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December 23 2024
Amazon has established itself as a leader in cloud services, offering a vast array of options that continue to expand. Among its offerings, Amazon EC2 stands out as one of the most popular services, forming a core component of Amazon’s cloud computing platform since its launch in 2006. While EC2 remains widely used, another service—AWS Lambda, introduced in 2014—is rapidly gaining traction.
In today’s blog post, we’ll discuss AWS Lambda vs AWS EC2 in detail to help you determine what is best for your use case.
What is AWS Lambda?
AWS Lambda is an event-driven service that provides rapid compute capabilities without the need for managing virtual machine instances. It allows organizations to respond to specific triggers or events—such as database updates, storage changes, or custom events generated by other applications—without manual deployment.
In a typical workflow, a developer writes code and uploads it to the Lambda service. When a trigger event occurs, AWS automatically executes the code, referred to as a Lambda function. Over 200 AWS services can initiate these functions, and developers can also call them directly. This approach is commonly known as serverless computing or function-as-a-service.
Lambda functions are ephemeral, running only when triggered. For example, if data is uploaded to the cloud, this storage activity can trigger a Lambda function to process the new data. Once the task is complete, the function stops, releasing computing resources back to AWS. When a new event arises, the process starts again.
While EC2 users need to consider the resource requirements of their applications, Lambda users operate within specific constraints, such as a 50 MB file size limit and restrictions on inbound and outbound network traffic.
| Pros | Cons |
| Full control over the server | Management overhead |
| Wide variety of instance types | Complicated cost structure |
| Persistent storage options | Requires manual scaling |
| Suitable for long-running processes | More setup and configuration required |
| Flexible networking configurations | May require more expertise to manage |
What is AWS EC2?
AWS EC2 (Amazon Web Services Elastic Compute Cloud) is a flexible service that enables you to deploy virtual machines, known as EC2 instances, in the cloud, offering seamless scalability. You can easily adjust disk space, CPU performance, memory, and more, adapting to your needs in real-time. Choose from a variety of base images with pre-installed operating systems, such as Linux or Windows, and customize OS settings or install your own applications.
With root access to your EC2 instances, you have the freedom to create additional users and manage every aspect of your instances, including rebooting and shutting them down. As part of the Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) category, AWS EC2 is ideal for cloud hosting, allowing you to deploy servers as virtual machines in the cloud.
| Pros | Cons |
| No server management required | Cold start latency |
| Pay-per-use pricing | Maximum execution time limit (15 minutes) |
| Automatic scaling | Limited runtime environment |
| Ideal for event-driven architectures | Less control over the environment |
| Simplifies rapid development | Debugging can be more complex |
Lambda vs. EC2 Use Cases
EC2 is commonly the go-to option for simple application architectures or when transitioning traditional monolithic applications from on-premises data centers to the cloud. EC2 instances are designed for steady, long-term use, often operating continuously for weeks or even years.
In contrast, Lambda functions are ideal for handling specific event-driven responses, as they run only for the duration needed to complete a given task.
Supercharge Your Cloud Infrastructure
Leverage the power of EC2 for long-term stability or Lambda for responsive event-driven functions.
Lambda vs. EC2 Management
With EC2, users have full control over the selection and configuration of operating systems, network settings, drivers, and supporting software. They assume complete responsibility for managing the infrastructure and applications, including capacity planning, provisioning, monitoring application health and performance, as well as ensuring fault tolerance and scalability.
In contrast, AWS takes care of back-end provisioning, execution, scaling, and unloading of code for Lambda functions, freeing users from infrastructure management concerns. Users do not have direct access to or control over the Lambda infrastructure.
Because serverless computing diverges from traditional software designs, organizations typically implement Lambda during major software redesigns or when developing new, highly scalable cloud-native architectures that are built around function-as-a-service principles.
In EC2, users also have significant control over security. Administrators are responsible for setting up appropriate security measures for EC2 instances and applications, which may include configuring firewalls, creating IAM roles, defining permissions, and establishing security groups.
Lambda security, on the other hand, is simpler. Administrators can use IAM roles to manage Lambda access and connect to other AWS services, as well as implement encryption between Lambda functions and resources like S3 or an API Gateway. Additionally, AWS manages security updates and patches for the underlying infrastructure.
Read More: How Enterprises Can Use AWS Cloud to Build a Sustainable Future
Lambda vs. EC2 Pricing
EC2 pricing operates on a pay-per-use model, with costs varying based on the instance type. Instances maintain consistent resource consumption, resulting in regular charges regardless of workload activity.
There are five payment options for EC2 instances:
On-Demand: A flexible pay-as-you-go model with no long-term commitment.
Spot Instances: Users can buy unused EC2 capacity at a reduced rate compared to on-demand pricing.
Savings Plans: Commit to usage for one or three years to receive a discount.
Reserved Instances: Reserve capacity for one or three years at a discounted rate.
Dedicated Hosts: Enterprises can use eligible software licenses, such as those from Microsoft and Oracle, to pay for a dedicated EC2 server.
In contrast, Lambda charges are based solely on compute time used and the number of requests processed. You only pay for the actual execution time of your code—there’s no cost when the code isn’t running.
For both services, users can estimate their expenses using the AWS pricing calculator.
AWS Lambda vs AWS EC2: Overall Comparison
For a better understanding of AWS Lambda vs. EC2, let’s take a look at the following table!
| Feature | AWS Lambda | EC2 |
| Type | Serverless computing | Virtual servers (IaaS) |
| Pricing Model | Pay-per-invocation and duration | Pay-per-hour or per-second usage |
| Scalability | Automatic scaling | Manual scaling or Auto Scaling groups |
| Management | Fully managed by AWS | User-managed (OS, updates, etc.) |
| Setup Time | Almost instant (upload code) | Longer (provisioning instances) |
| Use Cases | Event-driven applications, microservices | Traditional applications, web servers |
| Concurrency Limit | Concurrency limits apply (default 1,000) | No inherent limit; scaling based on capacity |
| Cold Start | Potential cold start latency | No cold start; always ready when running |
| Resource Allocation | Limited to predefined limits (memory) | Full control over CPU, memory, storage |
| Networking | Limited VPC integration | Full VPC networking capabilities |
| Lifecycle Management | Event-driven; no persistent state | Persistent state; full OS control |
| Development Model | Code-driven, function-based | Image-driven, application-based |
Final Remarks
Lambda is well-suited for short-term tasks. On the other hand, EC2 is designed for long-term, steady operations. It includes hosting websites and applications or supporting high-performance computing. However, both AWS Lambda and EC2 can complement each other effectively.
Developers can leverage the strengths of both to build comprehensive applications. For instance, Lambda can considerably trigger events that create, start, or also stop EC2 instances. Also, it can analyze or transform datasets uploaded to S3 for use by EC2 applications.
If you’re looking to optimize your cloud architecture, our services can help you seamlessly integrate AWS solutions, ensuring you harness the full potential of both Lambda and EC2 for your specific needs.
Contact PureLogics now; our experts will guide you in crafting a robust and scalable cloud strategy!
