AWS vs Google vs Microsoft vs ServerMania: Cloud Server Pricing Comparison

What is Cloud Hosting?

Cloud hosting is a modern form of web hosting that leverages the power of cloud services to host, manage, and scale websites and applications. Instead of relying on a single server, like with traditional hosting, cloud hosting operates on a network of interconnected virtual machines that collectively share and deliver resources.

Cloud Hosting Advantages and Disadvantages

Like any technology, cloud hosting comes with its own set of advantages and disadvantages that you should carefully evaluate when considering a move to the cloud. Understanding these pros and cons can guide you in making the best decisions for your specific needs. We at ServerMania even offer our own cloud instances, but it isn’t always the best choice for a business.

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of using cloud services for your organization:

Cloud Hosting Advantages

• Scalability – Cloud hosting allows for instant scaling of resources such as processing power and storage, which can be adjusted on the fly to fit your needs.
• Reliability – With your data distributed across several servers, if one fails, the load is shifted to other servers to minimize your downtime.
• Cost Efficiency – You only pay for the storage and resources you use, making it cost-effective for organizations of any size. Plus, with discounted pricing through on-demand instances, cloud costs can fit into pretty much any budget.

Cloud Hosting Disadvantages

• Potential for Unexpected Costs – While it can be cost-effective to use a cloud provider, you’ll need to take a fine-toothed comb to read their pricing model. There is always a chance of resource usage spiking in price, which needs to be limited by cost caps.
• Vendor Lock-In – Businesses that depend on cloud service providers may experience difficulties when attempting to switch providers, due to the massive difference in architecture, platform, and integrations. This kind of lock-in can lead to additional costs for migrating and adapting to these changes, which may disrupt operations.
• Data Privacy and Security – Cloud providers employ strict security measures and protocols to safeguard data. However, because this data may be stored on shared servers, there’s an inherent risk of data breaches and unauthorized access. Depending on the nature of your business, ensuring a service provider is compliant with specific industry regulations can be a challenge.

Reasons For Migrating Away From Certain Cloud Providers​

There could be any number of reasons why a business might want to consider switching providers or migrating to a different solution. While cloud computing services generally offer a broad spectrum of benefits, there are some challenges or changing business requirements that may warrant a shift. Here are some common reasons:

• Cost Efficiency – Even the best cloud providers may offer affordable instance pricing, but cloud pricing can quickly add up on your cloud bill if not kept in check and managed appropriately.
• Performance Issues – If a cloud provider can’t meet the necessary performance, service availability, or speed requirements, businesses may consider migrating to a new service.
• Security Concerns – Lack of trust in one of these providers or an increase in data breaches can motivate an organization to switch to an alternate provider.
• Compliance Requirements – Even with how big the cloud market is today, if a provider can’t meet certain specific compliance regulations, some organizations will need to move to a service provider that can.
• Data Control – Most organizations need to have a firm grasp over their data, which doesn’t always align with the infrastructure architecture of some cloud service providers, leading them to look elsewhere for storage services.

Cloud Pricing Comparison

With how broad the cloud market is, it means there are quite a few factors that you need to keep in mind when picking a cloud service provider. While we have heard from many of our clients that bandwidth pricing is one of the biggest concerns for their business (and a key reason why they chose ServerMania over other cloud providers), there’s more to be said. We wanted to show you just how expensive cloud servers and bandwidth can be.

For this article, we compare some general purpose instances that are most similar to our fleet of servers. You’ll find, however, that all of our compute optimized instances, memory optimized cloud services, and cloud storage offerings are priced very competitively.

ServerMania, AWS, Azure, Google – Price Comparison

We selected several reserved instances from major cloud providers to see how the pricing stacked up to our cloud instances. ServerMania Cloud Servers can be provisioned instantly and are backed by industry-leading technology to deliver a high-performance and high-availability experience.

Of All These Cloud Providers, Who’s Cheapest?

Of the four cloud providers we compared, ServerMania is the cheapest option for both servers and bandwidth, by almost half! Of course, there are other providers in the global cloud market that offer a cheaper alternative, but price is one of multiple factors to consider. We aim to offer competitive, reliable, and high-performance cloud computing.

However, if you’re comparing the big enterprises (AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud), Microsoft Azure ends up the winner of that cloud pricing comparison.

Cloud Server Feature Comparison

Conclusion

Choosing a provider that best fits your organization’s unique needs is a tough choice — one that is directly affected by any number of factors. Between all of these cloud providers, the choice ultimately ties back to your computing power requirements, scalability demands, budget constraints, and customer support needs. Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services, and Google Cloud Platform are all comprehensive cloud service providers, while ServerMania offers dynamic hosting options for cloud instances with stellar customer service and competitive cloud pricing.

No one solution is perfect, and in comparing these three cloud providers, it’s entirely up to you to figure out what the best option for your organization will be. No matter what your cloud business needs, ServerMania offers a more personal touch compared to other providers, and we strive to provide affordable bandwidth with a competitive pricing model.

Want to learn more? Book a free consultation today to discuss how ServerMania can meet your server needs.