Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Amazon EC2 VS Softlayer

Compare Amazon EC2 VS Softlayer and see what are their differences

Amazon EC2 logo Amazon EC2

Amazon Web Services offers reliable, scalable, and inexpensive cloud computing services. Free to join, pay only for what you use.

Softlayer logo Softlayer

Softlayer is the cloud computing platform that offers the services of computing, networking, storage security, and application development.
  • Amazon EC2 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-06
  • Softlayer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-21

Amazon EC2 features and specs

  • Scalability
    Amazon EC2 allows you to quickly scale your resources up or down based on demand. This flexibility helps you manage your compute needs efficiently without overcommitting resources.
  • Pay-as-you-go pricing
    With Amazon EC2, you only pay for the instances you use. This usage-based pricing model can help reduce costs, especially for businesses with variable compute workloads.
  • Wide range of instance types
    EC2 offers a variety of instance types optimized for different use cases, such as compute-intensive or memory-intensive applications, allowing you to choose the most suitable instance for your needs.
  • Global availability
    Amazon EC2 is available in multiple regions around the world, enabling you to deploy your applications closer to your users for reduced latency and improved performance.
  • Integration with other AWS services
    EC2 integrates seamlessly with other AWS services such as S3, RDS, and VPC, providing a comprehensive cloud infrastructure for your applications.
  • Security and compliance
    Amazon EC2 provides a range of security features, including VPC, IAM roles, and encryption, to help you protect your data and comply with regulatory requirements.

Possible disadvantages of Amazon EC2

  • Complexity
    Managing EC2 instances can be complex, especially as your infrastructure grows. This may require specialized knowledge and skills to properly configure, monitor, and maintain the instances.
  • Cost management
    Although the pay-as-you-go model can be cost-effective, it can also lead to unexpected expenses if resources are not managed carefully. Overprovisioning or forgetting to shut down instances can quickly increase costs.
  • Performance variability
    While EC2 offers high performance, there can be variability in resources allocated to your instances, especially in the shared tenancy model. This can lead to occasional performance inconsistencies.
  • In-depth knowledge required
    To fully leverage Amazon EC2, a good level of expertise in AWS services, cloud computing concepts, and best practices is required. This can be a barrier for organizations without adequate technical skills.
  • Vendor lock-in
    Relying heavily on Amazon EC2 can lead to vendor lock-in, making it challenging to migrate to alternative platforms or cloud providers without significant effort and potential downtime.
  • Privacy concerns
    Although AWS provides robust security measures, some organizations may have concerns about storing sensitive data on a third-party managed service and prefer managing their own infrastructure.

Softlayer features and specs

  • Comprehensive Infrastructure
    SoftLayer offers a wide range of computing resources including dedicated servers, virtual servers, storage solutions, and networking options, allowing businesses to tailor their infrastructure according to their needs.
  • Global Reach
    With data centers and network points of presence (PoPs) across the world, SoftLayer provides global connectivity and redundancy, which is beneficial for enterprises with international operations.
  • Security Features
    SoftLayer provides robust security options, including private network connections, firewalls, and security compliance certifications, ensuring data protection and regulatory compliance.
  • Customizability
    It allows a high level of customization of the hardware and network configurations, which can be tailored to meet specific business needs, providing flexibility in deploying solutions.
  • Hybrid Cloud Capabilities
    SoftLayer's infrastructure can easily integrate with on-premises systems and public clouds, allowing organizations to create a flexible hybrid cloud environment.

Possible disadvantages of Softlayer

  • Complex Pricing Structure
    The pricing structure can be complex and difficult to forecast accurately, especially when services are used extensively, which could lead to cost overruns.
  • Learning Curve
    New users may experience a steep learning curve due to the platform's extensive features and its complex dashboard, which may require significant time and effort to master.
  • Support Challenges
    Some users have reported challenges with customer support, including delays in response times and varying quality of service depending on the issue complexity.
  • Limited PaaS and SaaS Options
    Compared to other cloud providers, SoftLayer has fewer platform as a service (PaaS) and software as a service (SaaS) offerings, which might limit choices for businesses looking for turnkey solutions.
  • Migration Complexity
    Migrating existing systems and applications to SoftLayer can be complex and time-consuming, which may pose challenges for businesses with limited IT resources.

Amazon EC2 videos

Introduction to Amazon EC2 - Elastic Cloud Server & Hosting with AWS

More videos:

  • Review - What is Amazon EC2? (Part 1) | AWS Training

Softlayer videos

SoftLayer and Micron RealSSD™ P300

More videos:

  • Review - SoftLayer, an IBM Company Employee Reviews - Q3 2018

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Amazon EC2 and Softlayer)
Cloud Computing
91 91%
9% 9
Cloud Infrastructure
91 91%
9% 9
VPS
92 92%
8% 8
Cloud Hosting
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Amazon EC2 and Softlayer

Amazon EC2 Reviews

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Softlayer Reviews

Best AWS Alternatives and Competitors for Unbeatable Cloud Prices and Quality
SoftLayer is the last but not least host in this list, it provides managed and dedicated servers alongside cloud computing solutions. IBM acquired it in 2013 and now known as IBM Cloud.
Top Five Alternatives to Amazon AWS Cloud
The contest is well worn on the summit circle yet SoftLayer has proven to be anything but. With the somewhat recent purchase of SoftLayer by IBM in June of 2013, many in the industry speculated if the company would come out alive, if company offerings would change and if the price model for SoftLayer Cloud services would rise to meet corporate margin lines. Well, after...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Amazon EC2 seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 73 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Amazon EC2 mentions (73)

View more

Softlayer mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Softlayer yet. Tracking of Softlayer recommendations started around Apr 2022.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Amazon EC2 and Softlayer, you can also consider the following products

DigitalOcean - Simplifying cloud hosting. Deploy an SSD cloud server in 55 seconds.

Linode - We make it simple to develop, deploy, and scale cloud infrastructure at the best price-to-performance ratio in the market.

Google Compute Engine - Google Compute Engine is not just fast. It’s Google fast.

Microsoft Azure - Windows Azure and SQL Azure enable you to build, host and scale applications in Microsoft datacenters.

SAP on IBM Cloud - The journey to cloud and SAP S/4HANA

Vultr - VULTR Global Cloud Hosting - Brilliantly Fast SSD VPS Cloud Servers. 100% KVM Virtualization