AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud Terminology Comparison
Cloud providers often use different names for similar infrastructure concepts. If you work across AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud, the terminology can become confusing quickly.
This comparison is not intended to imply that every service is functionally identical. In many cases, the services are only approximate equivalents. The goal is to provide a practical translation guide for architects, engineers, and operations teams moving between the major cloud platforms.
Core Cloud Terminology
| Concept | AWS | Microsoft Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Account / top-level tenant boundary | AWS account | Tenant / subscription | Organization / project |
| Billing container | AWS account / consolidated billing | Subscription / billing account | Billing account / project |
| Resource grouping | Tags / resource groups through related services | Resource group | Project / folders / labels |
| Region | Region | Region | Region |
| Availability boundary | Availability Zone | Availability Zone | Zone |
| Edge location / CDN edge | Edge location | Edge location / POP | Edge location / POP |
| Global network backbone | AWS global network | Microsoft global network | Google global network |
Compute
| Concept | AWS | Microsoft Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual machine | Amazon EC2 instance | Azure Virtual Machine | Compute Engine VM instance |
| VM image | Amazon Machine Image | Azure VM image | Machine image / custom image |
| Auto scaling group | EC2 Auto Scaling group | Virtual Machine Scale Set | Managed Instance Group |
| Bare metal / dedicated host | EC2 Dedicated Host / bare metal instance | Azure Dedicated Host | Sole-tenant node |
| Containers | Amazon ECS / Amazon EKS | Azure Container Apps / AKS | Cloud Run / GKE |
| Kubernetes | Amazon EKS | Azure Kubernetes Service | Google Kubernetes Engine |
| Serverless functions | AWS Lambda | Azure Functions | Cloud Functions |
| Serverless containers | AWS Fargate / AWS App Runner | Azure Container Apps | Cloud Run |
| Batch processing | AWS Batch | Azure Batch | Batch |
Networking
| Concept | AWS | Microsoft Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual network | Amazon VPC | Virtual Network | VPC network |
| Subnet | Subnet | Subnet | Subnet |
| Route table | Route table | Route table | Route |
| Internet gateway | Internet Gateway | Public IP / internet routing through VNet | Internet gateway behavior built into VPC routing |
| NAT gateway | NAT Gateway | NAT Gateway | Cloud NAT |
| Private service access / private endpoint | AWS PrivateLink / VPC endpoint | Private Link / Private Endpoint | Private Service Connect |
| Private access to provider APIs | VPC endpoint | Private Endpoint / service endpoint | Private Google Access / Private Service Connect |
| Load balancer | Elastic Load Balancing | Azure Load Balancer / Application Gateway / Front Door | Cloud Load Balancing |
| DNS hosting | Amazon Route 53 | Azure DNS | Cloud DNS |
| DNS-based global traffic steering | Route 53 routing policies | Traffic Manager | Cloud DNS routing policies / Cloud Load Balancing |
| CDN | Amazon CloudFront | Azure Front Door / Azure CDN | Cloud CDN |
| Firewall rules | Security groups / network ACLs | Network Security Groups / Azure Firewall | VPC firewall rules / Cloud Firewall |
| VPN | AWS Site-to-Site VPN | VPN Gateway | Cloud VPN |
| Dedicated private connectivity | AWS Direct Connect | Azure ExpressRoute | Cloud Interconnect |
| Direct physical private connectivity | Dedicated Direct Connect | ExpressRoute Direct | Dedicated Interconnect |
| Partner-provided private connectivity | Hosted Direct Connect | ExpressRoute through a connectivity provider | Partner Interconnect |
| Cloud-to-cloud private connectivity | Direct Connect through partner/cloud exchange patterns | ExpressRoute through partner/cloud exchange patterns | Cross-Cloud Interconnect |
Storage
| Concept | AWS | Microsoft Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Object storage | Amazon S3 | Azure Blob Storage | Cloud Storage |
| Object storage container | S3 bucket | Blob container | Cloud Storage bucket |
| Block storage | Amazon EBS | Azure Managed Disks | Persistent Disk / Hyperdisk |
| File storage | Amazon EFS / FSx | Azure Files / Azure NetApp Files | Filestore |
| Archive storage | S3 Glacier storage classes | Azure Archive Storage | Cloud Storage Archive / Coldline |
| Data transfer appliance | AWS Snow Family | Azure Data Box | Transfer Appliance |
Databases and Data Platforms
| Concept | AWS | Microsoft Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Managed relational database | Amazon RDS | Azure SQL Database / Azure Database for PostgreSQL / Azure Database for MySQL | Cloud SQL |
| Cloud-native relational database | Amazon Aurora | Azure SQL Database / Azure SQL Managed Instance | Cloud SQL / AlloyDB |
| Globally distributed relational database | Aurora Global Database / DynamoDB global tables depending on model | Azure Cosmos DB | Cloud Spanner |
| NoSQL key-value/document database | Amazon DynamoDB | Azure Cosmos DB | Firestore |
| Wide-column NoSQL database | Amazon Keyspaces / DynamoDB depending on model | Azure Cosmos DB for Apache Cassandra | Bigtable |
| In-memory cache | Amazon ElastiCache | Azure Cache for Redis | Memorystore |
| Data warehouse | Amazon Redshift | Azure Synapse Analytics dedicated SQL pool / Fabric Data Warehouse | BigQuery |
| Data lake storage | Amazon S3 | Azure Data Lake Storage | Cloud Storage |
| Stream ingestion | Amazon Kinesis Data Streams | Azure Event Hubs | Pub/Sub |
| Stream processing | Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink / Kinesis Data Analytics | Azure Stream Analytics | Dataflow |
| ETL / data integration | AWS Glue | Azure Data Factory / Synapse pipelines | Dataflow / Data Fusion / Dataproc |
Identity and Access Management
| Concept | AWS | Microsoft Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity and access management | AWS Identity and Access Management | Microsoft Entra ID / Azure RBAC | Cloud IAM |
| Directory service | AWS Directory Service | Microsoft Entra ID / Microsoft Entra Domain Services | Managed Service for Microsoft Active Directory / Cloud Identity |
| Role-based authorization | IAM roles and policies | Azure RBAC roles | IAM roles |
| Workload identity | IAM role / instance profile | Managed identity / workload identity federation | Service account / workload identity federation |
| Guest / external identity | IAM user, IAM role, federation, IAM Identity Center | Microsoft Entra B2B collaboration | Workforce identity federation / external identities |
| Secrets management | AWS Secrets Manager / Parameter Store | Azure Key Vault | Secret Manager |
| Key management | AWS KMS | Azure Key Vault Managed HSM / Key Vault keys | Cloud KMS |
Monitoring, Logging, and Operations
| Concept | AWS | Microsoft Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monitoring | Amazon CloudWatch | Azure Monitor | Cloud Monitoring |
| Logging | CloudWatch Logs | Azure Monitor Logs / Log Analytics | Cloud Logging |
| Audit logs | AWS CloudTrail | Azure Activity Log | Cloud Audit Logs |
| Configuration inventory | AWS Config | Azure Resource Graph / Azure Policy | Cloud Asset Inventory |
| Policy enforcement | AWS Organizations service control policies / AWS Config rules | Azure Policy | Organization Policy Service |
| Infrastructure as code | AWS CloudFormation / CDK | ARM templates / Bicep | Cloud Deployment Manager / Terraform / Config Connector |
| Managed operations assistant | AWS Systems Manager | Azure Automation / Azure Arc | Google Cloud Operations / OS Config |
Application Integration and Messaging
| Concept | AWS | Microsoft Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queue service | Amazon SQS | Azure Queue Storage / Service Bus queues | Pub/Sub |
| Pub/sub messaging | Amazon SNS | Azure Service Bus topics / Event Grid | Pub/Sub |
| Event routing | Amazon EventBridge | Azure Event Grid | Eventarc |
| API gateway | Amazon API Gateway | Azure API Management | API Gateway / Apigee |
| Workflow orchestration | AWS Step Functions | Azure Logic Apps / Durable Functions | Workflows |
| Enterprise integration | Amazon EventBridge / AppFlow | Logic Apps / Service Bus | Application Integration / Integration Connectors |
Security
| Concept | AWS | Microsoft Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Security posture management | AWS Security Hub | Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Security Command Center |
| Threat detection | Amazon GuardDuty | Microsoft Defender for Cloud | Security Command Center / Event Threat Detection |
| Web application firewall | AWS WAF | Azure Web Application Firewall | Cloud Armor |
| DDoS protection | AWS Shield | Azure DDoS Protection | Cloud Armor |
| Certificate management | AWS Certificate Manager | Azure Key Vault certificates / App Service certificates | Certificate Manager |
| Centralized firewall | AWS Network Firewall | Azure Firewall | Cloud NGFW / Cloud Firewall |
Migration and Hybrid Cloud
| Concept | AWS | Microsoft Azure | Google Cloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Server migration | AWS Application Migration Service | Azure Migrate | Migrate to Virtual Machines |
| Database migration | AWS Database Migration Service | Azure Database Migration Service | Database Migration Service |
| Hybrid management | AWS Systems Manager / AWS Outposts | Azure Arc | Anthos / Google Distributed Cloud |
| On-premises cloud appliance | AWS Outposts | Azure Stack | Google Distributed Cloud |
| Private dedicated network path | AWS Direct Connect | Azure ExpressRoute | Cloud Interconnect |
Notes on Equivalence
Not every row is a one-to-one product match. Some providers split capabilities across several services, while others bundle them into a single product. For example, AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud all provide load balancing, private connectivity, IAM, and managed databases, but their service boundaries and operational models differ.
A few examples:
- AWS Direct Connect, Azure ExpressRoute, and Google Cloud Interconnect all provide private connectivity into the cloud provider network, but ordering models, partner options, port speeds, routing constructs, and redundancy patterns differ.
- Amazon RDS, Azure SQL Database, and Cloud SQL are closer equivalents than comparing Aurora directly to Cloud Spanner.
- Azure Traffic Manager is DNS-based traffic steering, not the same thing as Azure DNS zone hosting.
- Google Cloud zones are the practical equivalent of AWS and Azure Availability Zones, but Google typically uses the term “zone.”
- Microsoft Azure Active Directory is now Microsoft Entra ID.
- Google Cloud Firestore is the correct name; “Cloud Firestore” is common, but “Cloud Firestone” is incorrect.
Use this table as a translation reference, then validate the specific service architecture, limits, SLAs, and pricing before designing a production workload.