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Amazon ECS vs EKS vs Lambda — Compute Service Decision Guide
A guide to choosing between Amazon ECS, EKS, and Lambda for application deployment.
What it is
- Amazon ECS: A fully managed container orchestration service that supports Docker containers.
- Amazon EKS: A managed Kubernetes service for running Kubernetes applications.
- AWS Lambda: A serverless compute service that runs code in response to events without provisioning servers.
When I reach for it
- ECS: When you need a simple, AWS-integrated solution for running Docker containers.
- EKS: When you require Kubernetes features, portability, and ecosystem compatibility.
- Lambda: When you want to execute code without worrying about server management, especially for event-driven applications.
Key architectural decisions
- ECS: Choose EC2 or Fargate launch types depending on your resource management preference.
- EKS: Consider whether to use managed node groups for easier scaling or self-managed nodes for custom configurations.
- Lambda: Pay attention to execution time limits (15 minutes max) and cold start performance.
Gotchas & exam traps
- ECS: Understand the distinction between task definitions and services.
- EKS: Be aware of IAM roles for service accounts and the complexity of networking setups.
- Lambda: Remember that VPC configurations can lead to cold start issues if not properly optimized.
The architect view
- Choose ECS for straightforward Docker deployments, EKS for Kubernetes needs, and Lambda for microservices or event-driven architectures. Evaluate your team's skill set and the operational overhead each service entails.