Amazon EC2 vs Amazon S3 vs VPS Hosting

Mont,   Dec, 28, 2022

You’ve probably heard of Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud), and Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) and wondering whether you should use AWS or VPS hosting for your website or app. Whichever your top priority is, speed or cost-effective, make sure you have all the information to ensure that you’re getting the best performance for your website or app. In this article, we’ll give you a brief difference and comparison between VPS and amazon ec2 vs s3 hosting.

What Is Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)?

AWS means Amazon Web Services that offers cloud web hosting solutions that allow businesses, non-profits, and governmental organizations to deliver websites that work in real-time. No matter what your business wants, a marketing, rich-media, or e-commerce website, AWS has a wide range of hosting options to help you select the right solution for your needs.

Amazon EC2 provides scalable computing in the cloud. It is specifically designed to make web-scale cloud computing easier for web developers and to make the economics of computing more attractive by not paying for unused capacity.

What Is Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)?

It is an object storage service that offers industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance. S3 allows you to store and retrieve data, such as documents, images, videos, and backups, on the cloud. It’s designed for high durability, meaning your data is redundantly stored across multiple locations, making it highly reliable. S3 is often used for backup and recovery, media hosting, data archiving, and as a data lake for analytics. It’s also commonly used as a content delivery network (CDN) for distributing files globally.

Any quantity of data can be stored and retrieved with Amazon S3 from any location on the internet. Amazon S3 allows developers to store files up to 5 terabytes. This service provides 99.999999999 percent durability and 99.99 percent availability of objects.

What Is VPS Hosting?

A Virtual Private Server (VPS) is one part of a huge, powerful computer. Although it works similarly to a regular, individual website server, it is actually just a small part of a massive network. However, you still have your own space with unlimited bandwidth, excellent reliability, and dedicated processing and computing resources for you alone. You never have to share anything with anyone else.

VPS is a great option for websites and applications with high bandwidth consumption, or those that need to conduct intensive experiments. It’s extremely reasonable in price and just as reliable, so it is a budget-friendly solution in the long run and helps you avoid technical problems.

Difference Between AWS EC2 vs S3

Amazon EC2 provides virtual computing resources (servers) in the cloud, while Amazon S3 offers scalable, highly available storage for various types of data. These services are commonly used together to create and host web applications and websites, as well as to store and manage the associated data and assets.

Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3 are two of the most popular Amazon Web Services (AWS) services. They are often used together to create powerful and scalable cloud-based applications. For example, you can use Amazon EC2 to run your application servers and Amazon S3 to store your application data.

Here are some examples of how Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3 can be used together:

• Web applications: Amazon EC2 can be used to host the web servers for your web application, and Amazon S3 can be used to store your application’s static content, such as images, CSS, and JavaScript files.
• Mobile applications: Amazon EC2 can be used to host the backend servers for your mobile application, and Amazon S3 can be used to store your application’s user data and other files.
• Big data applications: Amazon EC2 can be used to run the Hadoop cluster for your big data application, and Amazon S3 can be used to store the data that your application processes.

Amazon EC2 and Amazon S3 are powerful and scalable services that can be used to create a wide variety of cloud-based applications. By using these services together, you can create applications that are reliable, secure, and cost-effective.

Difference Between AWS EC2, AWS S3 and VPS Hosting

1. AWS EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud):

• Virtual Machines: EC2 provides virtual machines (instances) in the cloud. Users can choose instance types based on their specific requirements, such as CPU, memory, and storage capacity.
• Scalability: It offers on-demand scalability, allowing users to easily scale up or down based on traffic and computing needs.
• Customization: Users have control over the virtual machine’s operating system, applications, and configurations.
• Use Cases: Ideal for hosting applications, websites, and services that require full control over the server environment and scalability.

2. AWS S3 (Simple Storage Service):

• Object Storage: S3 is a scalable object storage service designed for storing and retrieving large amounts of unstructured data, such as documents, images, videos, and backups.
• Data Durability: It offers high data durability and availability through redundant storage across multiple locations.
• Use Cases: S3 is commonly used for data backup, data archiving, media storage, content delivery, and as a data lake for analytics.

3. VPS Hosting (Virtual Private Server):

• Physical Servers: VPS hosting involves dividing a physical server into multiple virtual servers using virtualization technology.
• Isolation: Each VPS operates independently with its own dedicated resources (CPU, RAM, storage).
• Customization: Users have more control over the server environment compared to shared hosting but less than AWS EC2.
• Scalability: Scalability may be limited by the physical server’s capacity.
• Use Cases: Suitable for hosting websites, web applications, and services with moderate traffic and resource requirements, but with less scalability compared to cloud-based solutions.

Key Differences:

• EC2 offers virtual machines with full control over the server environment, while S3 is an object storage service for unstructured data.
• EC2 is designed for hosting applications, whereas S3 is for scalable storage.
• EC2 provides granular control and high scalability, while VPS hosting offers a balance between control and shared infrastructure.
• AWS services like EC2 and S3 are part of the cloud, providing dynamic scalability and a pay-as-you-go pricing model, while VPS hosting typically involves fixed pricing based on resource allocation.

Here is a table that summarizes the key differences between AWS EC2, AWS S3, and VPS hosting:

The choice between these hosting solutions depends on your specific needs, technical expertise, scalability requirements, and budget. Many businesses use a combination of these services to meet different hosting and storage needs within their infrastructure.

The best service for you will depend on your specific needs. If you need a high level of control and scalability, then AWS EC2 is a good option. If you need a reliable and affordable storage solution, then AWS S3 is a good option. If you need a web hosting solution that gives you more control than shared hosting, then VPS hosting is a good option.

Here are some examples of when you might choose each service:

• AWS EC2: You are developing a web application that needs to be able to handle a large number of concurrent users.
• AWS S3: You need to store a large amount of data, such as images, videos, or music.
• VPS hosting: You are developing a website or web application that needs more control than shared hosting can provide.

What’s the optimal selection for your business: AWS EC2, AWS S3, or VPS Hosting?

Hosting a website or app on either AWS or VPS hosting could be an excellent decision, but there are significant differences between the two. Understanding what each service can offer and its limits will help you to choose which one is suitable for your needs! First and foremost, let’s compare prices:

1. Cost

When people look for a web host, the first thing they will check is the cost. People need to be aware that Amazon and VPS hosting services have their own way of charging their customers. VPS hosting is a per-hour, flat fee. If you are paying for a VPS, you pay a set price per month. It has a maximum amount, so no matter how many resources you use, the bill will not go over that maximum. If you need a fixed price, then a VPS is the right choice.

Unlike VPS which charges you a flat fee every month, Amazon’s customers only pay for what they really use each month. Amazon does not charge you for a fixed amount of resources. This is a pay-as-you-go system. It means that if you have more users, you will need to pay more at the end of the month. Amazon’s cloud will calculate all the resources you use, such as CPU and memory, and your bill will be based on this usage. 

Note that some VPS customers are charged for bandwidth overages. In contrast, Amazon charges not just for bandwidth but for everything you do with the server, which leads to a huge bill at the end of the month. That’s why some people were surprised by the unexpected charges from Amazon. So you have to consider AWS vs. VPS costs before choosing one of these two hosting providers.

2. Flexibility

Amazon’s pay-as-you-go policy makes it easy to scale up your website as needed. There’s no need to contact Amazon or make any changes to your account; if your website becomes more popular, Amazon will automatically provide you with more resources. This makes Amazon extremely flexible and reliable, you can be confident that your website will always have the resources it needs to function properly.

When you choose a VPS host, you need to be aware of the potential limits on how many resources you can use. VPS plans typically have limits on how much RAM you can use. This means that if you have a busy website or are running multiple sites, you may need to upgrade your plan to ensure that you have enough RAM to meet your needs. Unlike with Amazon, upgrading your VPS plan is a manual process that needs your hosting provider’s support. However, this process is usually straightforward and can be completed with just a few clicks.

If you have a lot of traffic one week and then very little the next, Amazon will charge you for the peak and then charge you less the rest of the month. This can be cost-saving compared to a VPS host, which charges a flat rate regardless of how much you use the service. Of course, Amazon’s pricing structure can be complex, so you need to do your research before choosing a provider. However, if you are looking for a flexible and cost-effective solution for hosting a website with variable traffic, Amazon is worth considering.

3. Control

The top difference between AWS and a VPS is the space in which you are able to work. AWS operates on a “black box” system, meaning that the code governing how the system is set up and how it functions is kept secret. This lack of transparency prevents users to understand how things work within AWS. In contrast, a VPS mimics a regular server, giving you more control over how it operates. With a VPS, you can use it for anything that you would use a real server for. 

A VPS gives you much more control over your server than Amazon. Maintaining the security and server updates is in your charge. This requires some knowledge, but it is worth it for the control it gives you. Amazon does a lot of heavy lifting for you, but it places limits on what you can do within your account. You can’t reboot your server whenever you’d like, for example.

To conclude, AWS and VPS are different in their own ways. VPS is usually cheaper and you can get it up and running quickly. Having root access to the server is another advantage of VPS because you will be able to change and configure it. However, you will be responsible for security, most of the upkeep, and maintenance. In contrast, AWS is more expensive but offers better maintenance and uptime. Still, it does not allow for as much customization, as users cannot make changes to the server configuration.

If you’re still undecided about which hosting service to choose for your website, you may want to consider 1Byte. Based in Cambodia, 1Byte offers a variety of web hosting plans to suit your needs and budget. From shared hosting to dedicated cloud hosting, 1Byte has a plan that’s right for you. In addition, 1Byte offers 24/7 customer support, so you can rest assured that your website will be up and running smoothly.

Conclusion

VPS hosting and Amazon web services are both popular choices for web hosting, how to know which one is right for you? A VPS offers more freedom and control than AWS, but it also comes with a fixed monthly cost. AWS, on the other hand, is a good choice if you want to handle large surges of traffic and pay only for what you use. In terms of tech support, a VPS will generally offer better assistance than AWS. However, AWS is easier to manage overall, thanks to its streamlined interface. It’s important to understand the key differences before making a decision.