The ECS vs EKS Battle Cost Us $50k to Test. Here’s What We Learned | by Usama Malik | in AWS in Plain English

In the world of cloud-based container orchestration, choosing the right platform is crucial for cost efficiency and operational success. Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) and Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) are two leading options offered by AWS, each catering to distinct needs and preferences.

With businesses often struggling to decide between simplicity and flexibility, we embarked on an ambitious $50,000 test to compare these services in real-world conditions. Here’s what we learned.

Understanding ECS and EKS: Key Differences

What is ECS?

Amazon ECS is a fully managed container orchestration service that integrates seamlessly with other AWS services. It supports both Fargate (serverless) and EC2-based launch types. ECS is ideal for organizations seeking an AWS-native solution with minimal management overhead.

What is EKS?

Amazon EKS is a managed Kubernetes service that offers complete Kubernetes capabilities, providing flexibility for users familiar with the Kubernetes ecosystem. EKS supports custom configurations, multi-cloud strategies, and diverse workloads, but it comes with a steeper learning curve and additional management complexities.

Key Differences at a Glance

How We Structured the $50k Test

Defining the Use Case

Our use case involved deploying a microservices-based application with the following requirements:

• High availability across multiple regions.
• Auto-scaling under variable traffic loads.
• Low latency for real-time interactions.

Test Parameters

• Cost Breakdown: Compute, storage, and network traffic costs were monitored.
• Performance Metrics: Latency, throughput, scaling efficiency, and downtime were analyzed.

Environment Setup

ECS Setup:

• Compute Option: Fargate for serverless operation.
• Config File: Below is the task definition used.

{   "containerDefinitions": [     {       "name": "app-container",       "image": "your-app-image",       "memory": 512,       "cpu": 256,       "essential": true     }   ],   "family": "ecs-app-task" }

• Deployment using AWS CLI:

aws ecs create-service --cluster ecs-cluster --service-name ecs-app-service  --task-definition ecs-app-task --desired-count 2

EKS Setup:

• Kubernetes cluster created with eksctl:

eksctl create cluster --name eks-cluster --region us-east-1 --nodegroup-name standard-nodes

• Deployment YAML:

apiVersion: apps/v1 kind: Deployment metadata:   name: app-deployment spec:   replicas: 2   selector:     matchLabels:       app: my-app   template:     metadata:       labels:         app: my-app     spec:       containers:       - name: app-container         image: your-app-image         ports:         - containerPort: 80

Performance Observations: ECS vs EKS

Cost Analysis

ECS was generally more cost-effective due to its serverless Fargate option. EKS incurred higher costs from Kubernetes cluster management overheads and scaling inefficiencies.

Scalability

While both platforms scaled effectively, ECS’s AWS-native scaling worked out-of-the-box. EKS required custom Kubernetes configurations to achieve comparable results.

Ease of Management

ECS stood out for its simplicity. With fewer moving parts, it enabled rapid deployment and required less operational expertise. EKS, though powerful, demanded in-depth Kubernetes knowledge and additional maintenance.

Developer Experience

Developers favored ECS for its straightforward setup and debugging tools. EKS was preferred by teams experienced with Kubernetes, appreciating its flexibility and ecosystem.

Lessons Learned

ECS Strengths

• Best for AWS-centric workloads and teams seeking a simpler solution.
• Lower total cost of ownership due to reduced complexity.

EKS Strengths

• Ideal for Kubernetes-native workflows or multi-cloud strategies.
• Greater control and flexibility in container orchestration.

Trade-offs

• ECS sacrifices some flexibility for simplicity.
• EKS offers advanced features at the cost of increased complexity.

Conclusion: Which One Should You Choose?

The $50k test underscored that the choice between ECS and EKS depends on your organization’s needs:

• Choose ECS if simplicity, cost-efficiency, and AWS-native integration are your priorities.
• Opt for EKS if your team has Kubernetes expertise or requires flexibility for multi-cloud deployments.

While ECS emerged as the better option for our specific use case, EKS proved invaluable for more complex scenarios. The key is to assess your workload, team expertise, and long-term scalability requirements before committing to a platform.

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