Azure Stack vs Google Anthos: What are the differences?

Key Differences between Azure Stack and Google Anthos

Azure Stack and Google Anthos are both hybrid cloud computing solutions that enable organizations to handle their workloads across on-premises and cloud environments. However, there are several key differences between the two platforms that set them apart.

1. Architecture: Azure Stack is designed as an extension of the Azure public cloud, providing a consistent development and management experience. It allows users to build and deploy applications using the same tools and APIs as the Azure public cloud. On the other hand, Google Anthos is a multi-cloud and hybrid cloud platform that supports applications running on Google Cloud, on-premises environments, and other clouds such as AWS or Azure, offering a more flexible and vendor-agnostic approach to application deployment.

2. Cloud Provider Support: Azure Stack exclusively supports the Azure cloud ecosystem, providing seamless integration with Azure services and enabling organizations to leverage the capabilities of the Azure public cloud within their own data centers. In contrast, Google Anthos supports multiple cloud providers including Google Cloud, AWS, and Azure, allowing enterprises to deploy and manage applications in a multi-cloud or hybrid environment without being locked into a single cloud vendor.

3. Application Portability: Azure Stack primarily focuses on the portability of Azure applications and workloads between on-premises and Azure public cloud environments, providing a consistent development, management, and deployment experience. Google Anthos, on the other hand, emphasizes application portability across multiple clouds. It enables organizations to build applications once and run them on any infrastructure, whether it is on-premises or in the cloud, offering more flexibility in terms of deployment options.

4. Management Capabilities: Azure Stack provides a unified management interface through the Azure portal, allowing administrators to manage resources, monitor performance, and automate tasks across their Azure Stack environment. Google Anthos, on the other hand, offers a centralized management platform called Anthos Console, which provides a single pane of glass for managing applications and services across multiple clouds, simplifying the management of hybrid and multi-cloud environments.

5. Networking Capabilities: Azure Stack leverages Azure Virtual Network technology to provide networking capabilities within the Azure Stack environment, enabling organizations to create virtual networks, subnets, and define network security groups. Google Anthos, on the other hand, offers its own networking solution called Anthos Service Mesh, which provides a secure and scalable communication infrastructure for microservices-based applications deployed across multiple clouds, simplifying the management and securing of microservices communications.

6. Enterprise Integration: Azure Stack offers a wide range of enterprise-grade features such as Azure Active Directory integration, role-based access control, and built-in compliance offerings to meet regulatory requirements. Google Anthos, on the other hand, provides seamless integration with Google Cloud services and tools, enabling organizations to leverage the full capabilities of the Google Cloud platform.

In summary, Azure Stack primarily focuses on extending the Azure public cloud capabilities to on-premises environments, while Google Anthos offers a more flexible and multi-cloud approach, allowing organizations to deploy and manage applications across various cloud providers.