AWS Shield vs Akamai: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this markdown code, we will discuss and compare the key differences between AWS Shield and Akamai.

1. Coverage: AWS Shield is a managed Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) protection service offered by Amazon Web Services, while Akamai is a content delivery network (CDN) provider that includes DDoS protection as one of its services. Hence, AWS Shield's primary focus is on DDoS protection, whereas Akamai provides a range of services including but not limited to DDoS protection.

2. Integration with Cloud Services: AWS Shield is tightly integrated with various Amazon Web Services, such as Amazon CloudFront, Elastic Load Balancer, Amazon Route 53, etc. This integration ensures seamless DDoS protection for applications running on AWS infrastructure. On the other hand, Akamai can also be integrated with various cloud services, but it requires additional setup and configuration compared to AWS Shield.

3. Automatic Scaling and Mitigation: AWS Shield automatically scales its DDoS protection based on traffic patterns, ensuring consistent protection against different types of DDoS attacks. It provides various mitigation techniques such as rate limiting, traffic filtering, and anomaly detection to automatically mitigate attacks without human intervention. Akamai also offers automatic scaling and mitigation features, but the granularity and efficiency may vary compared to AWS Shield.

4. Visibility and Analytics: AWS Shield provides detailed visibility and real-time analytics about DDoS attacks through its AWS Management Console and CloudWatch. It offers insights into attack traffic, attack vectors, and mitigation actions. Akamai also provides visibility and analytics features, but the level of detail and real-time updates may not be as extensive as offered by AWS Shield.

5. Pricing Model: AWS Shield offers two tiers of service - AWS Shield Standard and AWS Shield Advanced. AWS Shield Standard is available free of charge for all AWS customers, providing basic protection against common DDoS attacks. In contrast, AWS Shield Advanced is a paid service with additional features, including more extensive DDoS protection and 24/7 access to AWS DDoS Response Team. Akamai's pricing model may vary based on the customer's requirements, usage, and the range of services availed.

6. Global Network: Akamai operates a vast global network of servers distributed across different regions, providing fast content delivery and DDoS protection from multiple points of presence. This global network allows Akamai to absorb and mitigate large-scale attacks more effectively. Although AWS Shield also leverages Amazon's global infrastructure, the scale and coverage of Akamai's network might be more extensive.

In Summary, AWS Shield is a dedicated DDoS protection service integrated with AWS cloud services, offering automatic scaling, detailed visibility, and various pricing options. On the other hand, Akamai provides DDoS protection as part of its broader content delivery network services, with a global network and flexible pricing model.