AWS vs Azure - Services

Service Category	AWS Service(s)	Azure Service(s)	Key Difference / Note
Compute (VMs)	EC2	Virtual Machines	Both provide scalable VM compute.
Auto Scaling	EC2 Auto Scaling	Virtual Machine Scale Sets	Similar concept: scale VM instances based on demand/metrics.
Containers (Managed Kubernetes)	EKS	AKS	Both managed Kubernetes; Azure often feels more integrated with AAD/Entra and portal workflows.
Containers (Managed container apps)	ECS, App Runner	Container Apps	Azure Container Apps is closer to “serverless containers”; AWS has multiple options depending on preference.
Serverless Functions	Lambda	Azure Functions	Event-driven code execution with deep integrations on both sides.
Event Bus / Integration	EventBridge	Event Grid	Both route events between services; Azure also commonly pairs Event Grid with Logic Apps.
Workflow Orchestration	Step Functions	Logic Apps, Durable Functions	Step Functions is workflow-first; Logic Apps is low-code-heavy; Durable Functions is code-centric orchestration.
API Management	API Gateway	API Management	Azure API Management is very feature-rich for enterprise policy/governance; AWS API Gateway is tightly integrated with Lambda.
Messaging (Queue)	SQS	Service Bus (Queues)	SQS is simple and scalable; Service Bus offers richer enterprise messaging features.
Messaging (Pub/Sub)	SNS	Service Bus (Topics), Event Grid	AWS commonly uses SNS+SQS; Azure splits responsibilities across services.
Streaming / Event Streaming	Kinesis (Data Streams/Firehose)	Event Hubs	Both for high-throughput ingestion and streaming workloads.
Object Storage	S3	Blob Storage	Both durable object storage with multiple tiers.
Block Storage	EBS	Managed Disks	Persistent block storage for VM workloads.
File Storage	EFS, FSx	Azure Files	Managed file shares; FSx supports specific enterprise file systems.
Archive Storage	S3 Glacier	Archive tier	Long-term cold storage options.
CDN	CloudFront	Azure CDN / Front Door	Azure Front Door includes global load balancing + WAF patterns; CloudFront is CDN-first.
Networking (Virtual network)	VPC	VNet	Core isolated networking constructs.
Load Balancing	ELB (ALB/NLB)	Load Balancer, Application Gateway	AWS splits L4/L7; Azure uses separate products (App Gateway is L7 + WAF).
DNS	Route 53	Azure DNS	Similar DNS hosting; AWS also includes health-based routing patterns via Route 53.
Private Connectivity	Direct Connect	ExpressRoute	Dedicated private network links from on-prem to cloud.
Relational DB (Managed)	RDS, Aurora	Azure SQL Database, Azure Database for MySQL/PostgreSQL	Azure SQL is strong for SQL Server ecosystems; AWS offers breadth of engines and Aurora variants.
SQL Server (Lift-and-shift)	RDS for SQL Server / EC2	SQL Managed Instance	Managed Instance is often positioned for near-full SQL Server compatibility.
NoSQL (Key-value / document)	DynamoDB	Cosmos DB	Both globally distributed; Cosmos offers multiple APIs; DynamoDB is key-value/document with strong AWS integration.
Cache	ElastiCache (Redis/Memcached)	Azure Cache for Redis	Similar managed caching patterns.
Search	OpenSearch Service	Azure AI Search	Comparable managed search; naming/features differ.
Data Warehouse	Redshift	Synapse Analytics (Dedicated SQL pool)	Both analytics warehouses; Azure often combines Synapse with broader data integration tools.
ETL / Data Integration	Glue	Data Factory	Both orchestrate/transform data pipelines.
Data Lake Governance	Lake Formation	Microsoft Purview	Both focus on cataloging, governance, access control.
Identity & Access	IAM, IAM Identity Center	Microsoft Entra ID	Azure identity is deeply integrated with Microsoft 365 and AD.
Secrets Management	Secrets Manager, SSM Parameter Store	Key Vault	Similar secure secret/cert/key storage.
Key Management (KMS/HSM)	KMS, CloudHSM	Key Vault, Managed HSM	Both provide KMS and HSM options.
Monitoring/Logs	CloudWatch	Azure Monitor / Log Analytics	Similar observability stacks with metrics, logs, alerts.
Tracing / APM	X-Ray	Application Insights	Distributed tracing and application performance monitoring.
IaC	CloudFormation, CDK	ARM, Bicep, Terraform	AWS CDK is developer-friendly; Azure pushes Bicep + Terraform commonly.
DevOps / CI-CD	CodePipeline/CodeBuild	Azure DevOps, GitHub Actions	Azure DevOps is a full suite; AWS tools integrate well with AWS-native deployments.
Registry (Container images)	ECR	ACR	Both host OCI container images with identity integration.
Hybrid / Multi-cloud Management	Outposts	Azure Arc, Azure Stack	Azure Arc is widely used for multi-cloud/on-prem resource governance.
Edge / Device / IoT	IoT Core, Greengrass	IoT Hub, IoT Edge	Similar device ingestion + edge compute patterns.

AWS vs Azure – Reference Architectures

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1️⃣ Three-Tier Web Application

flowchart LR
    subgraph AWS["AWS"]
        A1[Route 53] --> A2[CloudFront] --> A3[ALB]
        A3 --> A4[EC2 Auto Scaling / ECS]
        A4 --> A5[RDS / Aurora]
        A4 --> A6[S3]
        A4 --> A7[CloudWatch]
    end

    subgraph AZ["Azure"]
        Z1[Azure DNS] --> Z2[Front Door] --> Z3[Application Gateway]
        Z3 --> Z4[VM Scale Sets / App Service]
        Z4 --> Z5[Azure SQL Database]
        Z4 --> Z6[Blob Storage]
        Z4 --> Z7[Azure Monitor]
    end

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2️⃣ Event-Driven / Serverless Architecture

flowchart LR
    subgraph AWS["AWS"]
        A1[Producer] --> A2[EventBridge]
        A2 --> A3[Lambda]
        A3 --> A4[Step Functions]
        A4 --> A3
        A3 --> A5[SQS]
        A3 --> A6[SNS]
        A3 --> A7[S3]
    end

    subgraph AZ["Azure"]
        Z1[Producer] --> Z2[Event Grid]
        Z2 --> Z3[Azure Functions]
        Z3 --> Z4[Logic Apps / Durable Functions]
        Z4 --> Z3
        Z3 --> Z5[Service Bus Queue]
        Z3 --> Z6[Service Bus Topic]
        Z3 --> Z7[Blob Storage]
    end

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3️⃣ Kubernetes / Container Platform

flowchart LR
    subgraph AWS["AWS"]
        A1[User] --> A2[ALB Ingress]
        A2 --> A3[EKS]
        A3 --> A4[Pods / Services]
        A4 --> A5[RDS]
        A4 --> A6[S3]
        A4 --> A7[Secrets Manager]
        A3 --> A8[CloudWatch]
        A9[ECR] --> A3
    end

    subgraph AZ["Azure"]
        Z1[User] --> Z2[App Gateway Ingress]
        Z2 --> Z3[AKS]
        Z3 --> Z4[Pods / Services]
        Z4 --> Z5[Azure SQL]
        Z4 --> Z6[Blob Storage]
        Z4 --> Z7[Key Vault]
        Z3 --> Z8[Azure Monitor]
        Z9[ACR] --> Z3
    end

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4️⃣ Data & Analytics Platform

flowchart LR
    subgraph AWS["AWS"]
        A1[Sources] --> A2[Kinesis]
        A2 --> A3[Glue]
        A3 --> A4[S3 Data Lake]
        A4 --> A5[Redshift]
        A5 --> A6[QuickSight]
        A7[Lake Formation] --> A4
    end

    subgraph AZ["Azure"]
        Z1[Sources] --> Z2[Event Hubs]
        Z2 --> Z3[Data Factory]
        Z3 --> Z4[ADLS]
        Z4 --> Z5[Synapse]
        Z5 --> Z6[Power BI]
        Z7[Purview] --> Z4
    end

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5️⃣ CI/CD Pipeline

flowchart LR
    subgraph AWS["AWS"]
        A1[Developer] --> A2[CodeCommit / GitHub]
        A2 --> A3[CodeBuild]
        A3 --> A4[CodePipeline]
        A4 --> A5[Deploy: CloudFormation / CDK]
        A5 --> A6[Runtime: EKS / ECS / Lambda]
    end

    subgraph AZ["Azure"]
        Z1[Developer] --> Z2[Azure Repos / GitHub]
        Z2 --> Z3[Azure Pipelines / GitHub Actions]
        Z3 --> Z4[Deploy: Bicep / Terraform]
        Z4 --> Z5[Runtime: AKS / App Service / Functions]
    end

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6️⃣ Hybrid / On-Prem Integration

flowchart LR
    subgraph AWS["AWS"]
        A1[On-Prem] --> A2[Direct Connect]
        A2 --> A3[AWS Outposts]
        A3 --> A4[AWS Region]
        A4 --> A5[IAM]
    end

    subgraph AZ["Azure"]
        Z1[On-Prem] --> Z2[ExpressRoute]
        Z2 --> Z3[Azure Arc]
        Z3 --> Z4[Azure Stack]
        Z4 --> Z5[Microsoft Entra ID]
    end

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7️⃣ Secure Enterprise Landing Zone

flowchart LR
    subgraph AWS["AWS"]
        A1[Organizations] --> A2[Control Tower]
        A1 --> A3[Shared Services Account]
        A1 --> A4[Production Accounts]
        A1 --> A5[Non-Production Accounts]
        A3 --> A6[Transit VPC / Central Networking]
        A7[Central Logging & Security] --> A3
    end

    subgraph AZ["Azure"]
        Z1[Management Groups] --> Z2[Azure Landing Zones]
        Z1 --> Z3[Platform Subscription]
        Z1 --> Z4[Production Subscriptions]
        Z1 --> Z5[Non-Production Subscriptions]
        Z3 --> Z6[Hub VNet / Central Networking]
        Z7[Central Logging & Security] --> Z3
    end

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