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In this article, we explore ECS and EKS Anywhere—solutions that empower you to deploy, manage, and scale containerized applications seamlessly across both AWS and your on-premises data centers.

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Overview

Amazon EKS and ECS are well-known for deploying containerized applications in AWS environments. With Amazon EKS Anywhere, you can take advantage of the robust capabilities of EKS on your own infrastructure without the reliance on AWS exclusively. This flexibility allows businesses to benefit from a managed control plane across hybrid environments.
One significant advantage of using an EKS Anywhere cluster is its integration with the AWS-provided EKS dashboard. This dashboard centralizes monitoring, management, and real-time performance metrics, ensuring streamlined operations regardless of where your cluster is hosted.
The image illustrates the architecture of "EKS Anywhere," showing an EKS cluster in a data center connected to an AWS Cloud EKS dashboard.

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Features of EKS Anywhere

EKS Anywhere extends the EKS experience beyond AWS by delivering a consistent Kubernetes environment anywhere—be it on your virtual machines, bare metal servers, or other infrastructures. This makes it an ideal choice for hybrid deployments that require both cloud and on-premises clusters. Key features include:
  • Consistent Kubernetes experience irrespective of the hosting environment
  • Compatibility with on-premises infrastructure to meet legal and compliance mandates
  • Ability to leverage the same EKS distribution across various platforms
The image lists five features of EKS Anywhere: On-Premises Kubernetes, Consistent Kubernetes Experience, Hybrid Deployments, Support for Various Infrastructure, and Maintain Data Sovereignty.

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ECS Anywhere Overview

ECS Anywhere mirrors the principles of EKS Anywhere for Amazon’s Elastic Container Service (ECS). It enables you to run ECS on different infrastructures—including virtual machines, bare metal servers, and other cloud environments—while ensuring a unified management experience with the AWS cloud.
ECS Anywhere uses the ECS agent to register external instances, providing a centralized dashboard for oversight of containerized applications regardless of their deployment location.
The following table summarizes the differences and similarities between EKS Anywhere and ECS Anywhere:
FeatureEKS AnywhereECS Anywhere
Primary ServiceKubernetesElastic Container Service (ECS)
Infrastructure FlexibilityVirtual machines, bare metal, hybrid deploymentsVirtual machines, bare metal, other cloud environments
DashboardAWS-provided EKS dashboardCentralized ECS dashboard
Use CaseHybrid cloud and on-premises Kubernetes clustersConsistent AWS container management across diverse infrastructures
The image illustrates an ECS (Elastic Container Service) cluster within a data center, featuring icons representing containers and servers. It also includes a connection to a document icon, suggesting data or configuration management.
The image lists features of ECS Anywhere, including on-premises container management, consistent AWS experience, ECS/SSM agents, support for various infrastructures, and an ECS Anywhere dashboard.

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Final Thoughts

Both EKS Anywhere and ECS Anywhere offer powerful solutions for organizations aiming to extend their containerized application deployments beyond the public cloud. They provide consistent experiences across different environments, making them excellent choices for hybrid cloud strategies and ensuring compliance with local data regulations. For more detailed information, consider exploring the following resources:

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