Comparison Between Billing Policies of AliCloud ECS and AWS EC2

Comparison Between Billing Policies of AliCloud ECS and AWS EC2

1.      Billing Policy of AliCloud ECS

You can purchase the ECS service by subscription or in the Pay-As-You-Go way.
The pricing of ECS varies according to the following variables:
1)       Region
2)       Types of OS (Windows and Non-Windows)
3)       Virtual machine hardware specifications

a)        Pay-As-You-Go

Only nodes in Silicon Valley, USA are used as an example:

Billing Item	Description	Specification	Price Unit	Silicon Valley, USA
				Except Windows	Windows
CPU  +  memory   (common instance)	One core	1GB	RMB  /  hour	0.15	0.18
		2GB		0.2	0.24
		4GB		0.3	0.36
		8GB		0.5	0.6
	Two cores	2GB		0.3	0.36
		4GB		0.4	0.48
		8GB		0.6	0.72
		16GB		1	1.2
	Four cores	4GB		0.6	0.72
		8GB		0.8	0.96
		16GB		1.2	1.44

 

b)       Subscription

Billing Item	Description	Specification	Price Unit	Silicon Valley, USA
				Except Windows	Windows
CPU  +  memory   (common instance)	One core	512MB	RMB  /  month	n / a
		1GB		45	65
		2GB		92	119
		4GB		138	179
		8GB		230	299
	Two cores	2GB		138	178
		4GB		184	238
		8GB		276	358
		16GB		460	598
	Four cores	4GB		276	356
		8GB		368	476
		16GB		552	716
		32GB		920	1196
	Eight cores	8GB		552	712
		16GB		736	956
		32GB		1104	1424
		64GB		1840	2392
	Sixteen cores	16GB		1104	1432
		32GB		1472	1904
		64GB		2208	2864

2. Billing Policy of AWS EC2
EC2 is priced in two modes: reserved instance and on-demand instance.
The pricing of EC2 varies according to the following variables:
1) Region
2) Amazon system image types (operating system, application server, and application)
3) Instance type: Different combinations of CPU, memory, storage and network capacity

a) On-demand instance
Taking t2, m4, and m3 instance types as an example, each instance type includes multiple specifications.
When Amazon Linux AMI is used and the region is western USA (Oregon), the price list is as follows:
vCPU ECU Memory (GiB) Instance storage (GB) Linux/UNIX Red Hat Enterprise Linux SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Windows
General - the latest generation
t2.micro 1 Variable 1 Limited to EBS only $0.013 per hour $0.073 per hour $0.023 per hour $0.018 per hour
t2.small 1 Variable 2 Limited to EBS only $0.026 per hour $0.086 per hour $0.056 per hour $0.036 per hour
t2.medium 2 Variable 4 Limited to EBS only $0.052 per hour $0.112 per hour $0.152 per hour $0.072 per hour
t2.large 2 Variable 8 Limited to EBS only $0.104 per hour $0.164 per hour $0.204 per hour $0.134 per hour
m4.large 2 6.5 8 Limited to EBS only $0.126 per hour $0.186 per hour $0.226 per hour $0.252 per hour
m4.xlarge 4 13 16 Limited to EBS only $0.252 per hour $0.312 per hour $0.352 per hour $0.504 per hour
m4.2xlarge 8 26 32 Limited to EBS only $0.504 per hour $0.634 per hour $0.604 per hour $1.008 per hour
m4.4xlarge 16 53.5 64 Limited to EBS only $1.008 per hour $1.138 per hour $1.108 per hour $2.016 per hour
m4.10xlarge 40 124.5 160 Limited to EBS only $2.52 per hour $2.65 per hour $2.62 per hour $5.04 per hour
m3.medium 1 3 3.75 1 x 4 SSD $0.067 per hour $0.127 per hour $0.167 per hour $0.13 per hour
m3.large 2 6.5 7.5 1 x 32 SSD $0.133 per hour $0.193 per hour $0.233 per hour $0.259 per hour
m3.xlarge 4 13 15 2 x 40 SSD $0.266 per hour $0.326 per hour $0.366 per hour $0.518 per hour
m3.2xlarge 8 26 30 2 x 80 SSD $0.532 per hour $0.662 per hour $0.632 per hour $1.036 per hour


b) Reserved Instance
EC2 provides a reserved instance pricing method and grants discounts for the instance usage (compared with on-demand instances). The usage price after discount will be kept for the user contract duration, through which the computing cost during the reserved instance period can be predicted. If users want to use a reserved capacity, the users can start the EC2 instance with the same configuration as the reserved capacity that are purchased. AWS will automatically apply the usage price that is granted to your reserved capacity. As long as users own the reserved instance, the EC2 instance will be charged according to the usage price mentioned above. To purchase an Amazon EC2 reserved instance, users need to select a platform (for example, Linux/UNIX), instance type (for example, m1.small), zone (location), period (one or three years) and leasing (dedicated or default). Users can use Auto Scaling or other AWS services
to start on-demand instances that take advantage of the reserved instances. The payment options are No Upfront Fees (not supported for 3-year reservation) , partial prepayment and full prepayment.
Reserved instances can be sold: Users can sell unused reserved instances in the reserved instance market. The reserved instance market can help a seller who no longer needs reserved instances to find a buyer looking for extra capacity. The reserved instances traded in the reserved instance market can work the same as any other reserved instances.
Taking the t2.micro instance type as an example, when Amazon Linux AMI is used and the region is western USA (Oregon), the price list is as follows:
1-year reservation
Payment option Prepayment Monthly* Effective price per hour** Saved money compared with on-demand instances
No Upfront Fees $0 $6.57 $0.009 31%
Partial prepayment $51 $2.19 $0.0088 32%
Full prepayment $75 $0 $0.0086 34%
3. Billing Policy Comparison
3-year reservation
Payment option Prepayment Monthly* Effective price per hour** Saved money compared with on-demand instances
Partial prepayment $109 $1.46 $0.0061 53%
Full prepayment $151 $0 $0.0057 56%

3. Billing Policy Comparison

a) Comparison Between Pay-As-You-Go of ECS and On-Demand Instances of EC2
US dollar exchange rate on the day: $ 1 = RMB 6.3644
Billing Item Description Specification Price Unit AliCloud ECS in Silicon Valley, USA AWS EC2 in western USA (Oregon)
Non-Windows Windows Linux/UNIX Red Hat Enterprise Linux SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Windows
CPU
+
memory
 (common instance) One core 1GB RMB
/
hour 0.15 0.18 0.08 0.46 0.15 0.11
2GB 0.2 0.24 0.17 0.55 0.36 0.23
4GB 0.3 0.36 n / a n / a n / a n / a
8GB 0.5 0.6 n / a n / a n / a n / a
Two cores 2GB 0.3 0.36 n / a n / a n / a n / a
4GB 0.4 0.48 0.33 0.71 0.97 0.46
8GB 0.6 0.72 0.66 1.04 1.30 0.85
16GB 1 1.2 n / a n / a n / a n / a
Four cores 4GB 0.6 0.72 n / a n / a n / a n / a
8GB 0.8 0.96 n / a n / a n / a n / a
16GB 1.2 1.44 1.60 1.99 2.24 3.21

It can be seen from the above table that when the machine specification is lower than two CPU cores and 8GB of the memory, the Amazon Linux and Windows platforms of AWS EC2 have an advantage in prices, and so do the other Linux platforms (RHAT/SUSE) of AliCloud ECS; when the machine specification is higher than or equal to two CPU cores and 8GB of the memory, AliCloud ECS has an advantage over AWS EC2 in all pricing of OS types.

b) Comparison Between ECS Subscription and EC2 Reserved Instances
ECS subscription is similar to but not the same as EC2 reserved instances. An EC2 reserved instance is similar to purchasing a discount card while ECS subscription is similar to purchasing an instance with a period of validity. The following table describes the comparison between them:
Characteristic ECS EC2
Duration selection Measuring by month. A certain discount is granted if a year-round usage is purchased. One or three years
Pricing method Payment upon purchase and pricing by duration You can select full prepayment, partial prepayment and No Upfront Fees. Different discounts are granted.
Instance billing rule After an instance is purchased successfully, the instance comes into effect, and billing starts and lasts for the instance validity period A running instance is automatically charged using the discounted price for the reserved instance of the corresponding specification. If there is no running instance of the specification, no charging is made.
Can be sold? No Yes
Upgrade and downgrade Upgrade rather than downgrade is allowed during the purchasing period Neither upgrade nor downgrade is supported
Purchasing source Official seller Official seller and the reserved instance market

I think it is good to have both reserved intsances and on-demand instances , with specific offers , so that it brings comfort to clients and reserving in advance with discount can be enticing :)