Cloud Data Storage Comparison - AWS EBS vs Azure Disk vs Google Persistent Disk
As businesses are moving more towards the cloud infrastructure, cloud data storage has become paramount. Cloud data storage solutions offer various benefits such as scalability, accessibility, and durability. The three most popular cloud service providers AWS, Azure, and Google offer cloud data storage services. However, choosing one among these services could be confusing due to their similarities and differences. This post will make it clear by providing a factual comparison between AWS EBS, Azure Disk, and Google Persistent Disk.
AWS EBS (Elastic Block Store)
AWS EBS is a high-performance block storage service used with EC2 instances. It provides persistent block-level storage for EC2 by allowing you to create and attach volumes to Amazon EC2 instances. It offers different volume types depending on your use-case, ranging from SSD-backed to HDD-backed volumes.
Pricing
The cost of AWS EBS depends on the storage type, IOPS usage, and the region. For example, the cost of gp2 SSD volumes in the US East (N. Virginia) region is $0.10 per GB-month, and provisioned IOPS are priced at $0.065 per provisioned IOPS-month.
Azure Disk
Azure Disk is a managed disk service provided by Microsoft Azure. It is used to manage and scale disks independently of VMs in Azure. Azure Disk provides block-level storage for Azure virtual machines, similar to AWS EBS.
Pricing
The cost of Azure Disk depends on the disk type, region, and the cloud provider. For example, the cost of standard SSD disks in the East US region is $0.0959 per GB-month, while ultra disks cost $0.8238 per GB-month.
Google Persistent Disk
Google Persistent Disk is a virtual hard disk service offered by Google Cloud Platform. It is designed for durability, availability, and performance. Google Persistent Disk is available in Hard Disk Drive (HDD) and Solid-State Disk (SSD) types.
Pricing
The cost of Google Persistent Disk depends on the disk type, region, and the storage volume. The standard disk storage in Central US region costs $0.040 per GB-month, and the provisioned IOPS cost $0.05 per IOPS-month.
Comparison
The table below provides a side-by-side comparison of AWS EBS, Azure Disk, and Google Persistent Disk based on their features and pricing:
| Cloud Provider | Volume Types | Durability | Availability | Cost (per GB-month) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWS EBS | SSD,HDD,provisioned IOPS | 99.999% | 99.9% availability in a single Availability Zone | $0.10 & above |
| Azure Disk | Standard, Premium, Ultra | On average 99.999% per year | 99.9% SLA | $0.0959 & above |
| Google Persistent Disk | SSD, HDD, Local SSD | 99.999% | low latency and high throughput | $0.04 & above |
Conclusion
AWS EBS, Azure Disk, and Google Persistent Disk offer similar services with minor variations in features and pricing. Amazon AWS EBS provides block-level storage, whereas Azure Disks can scale independently of VMs in Azure. Google Persistent Disk provides low latency and high throughput. Ultimately, the cloud provider that one chooses depends on the specific needs of their project.
References
AWS EBS pricing: https://aws.amazon.com/ebs/pricing/
Azure Disk pricing: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/managed-disks/
Google Persistent Disk pricing: https://cloud.google.com/compute/disks-image-pricing