EC2 Auto Scaling vs. AWS Auto Scaling
When should I use Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling vs. AWS Auto Scaling?
You should use AWS Auto Scaling to manage scaling for multiple resources across multiple services. AWS Auto Scaling lets you define dynamic scaling policies for multiple EC2 Auto Scaling groups or other resources using predefined scaling strategies. Using AWS Auto Scaling to configure scaling policies for all of the scalable resources in your application is faster than managing scaling policies for each resource via its individual service console. It’s also easier, as AWS Auto Scaling includes predefined scaling strategies that simplify the setup of scaling policies.
You should use EC2 Auto Scaling if you only need to scale Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling groups, or if you are only interested in maintaining the health of your EC2 fleet. You should also use EC2 Auto Scaling if you need to create or configure Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling groups, or if you need to set up scheduled or step scaling policies (as AWS Auto Scaling supports only target tracking scaling policies).
EC2 Auto Scaling groups must be created and configured outside of AWS Auto Scaling, such as through the EC2 console, Auto Scaling API or via CloudFormation. AWS Auto Scaling can help you configure dynamic scaling policies for your existing EC2 Auto Scaling groups.