AWS vs Firebase – Is It Even a Fair Fight? – Techbytes
When it comes to the topic of AWS vs. Firebase, there can be a lot of things to discuss. However, Amazon Web Services -- aka - AWS for short, has been a stoic player in the game of cloud services. A relatively new technology service like Firebase, a cloud-based product owned by the legend of search -- Google -- is a force to be reckoned with if not for the sources that Google has at its disposal.
The great news is that this blog will give you the lowdown on how we see the AWS vs. Firebase debate. We are sure that you will be intrigued by it. Indeed, tech lovers will get to sink their teeth into information that they can use. Cloud services are something that both AWS and Firebase provide.
About Pay-As-You Go
Regarding AWS, the cloud computing service, a subsidiary of Amazon, provides APIs on a pay-as-you-go plan. It was noted that Amazon's AWS services had a 34% share of all cloud (IaaS and PaaS) as of 2017. It is safe to say that AWS has had a fair share of success with individuals, businesses, and government agencies. Plenty of stakeholders have made good use of the hardware, software, operating systems, and many other parts of the AWS juggernaut.
And unlike Google's Firebird, which is a relatively new computer service, Amazon's AWS was created in March 2006. There have been 14 years of AWS being used, tested, and improved upon by many stakeholders. AWS is a good example of how successful a company like Amazon can be with virtual computer technology. AWS relies on the power and flexibility of an IaaS (Infrastructure as Service) and SaaS (Software as a Service).
Firebird's BaaS versus Amazon's IaaS/PaaS
With Google's Firebase, developers use their Backend-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform. This BaaS platform provides more flexibility to develop web and mobile applications. Concerning the number of products that a developer can use with the Firebase platform, Google has 18. These products fall under the Develop, Quality, and Grow groups. This platform provides the following roles: Firebase Analytics Admin, Firebase Analytics Viewer, Firebase Develop Admin, Firebase Develop Viewer, Firebase Quality Admin, Firebase Quality Viewer, Firebase Grow Admin, and Firebase Grow Viewer.
For those who may use Microsoft Sharepoint or another intranet platform that provides access rights, Google Firebase delivers that option for businesses and other groups who may have several developers or admins handling a project. Google Firebase is currently limited in terms of its products, unlike AWS, which has 175 products. Moreover, Amazon's AWS cloud expands across 77 zones in 24 geographic zones, globally. As Amazon expands its reach, it is very likely that Google's Firebase will as well, as more developers across the globe will want to use a service like BaaS.
While Firebase was officially launched in April 2012 as a Firebase Real-time Database, other companies like Amazon were also using APIs to allow developers to maximize the abilities and create robust yet legitimate applications. The API for the Firebase Real-time Database synchronized data from iOS, Android, and or other Web devices. The application data that developers worked with would sit on Firebase's cloud. The product assists software developers in building real-time, collaborative applications.
As for AWS's services, they include Amazon EC2, Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), Amazon Aurora, Amazon DynamoDB, which is a NoSQL database, Amazon RDS, AWS Lambda, Amazon VPC, Amazon Lightsail, Amazon Sagemaker, etc. Indeed, AWS allows its clients to tap into the power of Amazon DynamoDB, which allows developers to scale as the databases that they use need to be successfully scaled. AWS has allowed clients, especially developers, to use the power that comes with a NoSQL database.
The Power of NoSQL
Google's Firebase also taps the power of non-relational databases with NoSQL. JSON objects are what provide developers with the ability to use a data tree as one scales, and more data is added in real-time. Indeed, Firebase improved on its original Firebase Realtime Database. In 2017, Cloud Firestore was the successor to the Firebase Realtime Database, which provides a very dynamic way of accessing Google Firebase's document database.
The power can be truly harnessed using NoSQL databases, which are available for users of both Firebase and AWS. The limitations are few if developers take the time and effort to understand the power that comes with scaling. There is also more security and safety measures that generally come with a NoSQL database, compared to the older relational database. The rules to using NoSQL are also flexible, which allows developers to make the most of the goodies that JSON and a NoSQL database both have to offer.
Google Ads and Firebase
When it comes to integrating advertising banners and other forms into a web or mobile application, Firebase can integrate with many other Google services, like AdMob, the Google CloudPlatform as well as Google Ads. The best news is that Google offers a broad array of advertising products that can fit the needs of developers. While there are push notifications available on both AWS and Firebase, Firebase Cloud Messaging provides an efficient way to push notifications to be delivered to iOS devices and other web devices. Tools like Fabric and Crashlytics are just some of the services that Firebase acquired and integrated into its platform over the last five years.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Amazon's AWS has the benefit of providing more products than Google Firebase at this point, but for developers, Firebase is more of a niche product than AWS. These platforms offer something that those in the technology milieu can tap into to create, explore, and profit from as an individual, business, or government agency. Plus, Google is a forward-thinking technology company that is fully immersed in the BaaS platform.
And for programmers interested in what Google Firebase has to offer, they can expect to have an API reference when planning to develop applications for Android, iOS, Web, and those who use Unity. Developers can use C++ and part of the API references to create robust applications for mobile and the Web.
