ECS VS Docker Swarm

ECS VS Docker Swarm

1. AWS Elastic Container Service (ECS)

One solution is to offload the work of cluster management to AWS through the use of Amazon’s Elastic Container Service (ECS). ECS is a good solution for organizations who are already familiar with Amazon Web Services. A cluster can be configured and deployed with just a few clicks, backed by EC2 instances you manage or by Fargate, a fully-managed cluster service. 

Components of ECS:

• ECS clusters: As Cluster means collection so ECS clusters is collection of Ec2 instances.
• Task Definition: Similar to the docker run command. Additional is details including which containers should run on one host.
• Service: Used for running and maintaining a number of task definitions in your cluster.
• Service Scheduler: Keeps watch over running tasks and ensures that the correct number is up. Also, rescheduling tasks if they fail is included in this feature.

Also Read: How to Upload Image to AWS using Node.js

If you are searching for seamless integration between containers and other AWS services, Amazon ECS is perfect as it provides you the maximum value. As it offers high availability, scalability, and security, it's safe to call it a fully-managed service. In addition to all these features, your AWS support plan covers it as standard.

Pros: Fast and easy to get started, easily scaled up and down to meet demand. Integrates well with other AWS services. One of the simplest ways to deploy highly available containers at scale for production workloads.

Cons: Proprietary solution. Vendor lock-in: containers are easily moved to other platforms, but the configuration is specific to ECS. Troubleshooting becomes difficult where there is no access to cluster nodes in Fargate. Also, it can not be customized and performs poorly for non-standard deployments.

2. Docker Swarm

Since Docker has excellent brand value, Docker Swarm is often the favorite for people when it comes to investigation. It does ship directly with Dockers. It has one of the simplest configurations of any of the orchestration tools. But it does have some limitations and some things that you should keep in mind if you’re thinking to leverage it.

Swarms refer to a cluster of nodes which consists of:

• Manager nodes: Control orchestration, cluster management, and the distribution of tasks.
• Worker nodes: The sole purpose of workers is to run containers and services as assigned by a manager node.
• Services: It denotes the way you would like an individual container to distribute itself across your nodes.
• Tasks: A Single container place work within “slots” as per the Swarm manager.

Pros: No additional software to install, Swarm mode is built into Docker. Simple and straightforward, great for smaller organizations or those who are just getting started with containers.

Cons: Since Swarm is relatively a newcomer, it falls short in some advanced features and functionality. Those are built-in logging and monitoring tools. Similarly, overall adoption lags behind and proprietary offerings like ECS. 

Also Read: How To Deal With The AWS Abuse Report

Ultimately, choosing the right container orchestration tool comes down to what your priorities are. Taking into account what technology you need it to work alongside.Are you tied to AWS? It might make sense to use ECS over Docker Swarm, and vice versa. 

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