Amazon Web Services vs IBM Cloud

2021. IBM Cloud Satellite brings IBM public cloud on premises



While emphasizing multi-cloud capabilities, IBM has consistently maintained its own public cloud infrastructure, catering to complex enterprise workloads commonly found on mainframes and other systems. The introduction of IBM Cloud Satellite represents an expansion of the IBM Public Cloud, enabling its operation within the customer's on-premises data center or at the network edge. Built on Red Hat OpenShift, IBM Cloud Satellite leverages the Kubernetes management environment, similar to other hybrid cloud solutions offered by IBM. The concept revolves around introducing a Location mechanism, which represents an instance of IBM Public Cloud deployed beyond the confines of IBM's data centers.


2020. AWS launches Amazon AppFlow, its new SaaS integration service


AWS has recently launched Amazon AppFlow, an integration service designed to simplify data transfer between AWS and popular SaaS applications such as Google Analytics, Marketo, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Slack, Snowflake, and Zendesk. Similar to competing services like Microsoft Azure's Power Automate, developers can configure AppFlow to trigger data transfers based on specific events, predetermined schedules, or on-demand requests. Unlike some competitors, AWS positions AppFlow primarily as a data transfer service rather than an automation workflow tool. While the data flow can be bidirectional, AWS's emphasis is on moving data from SaaS applications to other AWS services for further analysis. To facilitate this, AppFlow includes various tools for data transformation as it passes through the service.


2019. AWS launches fully-managed backup service for business


Amazon's cloud platform, AWS, has introduced a new service called Backup, allowing companies to securely back up their data from various AWS services as well as their on-premises applications. For on-premises data backup, businesses can utilize the AWS Storage Gateway. This service enables users to define backup policies and retention periods according to their specific requirements. It includes options such as transferring backups to cold storage for EFS data or deleting them entirely after a specified duration. By default, the data is stored in Amazon S3 buckets. While most of the supported services already offer snapshot creation capabilities (except for EFS file systems), Backup automates this process and adds customizable rules to enhance data protection. Notably, the pricing for Backup aligns with the costs associated with using the snapshot features (except for file system backup, which incurs a per-GB charge).


2017. AWS launched browser-based IDE for cloud developers



Amazon Web Services has introduced a new browser-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE) called AWS Cloud9. While it shares similarities with other IDEs and editors like Sublime Text, AWS emphasizes its collaborative editing capabilities and deep integration into the AWS ecosystem. The IDE includes built-in support for various programming languages such as JavaScript, Python, PHP, and more. Cloud9 also provides pre-installed debugging tools. AWS positions this as the first "cloud native" IDE, although competitors may contest this claim. Regardless, Cloud9 offers seamless integration with AWS, enabling developers to create cloud environments and launch new instances directly from the tool.


2017. AWS introduced per-second billing for EC2 instances



In recent years, several alternative cloud platforms have shifted towards more flexible billing models, primarily adopting per-minute billing. However, AWS is taking it a step further by introducing per-second billing for its Linux-based EC2 instances. This new billing model applies to on-demand, reserved, and spot instances, as well as provisioned storage for EBS volumes. Furthermore, both Amazon EMR and AWS Batch are transitioning to this per-second billing structure. It is important to note that there is a minimum charge of one minute per instance, and this change does not affect Windows machines or certain Linux distributions that have their own separate hourly charges.


2017. AWS offers a virtual machine with over 4TB of memory



Amazon's AWS has introduced its largest EC2 machine yet, the x1e.32xlarge instance, boasting an impressive 4.19TB of RAM. This represents a significant upgrade from the previous largest EC2 instance, which offered just over 2TB of memory. These machines are equipped with quad-socket Intel Xeon processors operating at 2.3 GHz, up to 25 Gbps of network bandwidth, and two 1,920GB SSDs. It is evident that only a select few applications require this level of memory capacity. Consequently, these instances have obtained certification for running SAP's HANA in-memory database and its associated tools, with SAP offering direct support for deploying these applications on these instances. It's worth mentioning that Microsoft Azure's largest memory-optimized machine currently reaches just over 2TB of RAM, while Google's maximum memory capacity caps at 416GB.


2014. AWS now supports Docker containers



Amazon has announced the preview availability of EC2 Container Services, a new service dedicated to managing Docker containers and enhancing the support for hybrid cloud in Amazon Web Services. This offering brings forth a range of benefits, including streamlined development management, seamless portability across different environments, reduced deployment risks, smoother maintenance and management of application components, and comprehensive interoperability. It is important to note that AWS is not the first cloud provider to provide support for Docker's open-source engine. Google has recently expanded its support for Docker containers through the introduction of its Google Container Engine, which is powered by its own Kubernetes and was announced just last week during the Google Cloud Platform Live event. Furthermore, Microsoft had previously announced its support for Kubernetes in managing Docker containers in Azure back in August.


2014. IBM SoftLayer attracts startups from Amazon Web Services, Rackspace



IBM aims to position its SoftLayer platform as a competitive and cost-effective alternative to industry leaders like Amazon Web Services and Rackspace. To demonstrate the momentum of SoftLayer, IBM highlights successful customer adoptions such as MutualMind, a social media interaction monitoring service for businesses, and Vivocha, a customer engagement SaaS product. One major advantage emphasized by IBM is the provision of free private networking across all SoftLayer data centers, which is a unique offering according to Server Density CEO David Mytton. This feature can lead to significant cost savings for growing companies. However, IBM faces the challenge of enticing a substantial number of startups away from AWS and Rackspace, given Amazon's strong foothold with startups over the past seven years. For every IBM SoftLayer success story, AWS likely boasts a multitude. Nonetheless, IBM SoftLayer offers distinct benefits, including hybrid infrastructure capabilities, a comprehensive product portfolio, and a proven track record in managing large-scale workloads.


2014. Amazon and Microsoft drop cloud prices



Cloud computing is witnessing a continuous decline in costs. Therefore, if you previously assessed the cost-effectiveness of migrating your IT infrastructure to the cloud and determined it to be expensive, it is worth recalculating now. Cloud platforms have significantly reduced their prices, and another round of reductions is currently underway. Starting tomorrow, the pricing for Amazon S3 cloud storage will decrease by 6-22% (depending on the amount of space used), while the cost of cloud server hard drives (Amazon EBS) will drop by 50%. Additionally, Microsoft's cloud platform, Windows Azure, will lower its prices by 20% a month later to ensure they remain slightly below Amazon's. Given these developments, it's worth reconsidering the need to invest in an in-house server when the cost of cloud services is approaching zero.


2012. Google and Amazon reduce cloud storage prices. Launch new cloud services



Competition - is good for customers. On Monday, Google reduced prices for its Google Cloud Storage by over 20%, and today, in response, Amazon has reduced prices for its S3 storage by 25%. Obviously, in the near future, Microsoft will also reduce prices for Windows Azure, to bring them to the competitive level - about $0.09/month per GB. The same story occured in March when Amazon lowered prices, and then Microsoft and Google aligned their pricing with Amazon. Because on the cloud platforms market the price is no longer a competitive advantage, but your pricing is higher than the competition - is't a big disadvantage. Some experts already doubt that Amazon and the contenders are earning something on selling gigabytes and gigahertzs. Like in case with the mobile market, the main task of cloud vendors - is to hook up large companies and SaaS-providers to their platforms, even if they should sell computing resources at a loss. ***