Containers and Serverless Recommendation Guide
HAQM Elastic Container Service (HAQM ECS)
Since you selected "I would like to run containerized applications” we recommend HAQM Elastic Container Services (ECS) as the best place for you to start.
What is HAQM ECS?
HAQM ECS is an opinionated container orchestration service that delivers the easiest way for organizations to build, deploy, and manage containerized applications at any scale. When you select to use HAQM ECS with AWS Fargate, HAQM ECS supports serverless container orchestration so you can leverage more of AWS’s operational excellence when it comes to scaling, maintaining availability, and securing your containerized workloads. ECS is fully managed and versionless, providing tooling and built-in support that makes it simple to build and run containerized applications on AWS. For example, HAQM ECS Service Connect simplifies service discovery, connectivity, and traffic observability while HAQM ECS CloudWatch Container Insights collects, aggregates, and summarizes metrics and logs.
Why are we recommending HAQM ECS?
Over 65% of new containers customers on AWS start with HAQM ECS, and according to the CNCF more customers run containers on AWS than any other cloud. Many customers like that they can use ECS with AWS Fargate for a serverless containers experience that removes much of the operational lifting from internal teams. For workloads where you need more control, we recommend ECS on HAQM EC2 and for those that need to run hybrid between AWS and on-premises we recommend HAQM ECS Anywhere or HAQM ECS on AWS Outposts.
While this is our recommended starting point, other services could also suit your needs and you can always try a different service if your use case changes or if HAQM Elastic Container Services (ECS) does not seem optimal for your use case.
Frequently Asked Questions
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What type of app artifacts can you bring to the service?HAQM ECS works with container images (i.e. registry repo image).
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Where can you run your application outside of an AWS region?In addition to AWS regions, HAQM ECS can deploy applications on Outpost, Wavelength, Local Zone and on customer managed infrastructure via HAQM ECS Anywhere.
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What class of applications does the product support?HAQM ECS can run front-end services, web services, back-end workers, batch jobs and AI/ML workloads.
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How does the product charge for usage?
For information on HAQM ECS pricing, please visit HAQM ECS Pricing.
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Is HAQM ECS a popular choice in the industry?Yes! HAQM ECS is the most popular container services at AWS based on users, and more customers run containers on AWS than any other cloud. Many customers like that they can start with HAQM ECS backed by AWS Fargate for a Serverless containers experience that removes much of the operational lifting from internal teams. For workloads that can’t run serverlessly, we recommend HAQM ECS on EC2 and for those that need to run hybrid between AWS and on-premises we recommend HAQM ECS Anywhere or HAQM ECS on AWS Outposts.
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It feels like a container orchestrator might be a lot of work for my use caseHAQM ECS is the easiest way to get started with a container orchestrator. However, AWS has purpose-built services that make it easy to run a variety of container-based use cases where a full orchestrator access is unnecessary. For example, you could use AWS App Runner for basic web applications with a request-response pattern, AWS Batch for batch jobs, and HAQM Lightsail for students, hobbyists and other applications that will never need the scalability and capabilities of AWS. Beyond those choices, you can look into AWS IoT Greengrass for IoT, AWS CodeBuild for build jobs and AWS Amplify for full-stack web and mobile apps.
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Can I use HAQM ECS outside of AWS?HAQM ECS is a fully managed container control plane that allows you to focus on applications instead of infrastructure. While deploying to an AWS region often allows users to gain the major benefits of the cloud, HAQM ECS allows to deploy containerized applications on AWS Outposts on-prem maintaining high infrastructure fidelity with the AWS region. In addition, HAQM ECS allows to deploy containerized applications on customer managed infrastructure via HAQM ECS Anywhere without the need to run and maintain a local orchestrator.
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Does HAQM ECS have a large open source ecosystem?Yes! HAQM ECS has a deep list of third party partners that it integrate with (many of which are open source projects). That being said, HAQM ECS itself does not have the richness of a options of a traditional open source projects. While some customers may think this is a problem, many HAQM ECS customers appreciate the reduced tool fatigue that HAQM ECS offers with a more out of the box and opinionated experience.
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When should I use HAQM ECS as opposed to AWS Lambda?HAQM ECS is a container orchestrator whereas AWS Lambda is a function deployment. HAQM ECS is ideal if you have tasks running longer than 15 minutes or need to run code outside of AWS Regions. HAQM ECS provides opinionated experiences for things like networking and observability but can be customized to your needs. HAQM ECS has multiple deployment options including serverlessly on AWS Fargate, on HAQM EC2, on AWS Outposts, and on AWS Anywhere for on-premises workloads. AWS Lambda is ideal for applications that run on-demand in 15 minutes or less and/or you want to pay only for the capacity that is used. AWS Lambda uses an event-driven model and takes on more of the work to scale, secure, and ensure the availability of your workload. AWS Lambda is only available in AWS Regions.
Let's get started with HAQM ECS
Get started with HAQM ECS
AWS Digital Training offers free, on-demand courses developed by the experts at AWS. With our new learning center, AWS Skill Builder, you can explore learning plans and 500+ digital courses to help you learn more about utilizing HAQM ECS.
HAQM ECS workshop
In this workshop, we will launch a frontend and multiple backend services on HAQM Elastic Container Service, and explore how you might adopt this workflow into your environment. (Workshops available in English only)
Modernization workshops
Learn how to modernize your business through different technologies. (Workshops available in English only)
Unlock digital transformation by modernizing with containers
Learn about the benefits of containerization with AWS.
Determining the total cost of ownership
Get Deloitte's industry insight eBook to compare serverless and server-based technologies.
HAQM ECS customer stories
See how leading organizations worldwide are using HAQM Elastic Container Service (HAQM ECS) to run their most sensitive and mission-critical applications.