Both Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines and Google Cloud Compute Engine are robust and scalable compute solutions. Azure offers a broader range of storage options and detailed SLA guarantees, while Google Cloud excels in performance and provides automatic discounts for sustained use. The choice depends on specific needs, existing cloud ecosystem, and cost considerations.
| Attribute | Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines | Google Cloud Compute Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Compute Instance Types | — | Configurable CPU, memory, and storage; general-purpose, memory-optimized, and compute-optimized machine types |
| Operating System Support | — | Linux and Windows operating systems, custom OS images (Red Hat, Ubuntu, FreeBSD) |
| Global Region Availability | — | 35 regions with 60+ zones, covering over 200 countries (as of March 2025) |
| Scalability Options | — | Vertical (adjust resources to a single VM), Horizontal (add/remove VM instances based on load), Managed instance groups (MIG) for automatic scaling |
| Networking Capabilities | — | VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) for high-speed communication, Load Balancing for traffic distribution across instances and regions |
| Storage Options | — | Persistent Disks (durable block storage, HDD or SSD), Local SSDs (high throughput, low latency, ephemeral), Cloud Storage Buckets (flexible, scalable, durable object storage) |
| Pricing Model | — | Pay-as-you-go, Sustained Use Discounts (SUD), Committed Use Discounts, Preemptible VMs (discounted, can be terminated) |
| Uptime SLA Guarantee | — | 99.95% monthly uptime SLA |
| Security Features | — | Firewall, DDoS Protection, Data encryption on persistent disks |
| Managed Services | — | Google Cloud SQL (MySQL), Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) |
| Integration with Other Cloud Services | — | Cloud Storage, BigQuery, machine learning APIs |
| Support and Documentation Quality | — | 24/7 support |