Amazon EC2 vs Alibaba Container Registry – How do they function? Comparisons

If you are a startup that is looking for a “container management” tool, you would definitely give a thought to work with online cloud services like Amazon EC2 or Alibaba ECS. The most preferred option for an efficient running of a host of applications at scale is using a container service. They can be helpful in running the apps in a scalable manner, yet have no adverse effects on your apps proper functionality at the production level. Amazon  AWS and Alibaba ECS have been the biggest players in this space. How do their Container registries function and how do they differ? (Amazon EC2 vs Alibaba Container Registry) We will check it out in the following paragraphs.

Amazon EC2 vs Alibaba Container Registry – How do they function?

Let us take up a complete analysis and comparison of the two competing services. But, before that, it would be essential to check out the fundamentals of a container registry and understanding what exactly it does.

What is a Container registry?

A container registry is what would cover the management of App images throughout the lifecycle of the application. This ensures that applications are run efficiently and securely. The container registry aids you in building, operating and maintaining a record, supporting the images in several locations and integrating different cloud projects.

The service will be helpful in creating and maintenance of image registry. It also aids you in offering management of image permissions.

Amazon Elastic Container Registry – An Overview

The Amazon Elastic Container Registry or ECR offers you a wholly managed docker registry service that helps you store, deploy or manage the Docker container images. The default container registry that Amazon makes use is Amazon ECR as we already stated, but it also makes use of Docker as well.

The ECR is wholly integrated with Amazon Elastic Container Service and thus simplifies your product development. Making use of ECR will help you eliminate the need for opting for separate container repositories for your specific needs. With it, you would be able to host your images in a scalable manner. This will go a long way in letting you deploy containers for your applications.

One of the best aspects with the Amazon Elastic Container Registry is you do not need to pay any upfront charges for the service. Pay as you go as per the amount of data you have stored in your repositories and the amount of data that you have transferred through the internet.

Alibaba Container Registry – An Introduction

Alibaba promises that its container registry is built to offer you less administrative operations so that you can start your applications at lower management and operational costs. The multi-region support is yet another excellent option that it provides in tune with most other options in the genre. You can make use of the services from the intranet, internet or VPC networks.

It features a dedicated Mirror Accelerator option that helps you get the images faster outside the Chinese region and on any operating system. The Alibaba Container registry offers regular automatic “Image Security Status Scan” options. You may also opt for the manual scan if you prefer. Secure and convenient image sharing is yet another feature you will find interesting enough.

The Benefits that Each of the Services Offers

Both Amazon EC2 Container registry and Alibaba Container registry come with their own benefits. Of course, the services remain the same across a host of the features with a few minor differences.

Amazon EC2 Container Registry Benefits

Let us first concentrate on the benefits that Amazon offers for the EC2 Registry users –

• Fully Managed Service –It will do away the need for operating and scaling infrastructure. You need not install any additional software.
• High-End Security – The images are transferred over HTTPS, and this will help you encrypt the images. You can configure your policies for proper management of permissions and access control.
• Workflow Simplification –An integration with Amazon ECS and the Docker CLI aids in simplifying the workflow related to development and production.
• High Availability –The EC2 Container registry from Amazon is highly scalable and durable. The service is always available and accessible.
• Amazon Elastic Container Service Integration–The ECR from Amazon is integrated with Amazon ECS. This will be helpful for you in running storing, running and maintaining the applications on Amazon ECS. You only need to specify the ECR repository, and ECS will pull the images required for your applications.

Alibaba Container Registry Benefits

Having understood the benefits offered by Amazon EC2 Container registry, here is an input on the benefits provided by Alibaba Container Registry.

• Multiple Region Support –The service supports various regions. Ability to download images without the use of traffic is an added advantage.
• Complete API Support –It offers you customized image management and in extended developments.
• Integration with Cloud products – An excellent integration with the services like GitHub, Bitbucket, and self-built GitLab aids in better image management.

The Concluding Thoughts

Well, we could not find much of a difference between the two services as such. In fact, the integration with Swarm or Kubernetes and broad support for these services would make it an excellent service in its own right. The Container Registry Service offered by Alibaba makes a better sense as it supports both these options.

However, given the geographical presence that Amazon is known for and the popularity it has in the English speaking western region can indeed make it one of the better choices. But, not to be left behind, Alibaba too! has its bags packed for meeting the needs of a growing industry.

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