Amazon EC2 vs Amazon EC2 Container Service: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this comparison, we will outline the key differences between Amazon EC2 and Amazon EC2 Container Service (ECS).

1. Type of resource management: Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) is a service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud, while Amazon ECS is a fully managed container orchestration service for Docker containers.

2. Usage of Virtual Machines: With Amazon EC2, users manage individual virtual machines known as instances, and have full control over the operating system and application configurations. In contrast, with Amazon ECS, users work with container instances that run Docker containers and abstract away the underlying infrastructure details.

3. Scalability: Amazon EC2 allows for scaling resources vertically by adjusting the size of the instances, while Amazon ECS is optimized for scaling horizontally by adding or removing containers based on workload demand.

4. Service Management: Amazon EC2 provides virtual servers in the cloud, focusing more on traditional server-based application hosting. On the other hand, Amazon ECS simplifies managing, deploying, and scaling containerized applications.

5. Cost Structure: Amazon EC2 pricing is based on the type and size of instances, while Amazon ECS pricing includes the costs of underlying EC2 instances along with a nominal charge for the ECS service. Users of Amazon EC2 have more control over cost optimization based on instance usage.

6. Container Compatibility: While Amazon EC2 can run various applications and services, Amazon ECS is specifically designed for containerized applications built using Docker. It provides additional features to manage container deployments effectively.

In Summary, the key differences between Amazon EC2 and Amazon ECS lie in their resource management approaches, scalability strategies, service orientations, cost structures, and container compatibility.