AWS EC2 vs ECS vs Lambda vs Fargate

1. Compute Model:

   • Amazon EC2: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) provides virtual machines (EC2 instances) where you have full control over the operating system and configuration. You can run a wide range of applications on EC2 instances.

   • AWS Fargate: AWS Fargate is a serverless container orchestration service. It allows you to run containers without managing the underlying infrastructure. Fargate is designed for stateless microservices.

   • Amazon ECS: Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) allows you to run containers on EC2 instances. You have control over the EC2 instances and can run containerized applications.

   • AWS Lambda: AWS Lambda is a serverless compute service that runs code in response to events and triggers. It's designed for short-lived, event-driven functions.

2. Scaling:

   • Amazon EC2: You need to manually manage the scaling of EC2 instances based on your resource requirements or use auto-scaling groups.

   • AWS Fargate: Fargate automatically scales your containers based on the resource requirements you specify.

   • Amazon ECS: Similar to EC2, you need to manage scaling manually or configure auto-scaling for EC2 instances.

   • AWS Lambda: Lambda automatically scales to handle incoming requests and executes functions in parallel as needed.

3. Instance Types:

   • Amazon EC2: You can choose specific EC2 instance types with varying compute, memory, and storage capabilities.

   • AWS Fargate: You don't have direct control over EC2 instance types, as Fargate abstracts the underlying infrastructure.

   • Amazon ECS: Similar to EC2, you can choose specific EC2 instance types to run your containers.

   • AWS Lambda: You don't have control over instance types; Lambda abstracts the infrastructure.

4. Stateful/Stateless:

   • Amazon EC2: EC2 instances can run stateful or stateless applications, depending on your configuration.

   • AWS Fargate: Fargate is best suited for stateless applications and microservices.

   • Amazon ECS: ECS can run both stateful and stateless containerized applications.

   • AWS Lambda: Lambda is designed for stateless, event-driven functions.

5. Networking:

   • Amazon EC2: You have full control over Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) configurations and networking.

   • AWS Fargate: Fargate provides limited control over networking configurations.

   • Amazon ECS: Similar to EC2, you have full control over VPC configurations and networking.

   • AWS Lambda: Lambda has limited control over networking and can be integrated with a VPC, but with restrictions.

6. Use Case:

   • Amazon EC2: Versatile and suitable for various applications, including web servers, databases, and more.

   • AWS Fargate: Ideal for stateless microservices, short-lived tasks, and containerized applications.

   • Amazon ECS: Suitable for containerized applications and microservices, whether stateful or stateless.

   • AWS Lambda: Ideal for event-driven, serverless functions that respond to various triggers, like API Gateway or S3 events.

7. Startup Time:

   • Amazon EC2: EC2 instances typically take minutes to boot and become available.

   • AWS Fargate: Fargate containers start in seconds.

   • Amazon ECS: EC2 instances take minutes to boot, affecting container startup time.

   • AWS Lambda: Lambda functions start in milliseconds.

8. Resource Management:

   • Amazon EC2: You manually manage resource allocation, such as CPU and memory.

   • AWS Fargate: Fargate automatically manages resource allocation based on your container requirements.

   • Amazon ECS: Similar to EC2, you need to manually manage resource allocation.

   • AWS Lambda: Lambda automatically allocates resources based on the function's configuration.

9. Billing Model:

   • Amazon EC2: You pay for the hours the EC2 instances are running.

   • AWS Fargate: You pay for vCPU and memory resources allocated to Fargate tasks.

   • Amazon ECS: You pay for the EC2 instance hours and additional services.

   • AWS Lambda: You pay per invocation and the execution duration, with no charges for idle time.

10. Customization:

    • Amazon EC2: You have full control over the EC2 instances and can customize the environment to your needs.

    • AWS Fargate: Customization is limited, as it abstracts the underlying infrastructure.

    • Amazon ECS: Similar to EC2, you have full control and customization options.

    • AWS Lambda: Customization is limited to configuring function settings and dependencies.

11. Integration with Other AWS Services:

    • Amazon EC2: You can integrate with any AWS service and have full control over the configuration.

    • AWS Fargate: Integration with other AWS services is possible but with limited control.

    • Amazon ECS: Similar to EC2, you can integrate with any AWS service.

    • AWS Lambda: Lambda has extensive integration with various AWS services, such as S3, API Gateway, and more.

let's break down the differences between Amazon EC2, AWS Fargate, Amazon ECS, and AWS Lambda in a newbie-friendly way with examples:

Amazon EC2:

What is it?: Think of Amazon EC2 like renting your own computer in the cloud. You have full control, just like owning a real computer.

• Example: Imagine you need a computer to run a website. You can choose the type of computer (big and powerful or small and cheap) and install everything you need, like a web server and a database.

AWS Fargate:

• What is it?: AWS Fargate is like having a magic box that runs your software without worrying about the computer inside.

• Example: If you have a bunch of small tasks, like processing images, you don't care about the computer. You just put your tasks in the magic box, and it runs them for you.

Amazon ECS:

• What is it?: Amazon Elastic Container Service is like having a bunch of containers (kind of like software boxes) that you put on your own computers.

• Example: You have many containers with different parts of your app. You put these containers on your computers, and they work together to run your app.

AWS Lambda:

• What is it?: AWS Lambda is like having tiny workers that do one specific job each time they get a task.

• Example: Imagine you have a folder where people drop pictures, and you want to make them smaller. You have little workers who resize each picture as soon as it's dropped in the folder. They don't sit around waiting; they work as soon as a new picture arrives.

Common Use Cases:

• Amazon EC2: Use it for general computer tasks like running websites, databases, or custom software.

• AWS Fargate: Great for tasks that need to be done quickly, like processing images or videos.

• Amazon ECS: Good for breaking your app into parts that work together, especially if some parts need to be big, and others need to be small.

• AWS Lambda: Perfect for tasks that need to happen automatically when something happens, like resizing images as soon as they're uploaded.

Thanks for reading happy learning.... :)