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Cloud Backup Comparison: Azure vs AWS

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Whether you're using the cloud for archival storage or for running high-availability systems, cloud backup is crucial for business continuity. If you're using the cloud for archiving, you need to make sure you're not overspending on redundant data. If you're using the cloud for daily operations, you need to make sure you have version control capabilities. Each cloud vendor offers a unique set of cloud backup features. This article offers a review of popular backup features offered by Azure and AWS.

What is AWS Backup?

AWS Backup is a fully managed service that you can use to automate and centralize backups of your AWS resources. You use it via a console and custom backup policies. It enables you to backup cloud, hybrid, and on-premise data.

Backup can be used to create and manage backups for:

  • Elastic File System (EFS)-a file storage service you can use for lift-and-shift migrations, analytics, container storage, or content management.
  • Storage Gateway-a hybrid-cloud storage service that enables you to connect on-premise applications to cloud storage.
  • DynamoDB-a key-value and document database for low-latency applications.
  • Relational Database Service (RDS)-a relational data service that you can use to set up a variety of databases, including PostgreSQL, MariaDB, and Oracle.
  • Elastic Block Store (EBS)-a block storage service designed to provide persistent storage for EC2 instances.

AWS Backup Pricing

Backup itself is a free service, included with your existing AWS services. However, any backups you create cost money to store. It also costs to restore from backups. Costs are based on the number of GB per month that you use.

Below is the schedule for backup pricing for the US East region. This should give you an idea of what backups cost to store.

AWS backup-pricing 

Applying these costs to an example pricing situation can give you an idea of your total costs for backup. For example, if you use eight VMs with 100GB each of backup storage in LRS for a month you can use the following calculations to figure your amount owed:

Total Service Cost = 8 VMs x $10 = $80

Total Storage Cost = 800GB x $0.0224 = $17.92

Total Monthly Cost = $80 + $17.92 = $97.92

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article helped you better understand your backup options in AWS and Azure. Backup is a crucial element and should be considered with care. Backup becomes a greater challenge when you're running a multi-vendor operation, so be sure to use the calculators offered by each vendor for accurate billing prediction and optimization. 

Applying these costs to an example pricing situation can give you an idea of your total costs for backup. For example, if you use 800 GB of EFS backup storage and 200 GB of RDS backup storage in a 30 day month you can use the following calculations to figure your amount owed.

Total Monthly Storage Charge = (800 GB/mth (EFS) x $0.05) + (200 GB/mth (RDS) x $0.095) = $59

If you also restored 10 backups that were 10GB each from EFS warm storage, you need to add that cost:

Total Monthly Restore Cost = (10 backups x 10GB) x $0.02 = $2

Total Monthly AWS Backup Bill = $59 + $2 = $61

What is Azure Backup?

Azure Backup is a built-in backup service provided by Azure for your Azure services. You can use it to backup on-premise virtual machines (VMs), cloud VMs, files, and database workloads. Any backups created are encrypted, can be stored for an extended time period, and are application-consistent. You can access Azure Backup through a centralized portal.

You can use Azure Backup with:

  • VMs and on-premise servers
  • SQL servers on Azure VMs
  • SAP HANA on Azure VMs
  • Azure Files

Azure Backup Pricing

The cost of using Azure Backup depends on what services you are backing up, how much storage is used, and how much data is transferred.

To calculate the cost of your backups you need to consider:

  • Service-each service has a fixed price that is charged in addition to storage consumed. This price depends on the size of the instances being backed up.
  • Bandwidth-transfer bandwidth used during data transfers costs you a standard rate. Since backups are incremental, your first backup typically requires more bandwidth than subsequent backups.
  • Storage-costs depend on how many services you are backing up, how frequently, and how many backup copies you need to keep. You can use either Locally Redundant Storage (LRS) or Geo-Redundant Storage (GRS) with the latter being more expensive but more reliable.

Below is a breakdown of the costs for VM backups in the Central US region. You can use these costs to get an idea of what your specific costs will be.

Azure backup pricing 

Applying these costs to an example pricing situation can give you an idea of your total costs for backup. For example, if you use eight VMs with 100GB each of backup storage in LRS for a month you can use the following calculations to figure your amount owed:

Total Service Cost = 8 VMs x $10 = $80

Total Storage Cost = 800GB x $0.0224 = $17.92

Total Monthly Cost = $80 + $17.92 = $97.92

Conclusion

Hopefully, this article helped you better understand your backup options in AWS and Azure. Backup is a crucial element and should be considered with care. Backup becomes a greater challenge when you're running a multi-vendor operation, so be sure to use the calculators offered by each vendor for accurate billing prediction and optimization.

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About the Author

 

Gilad David Maayan is a technology writer who has worked with over 150 technology companies including SAP, Samsung NEXT, NetApp and Imperva, producing technical and thought leadership content that elucidates technical solutions for developers and IT leadership.
 
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giladdavidmaayan/

Published Friday, February 14, 2020 7:30 AM by David Marshall
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