Whether you prefer a simplified and managed approach with ECS or the flexibility and scalability of Kubernetes with EKS, you need to understand the key difference between Amazon ECS vs EKS, which will help you make an informed choice for your containerized workloads.
Amazon ECS
Amazon ECS (Amazon Elastic Container Service) is a fully managed container management service. It integrates with the AWS environment to provide a simple solution for executing container workloads in the cloud and Amazon ECS Anywhere is the on-premises version. This enables users to make use of AWS’s scalability and cost-effectiveness for their containerized applications.
Amazon ECS also has a web-based service console that allows customers to view, control, and monitor their application containers. It allows users to specify a set of tasks using Docker containers, construct a cluster of EC2 instances, and launch and control the tasks within the cluster.
Amazon EKS
Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) is a managed Kubernetes service that enables you to run and manage Kubernetes applications in the AWS cloud as well as on-premises data centers. It is an open-source platform for containerized application deployment, scalability, and administration.
Amazon EKS manages all your Kubernetes control planes by container scheduling, managing, storing, and other vital tasks. It will automatically manage the availability and scalability.
Comparison Between Amazon ECS and EKS
Now let us see how AWS’s container services are organized and how ECS vs. EKS differs.
- AWS Registry services – It allows you to store and manage the container images. This category includes the Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR).
- AWS Orchestration services – It allows you to control where and when your containers run. Amazon ECS and EKS are the two services in this category.
Amazon ECS Vs EKS
The main difference between Amazon ECS and EKS: The EKS is a fully managed Kubernetes service, whereas ECS is a fully managed container orchestration service. EKS uses Kubernetes to deploy, manage, and scale containerized applications, whereas ECS manages containerized applications. Both EKS and ECS provide Similar functionality. On the other hand, EKS offers a few more options that support Kubernetes API, which helps to migrate the existing workload more easily.
- Cluster Management
In EKS, the control plane adds an abstraction layer, and the concept of namespaces isolates workloads operating in the same cluster, which adds complexity. Limits duplicating up to three masters in separate Availability Zones and up to five control plane security groups.
In ECS, a basic API removes complexity, while Route 53 and Elastic Load Balancer make management even easier. Also prohibits relocating container instances to another cluster or changing instance types after deployment.
- Performance
Both EKS and ECS are highly available and scalable. But ECS requires manual configuration or you need to add AWS Autoscaler separately and it’s not as efficient as EKS. EKS is highly scalable and it supports both auto and manual configuration scaling.
- Networking Limit
One of the main differences between Amazon ECS and EKS is the number of Pods or tasks that can be stored on a single instance. ECS runs up to 120 tasks per instance whereas EKS runs up to 750 pods per instance.
- Compatibility
In ECS, the portability is limited because it is only natively compatible with most AWS services. Whereas in EKS you can run on any infrastructure, cloud or on-premises, boosting vendor portability and minimizing vendor lock-in.
- Ease of use
ECS is a native product and easy to operate. EKS has more experience in effective deployments. Furthermore, EKS has a control plane, whereas ECS does not.
- Cost
Both EKS and ECS have similar pricing models. The pricing of ECS and EKS varies depending on the infrastructure (AWS Fargate or Amazon EC2) used to host containerized apps. EKS is more expensive than ECS. You want to pay $0.10/hour for each Amazon EKS cluster for its control plane.
- Community support
Because of its open-source platform, Kubernetes has gained more popularity and it provides a community-based support system. However, ECS has official support from the AWS team than the community support system.
Each solution provides you with both benefits and disadvantages. So based on the requirements of a certain application or preferences choose wisely. Probably, if you are experienced and looking to scale your application then EKS is a good choice but if you are new to containers and seeking a simple solution then ECS will be the excellent alternative. However, if you don’t want to use AWS continuously and wish to focus on Kubernetes then EKS is the best option. Take the first step toward IT excellence—schedule a free consultation today.
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