Cloud Throw Down: Part 2 Azure vs. AWS

Ok, in this edition the fight gets graphic! Let’s jump right into the bout. I’ve also been thinking about adding Rackspace or another cloud provider, so if you want me to add a comparison point, please let me know and I’ll get them added.

Deploying .NET Web Application Code into AWS and Windows Azure is done in some distinctly different ways. There are two ways to look at this measurement;

One is with a configured Web Role or VM Role in Windows Azure and already configured EC2 Instance for AWS or… A Web Role or VM Role as is and an EC2 Instance as is. The first scenario one can deploy .NET code directly to the Web Role by simply building the code, directly from Visual Studio and just clicking on publish. For simple web applications and even some complex ones, this is all that is required to get the app into the cloud and running. This takes about 1-5 minutes depending on your build time and bandwidth. I’ll measure this first method of deployment with the web role already started, so it is only the deployment being measured. For AWS I’m making the assumption that you’ve already got an EC2 instance running with either Linux + Mono or Windows with IIS Configured and ready. I’ll call it the…