Storage Services Comparison Between Azure, Google Cloud, and Amazon Cloud

Introduction

Cloud storage services have become the backbone of modern IT infrastructure. Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform (GCP), and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are the three major players offering comprehensive storage solutions for various needs. This blog post provides a detailed comparison of storage services across these platforms, covering their types, use cases, performance, pricing, and management capabilities.

Overview of Storage Services

Architecture Diagrams

Below is a high-level comparison of cloud storage architecture across providers.

Diagram: GCP Storage                     

Diagram: AWS Storage

Diagram: Azure Storage

Features Comparison

Each provider offers unique features within their storage services. Here is a comparison:

Compute and Network Integration

Cloud storage services are rarely used in isolation. Their value multiplies when integrated seamlessly with compute resources and network configurations. Here, we explore how Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) integrate storage with compute and networking components, along with practical examples and diagrams.

Azure: Compute and Network Integration

Azure provides multiple compute services such as Virtual Machines (VMs), Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), and Azure Functions that can directly interface with its storage services. For instance, Azure Blob Storage is commonly accessed from AKS pods through managed identities, ensuring secure, keyless authentication.

From a networking perspective, Azure uses Virtual Networks (VNets), Network Security Groups (NSGs), and Private Endpoints to enable secure access to storage accounts. Private Endpoints route traffic through Microsoft’s backbone network, bypassing public internet exposure. This setup is ideal for enterprise scenarios where sensitive data must remain within a private boundary.

An example is hosting a web application on Azure App Service that stores images in Blob Storage. The app can be integrated into the same VNet as the storage account, secured by NSGs, and granted RBAC permissions through Azure AD. This ensures only the app’s managed identity has access.

AWS: Compute and Network Integration

AWS integrates its storage services—such as Amazon S3, Elastic File System (EFS), and Elastic Block Store (EBS)—closely with compute services like EC2, Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), and AWS Lambda. IAM roles and policies are used for fine-grained access control, removing the need for static credentials.

Networking in AWS revolves around Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) and Security Groups. Private connectivity to S3 can be established using VPC Endpoints or AWS PrivateLink, which allows services to be accessed privately without traversing the public internet. Direct Connect enables low-latency connections from on-premises data centers to AWS.

For example, a machine learning pipeline running on EC2 can retrieve large datasets from S3 via a VPC Endpoint, ensuring data never leaves the AWS internal network. This is both faster and more secure than public access.

GCP: Compute and Network Integration

Google Cloud integrates Cloud Storage, Filestore, and Persistent Disks with compute offerings like Compute Engine, Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), and Cloud Functions. Service Accounts provide secure access without embedding keys in code, and IAM policies control permissions.

Networking features include Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) networks, firewall rules, and Private Google Access, which allows VM instances without external IP addresses to access Google APIs and services privately. VPC Service Controls can be used to create security perimeters around storage buckets to prevent data exfiltration.

For instance, a GKE-hosted analytics platform can pull raw data from Cloud Storage buckets via Private Google Access, process it, and push results to BigQuery—without exposing the traffic to the public internet.

Side-by-side comparison (compute & network features)

Pricing Summary

Pricing can vary significantly depending on the storage class, region, and access frequency. Here is a generalized summary for standard object storage (as of mid-2025):

Conclusion

Choosing the right cloud storage provider depends on your specific needs, such as use case, budget, geographical reach, and existing cloud infrastructure. Azure, GCP, and AWS all offer reliable, scalable, and secure storage solutions. Azure may appeal to organizations already in the Microsoft ecosystem, Google Cloud is favored for analytics and AI-driven storage solutions, and AWS provides a mature, feature-rich storage portfolio.

Course URLs

https://www.cloudthat.com/training/aws/

https://www.cloudthat.com/training/azure/

https://www.cloudthat.com/training/google-cloud-certification

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