Cloud platforms have become increasingly relevant for modern applications, with their demand rising significantly over the past few years. Both Azure and Google Cloud are hot contenders, with unique options for deployment and scaling.
This blog dives into the deployment-specific features of Azure and GCP through the lens of the basic app, comparing ease of deployment, automation tools, CI/CD integrations, and unique deployment capabilities. Let’s explore what makes each platform stand out and how they cater to developers, DevOps teams, and IT managers looking for reliable and efficient deployment solutions.
Container Deployment: Google Cloud Run vs. Azure Container Apps
Google Cloud Run is a fully managed platform that automatically scales containerized applications based on incoming requests. It’s serverless, meaning no infrastructure management is needed. Cloud Run supports Go, Java, Node.js, PHP, Python, Ruby, and .NET, making it highly versatile for developers who prefer flexibility in choosing development stacks. Moreover, it provides seamless integration with other GCP services like Pub/Sub, Cloud Tasks, Memorystore (Redis), Firestore, etc.
Azure Container Apps is also a serverless container solution that emphasizes microservices and scaling, integrating directly with the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). While it offers excellent support for containers and scaling, some users may find it more complex than Cloud Run when integrating with non-Azure ecosystems. Azure Container Apps excels with the "distributed applications" use case, especially for developers already invested in Azure's ecosystem.
Secret Management: Google Secret Manager vs. Azure Key Vault
Google Secret Manager is known for its simplicity and ease of integration with GCP services. It supports versioned secrets, IAM-based access control, allowing granular permissions at the service level and encryption keys, but in a separate product called Google KMS.
Azure Key Vault, on the other hand, offers advanced security and compliance features and supports both secrets and encryption keys. Azure Key Vault also integrates well with Azure Active Directory for additional access control options, which is beneficial for organizations already utilizing Microsoft’s security suite. However, some developers may find Key Vault's configuration more complex if they aren’t embedded in the Azure environment.
Using them with our Configuru library makes life easier.
Database Management: Cloud SQL vs. Azure SQL Database
Google Cloud SQL provides fully managed MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft SQL Server databases. Cloud SQL is known for its strong integration with GCP ’s data services and BigQuery, making it a favorite for developers who handle large data sets and need seamless data analysis capabilities.
Azure SQL Database also offers managed SQL database services and provides compatibility with SQL Server workloads, making it highly attractive to developers familiar with the MS SQL Server environment. Azure SQL Database includes AI-powered features like automatic tuning and backup, though it can be more costly than Cloud SQL for certain workloads.
Service Accounts
Service accounts allow applications or services to securely access cloud resources without using individual user credentials. Both GCP and Azure offer service accounts with fine-grained access control for different types of automated workflows.
Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Service Accounts:
In GCP, service accounts are a foundational element for managing access. Each service account is treated as an identity and assigned permissions based on roles. Service accounts can be used by applications, VMs, and other services to authenticate and interact with GCP resources.
Key features of GCP service accounts:
- IAM Integration: Service accounts are tightly integrated with Identity and Access Management (IAM), allowing you to assign roles to service accounts for specific resources.
- Key Management: You can create and manage private keys for service accounts, enabling external applications to authenticate with GCP securely.
- Impersonation: Developers can use service account impersonation to grant temporary access to other users or services, which is useful in complex deployment pipelines.
Azure Managed Identities:
In Azure, managed identities serve a similar role to GCP service accounts and are automatically managed by Azure. Managed identities can be assigned to Azure resources (like VMs and App Services), which then gain access to other resources in Azure based on assigned permissions. Managed identities eliminate the need to manage and rotate credentials, which is beneficial for security and ease of use.
Key features of Azure managed identities:
- Automatic Authentication: Managed identities don’t require explicit credentials, as they’re handled automatically by Azure.
- Access to Azure Resources: Azure managed identities can access resources like Azure SQL Database, Key Vault, and Azure Storage directly.
- System-assigned vs. User-assigned Identities: Azure offers both system-assigned (tied to a specific resource) and user-assigned (shared across multiple resources) managed identities, allowing more flexibility.
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
GCP RBAC with IAM Roles:
In GCP, IAM roles are categorized into three main types:
- Basic Roles (Viewer, Editor, Owner): Broad, project-wide roles that offer varying levels of access.
- Predefined Roles: Roles with fine-grained permissions tailored to specific services (e.g., Storage Admin, Compute Viewer).
- Custom Roles: These allow you to create roles with specific permissions, which is useful for unique organizational needs.
Each resource in GCP has a resource hierarchy (organization > folder > project > resource), and roles can be assigned at any level, providing inherited permissions.
GCP also supports Cloud IAM Conditions, allowing you to set conditional access based on attributes like request time or source IP.
Azure RBAC with Roles and Scopes
Azure’s RBAC model is similar to GCP’s, with roles assigned to users, groups, and managed identities. Azure’s RBAC has built-in roles like Owner, Contributor, and Reader, along with hundreds of service-specific roles (e.g., Virtual Machine Contributor, Storage Blob Data Reader).
Additionally, Custom Roles can be defined in Azure, enabling more granular control over permissions.
Key concepts in Azure RBAC include:
- Scope Levels: Roles can be assigned at various levels, such as management group, subscription, resource group, and resource. This allows you to control access at a high or very granular level.
- Azure Policy Integration: Azure’s RBAC can also work with Azure Policies, providing compliance enforcement on top of access control.
Deployment & CI/CD
Both platforms provide CLI tools making deployment easier.
Deploying Docker containerized app to GCP Cloud Run
gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file “/path/to/service-account-key”
gcloud auth activate-service-account --key-file “/path/to/service-account-key”
Authorize using a service account generated key.
gcloud run deploy project-name
--image "/path/to/docker-image"
--project "gcp-project-id"
--port 3000
--service-account="serviceAccount:name"
--set-secrets=”secrets”Deploy app using “gcloud run deploy” CLI command.
Deploying to Azure
az login --service-principal -u [AZURE_CLIENT_ID] -p [AZURE_CLIENT_SECRET] --tenant [AZURE_TENANT_ID]
Authorize using service account credentials
az containerapp create
--name [APP_NAME]
--resource-group [RESOURCE_GROUP]
--image [IMAGE_PATH]Deploy using “containerapp create” CLI command.
These commands can be easily integrated into the CI/CD pipeline.
Conclusion
Choosing between GCP and Azure depends on your project’s priorities. Google Cloud Platform shines in its simplicity and integration for serverless, containerized, and data-intensive applications. Its tools are ideal for developers looking for a highly automated, developer-friendly experience.
Microsoft Azure, with its robust set of enterprise-grade services, provides comprehensive options for applications that may require integration with on-premises systems or a strong alignment with Microsoft’s ecosystem. Azure’s solutions like Azure Key Vault, Azure SQL Database, and Azure Pipelines are powerful but may come with a higher learning curve.
Ultimately, GCP may appeal to startups and smaller teams seeking efficiency, while Azure caters to enterprises or developers requiring intricate integrations and more advanced security configurations.
