Fargate vs EC2: The Battle of AWS Services
Trying to decide whether to use AWS Fargate or EC2 for your CI/CD pipeline can be a daunting task. Choosing the right service is crucial, as it can mean the difference between a smooth and efficient process, or long hours spent troubleshooting errors. That’s why we’ve created this blog post to help you make an informed decision!
Let the battle begin!
AWS Fargate
What is Fargate?
AWS Fargate is a serverless compute engine that lets you run Docker containers without having to manage the infrastructure.
With Fargate, you simply specify the CPU and memory requirements for your application, and AWS takes care of the rest, ensuring that the containers are provisioned and sized appropriately.
Strengths
- No need to manage the underlying infrastructure
- Scalable and highly available
- Offers a great balance between cost and performance
- Ideal for microservices
Weaknesses
- Limited control over the underlying infrastructure
- Limited customization options
- Limited tooling support for Fargate-specific features
Amazon EC2
What is EC2?
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is a web service that provides scalable computing capacity in the cloud. EC2 allows you to rent virtual machines on which you can run your application.
EC2 offers a wide range of instance types, allowing you to choose the best balance between cost and performance for your application.
Strengths
- Full control over the underlying infrastructure
- Wide variety of customization options
- Great support for third-party tooling
Weaknesses
- Requires more maintenance work than Fargate
- Less scalable and highly available than Fargate
- More prone to errors due to configuration issues
Fargate vs EC2
Cost
When it comes to cost, Fargate offers a great balance between cost and performance. With Fargate, you only pay for the CPU and memory you use, which can be ideal for small to medium-sized applications.
EC2, on the other hand, requires more upfront investment, but provides more flexibility when it comes to instance types and pricing options.
Control
Fargate offers limited control over the underlying infrastructure and has limited customization options. This can be beneficial for teams that want a simpler, less maintenance-intensive approach.
EC2, on the other hand, provides full control over the underlying infrastructure and offers a wider range of customization options. This can be ideal for more advanced users who are willing to put in the extra work to optimize their infrastructure.
Scalability
Fargate is highly scalable, thanks to its automatic scaling capabilities that allow you to quickly and easily adjust your compute resources based on demand.
EC2 can also be highly scalable, but it requires more manual intervention to configure and manage.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both Fargate and EC2 have their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to CI/CD pipelines. Choosing one over the other will depend on your specific needs, such as the size of your application, the level of control you require, and your budget.
We hope this comparison has helped you make an informed decision!
References
- AWS Fargate - Run Containers Without Managing Infrastructure. AWS. https://aws.amazon.com/fargate/.
- Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) - Scalable Cloud Hosting. AWS. https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/.