Purchase options & licensing
Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances vs Azure Dedicated Host
EC2 Dedicated Hosts map to Azure Dedicated Host.
Both give you a whole physical server, billed per host, with control over placement.
Side-by-side comparison
| Aspect | Amazon Web Services | Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances | Azure Dedicated Host |
| Lifecycle | Generally available | Generally available |
| What it is | Physical servers dedicated to your account. Dedicated Hosts expose sockets and cores for per-core/per-socket BYOL and give host affinity. Dedicated Instances give hardware isolation without host visibility. | Single-tenant physical servers grouped into host groups, with control over maintenance and placement. Billed per host. VMs on the host show a price of zero. |
| Pricing model | Billed per host per second, with On-Demand, Savings Plans, or host reservations available. Instances on the host have no separate instance charge. | Billed per host. VMs on the host show a price of zero, and software licenses, storage, and network are billed separately. Reservations are available. |
| Docs | Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances docs | Azure Dedicated Host docs |
| Pricing page | Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances pricing | Azure Dedicated Host pricing |
| Exams | SAA-C03 SAP-C02 Retiring | AZ-104 AZ-305 |
Key differences
- AWS has two options. Dedicated Hosts expose sockets and cores and support host affinity and broad BYOL. Dedicated Instances give hardware isolation without host visibility. Azure Dedicated Host is the only host-level product, and Azure also has "isolated" VM sizes that take a whole host.
- Maintenance. Azure Dedicated Host lets you control platform maintenance windows through maintenance configurations. EC2 Dedicated Hosts support host recovery and host maintenance settings.
- Licensing. On EC2, AWS-provided RHEL or SUSE AMIs can't be used on Dedicated Hosts (you must bring your own AMI). Azure Dedicated Host is commonly used with Azure Hybrid Benefit for Windows Server and SQL Server.
- Sharing. EC2 Dedicated Hosts can be shared across accounts with AWS RAM. Azure host groups are shared through RBAC across subscriptions in a tenant.
Pricing summary
Pricing models only. No prices are quoted because they change by region and over time.
- AWS
- Billed per host per second, with On-Demand, Savings Plans, or host reservations available. Instances on the host have no separate instance charge. Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances pricing →
- Azure
- Billed per host. VMs on the host show a price of zero, and software licenses, storage, and network are billed separately. Reservations are available. Azure Dedicated Host pricing →
Certification exam mapping
| Exam | Provider | Level | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate SAA-C03 | AWS | Associate | current Italian version retires after Dec 31, 2026. |
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional SAP-C02 | AWS | Professional | retiring Being updated to SAP-C03. Registration for SAP-C03 opens Oct 27, 2026. Last day to take SAP-C02 is Nov 16, 2026. |
| Microsoft Certified – Azure Administrator Associate AZ-104 | Azure | Associate | current |
| Microsoft Certified – Azure Solutions Architect Expert AZ-305 | Azure | Expert | current English version updated Apr 17, 2026. |
Relevance is based on each exam's published scope, not a line-by-line objective match. Check the official study guide.
FAQ
What is the Azure equivalent of Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances?
EC2 Dedicated Hosts map to Azure Dedicated Host. Both give you a whole physical server, billed per host, with control over placement.
How does pricing compare between Amazon EC2 Dedicated Hosts & Dedicated Instances and Azure Dedicated Host?
AWS: Billed per host per second, with On-Demand, Savings Plans, or host reservations available. Instances on the host have no separate instance charge. Azure: Billed per host. VMs on the host show a price of zero, and software licenses, storage, and network are billed separately. Reservations are available. Check the official pricing pages for current rates.
Which certification exams cover this topic?
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03); AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional (SAP-C02) [retiring]; Microsoft Certified – Azure Administrator Associate (AZ-104); Microsoft Certified – Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305).