USD for all the regions. AWS on the other hand has a separated legal entity for China (console and payment methods are not linked to AWS US). So, if you need to host your app in China it will mostly likely be a great choice.

Security

The first benefit is the security because they have some very strict policies to stay away from any kinds of attacks, the system if fully reliable and scalable. And it is providing hybrid capabilities which help business to improve their online systems.

Microsoft Azure

Overview

This is a solution from Microsoft purposed to tackle all the problems that you face in the growth of your business on online platforms. It is a cloud-based service where you can easily build, deploy, and manage your applications by using some of their most powerful tools.

This is liked a lot by the developers and owners because of its flexibility and reliability services.

Azure Essential Services

Microsoft takes good care of its customers; this is the reason they have introduced many services for all different kinds of needs of different users. Here are some of their essential services.

  • Azure DevOps is a tool that helps developers in planning, discussing, and tracking their work with different teams. It helps a lot in building and testing of the applications or projects.
  • Virtual machines can be created in a matter of seconds to fulfill your needs, they are available on both Windows and Linux platforms and they are available at very competitive prices.
  • Azure Cosmos DB is a fully-managed database service that ensures high read and write speeds with surety of 99.99% positive chances of availability.
  • Azure active directory is a universal identity platform for the management and security of identities. It helps users gain access to their apps from any location with better and secure engagement with all kinds of users.
  • API management helps in managing, publishing and analyzing APIs, here you can do all kinds of backend related work without worrying about hosting locations.
  • Azure content delivery network provides data delivery services for apps, web, and cloud storage.
  • Azure backup helps in simplifying the protection of data from malware and common human errors. It works on both Windows and Linux and it supports the management of activity and resources in an effective way.
  • Logic apps are used to build powerful solutions for integration. It is used for connecting apps, data, and devices present in any part of the world.
  • Azure site recovery is a simple and flexible solution for the recovery of disasters in your business sites. It is done by a very simple process and the best part is that you are not against any of the industry regulations.
  • Azure bots are the chatbot that can be added to your business sites for better customer experience. They can also be a cost-saving option for the business owners because by using this, they don’t have to get a dedicated employee for live support.

Azure Pricing Model

The good thing is that you have to pay different prices for every service that you opt to use. This is a very efficient method for saving money in an adequate way. But there are still some things that you need to take care of.

As you are charged for the services which you use. This means that you have to manually switch off those services which are not in your use. Otherwise they will charge you for using those services and this may not be very budget-friendly for you.

For long term subscriptions or pre-paying for their services, you will surely get many discounts which will be very friendly for you in terms of saving money efficiently.

One way to reduce cost is to select the right package which fulfills your needs. If your work can be get done by the basic package, then there is not needed to get the expensive packages as they will only increase the prices.

Azure Benefits

There are many benefits of Azure like is a very flexible solution, it is fast, the apps management feature is the best part of it. Storage options provided are the best because they ensure fast transfer rates with security guaranteed due to two-tier authentication.

It can intelligently analyze data to give you better and smarter business opportunities. A great disaster recovery tool is available. One great feature is that it can be used anywhere with a computer and an internet connection. And you will constantly get updates for better experience.

Conclusion

For improving your online business, it is very important to play the right cards. Getting cloud services is one of those intelligent steps that one can take. But you must know what you need to get any cloud service. Once you know what you need, then you can get any cloud service provider who fulfills your needs in the best way.

Here is a summary of the benefits that you will find for each cloud provider:

  • AWS – Scalability, reliability, and large quantity of services
  • Digital Ocean – Easy of Use, friendly UX, developer focused
  • Alibaba Cloud – Best option to host your workload in China
  • Google Cloud – Less expensive option and it’s growing fast
  • Azure – Security, enterprise features, quantity of datacenter

The budget must also be considered while selecting the cloud service provider. This list can effectively help you in judging your needs and the right service provider for you so that you can select the one which suits your needs and budget in the best way.

General FAQ

What are the top 5 cloud providers in the world?

– AWS
– Digital Ocean
– Alibaba Cloud
– Azure
– Google Cloud

What are the benefits of each cloud provider?

– AWS – Scalability, reliability, and large quantity of services
– Digital Ocean – Easy of Use, friendly UX, developer focused
– Alibaba Cloud – Best option to host your workload in China
– Google Cloud – Less expensive option and it’s growing fast
– Azure – Security, enterprise features, quantity of datacenter

What are the common features for cloud hosting?

– Computing
– Storage
– Database


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