Single service comparison

AWS AMIs are region-scoped artifacts replicated via explicit copy operations and exposed through a unified EC2 API surface (DescribeImages, RunInstances, deregister). Huawei IMS is a separate control-plane service that produces system-disk, data-disk, and full-ECS images stored as objects in OBS, consumed by ECS/BMS at launch. Sharing is account-and-permission based on both platforms, but IMS image transfer across regions and accounts follows a distinct export/import-to-OBS workflow rather than AMI's in-region copy-and-launch model. Treat the two APIs as analogous, not identical, before scripting migration.

Operating model and integration differ materially. AMIs natively integrate with AWS launch templates, Auto Scaling groups, Systems Manager, and the AWS Marketplace for third-party gold images. Huawei IMS pairs with ECS, Auto Scaling (AS), and KooGallery, with private image encryption handled via KMS envelope encryption and storage durability inherited from OBS. Huawei promotes Huawei Cloud EulerOS (HCE) public images as the supported CentOS replacement path, whereas AMIs retain CentOS/RHEL/Ubuntu Marketplace variants directly. Validate OS support matrices, marketplace equivalent availability, and ASG launch-template parity per workload before assuming drop-in replacement.

Lifecycle, billing, and operational responsibility diverge. AWS charges for AMI-stored EBS snapshots and cross-region copy data transfer, while image registry metadata is free; Huawei bills image storage through OBS bucket costs plus any inter-region replication traffic, with image creation itself free. Deregistration and snapshot cleanup semantics differ: AMIs require snapshot deregistration, IMS images depend on underlying OBS object lifecycle. Architects must rebuild golden-image pipelines (Packer, CI hooks, drift detection) against IMS APIs and OBS lifecycle rules rather than assuming AMI tooling ports unchanged.

Start with an assessment that classifies each AMI by OS family, backing-store type (EBS snapshot vs instance-store), launch-template dependencies, and Marketplace/entitlement status. For each class, select the Huawei target: IMS private images for standard ECS workloads, BMS images for bare-metal-optimized AMIs, and HCE public images as the supported replacement for end-of-life CentOS 8 AMIs. Reject unsupported combinations early (e.g., AMIs bundling AWS-specific instance-store drivers) and document entitlements that have no KooGallery equivalent.

For the artifact migration, export the source AMI to a portable format and import into IMS. IMS accepts external image files in VHD, VMDK, QCOW2, and RAW via OBS upload, after you prepare the image per Huawei's OS and driver prerequisites (Xen/GTtools, cloud-init, network configs). Re-validate that baked-in AWS tooling (SSM Agent, AWS CLI, instance-profile calls) is removed or replaced, and regenerate golden images through Huawei's documented Packer best practice rather than converting AMIs in place.

Rebuild automation and integration around IMS primitives. Replace AMI launch-template references with ECS specifications and Auto Scaling (AS) launch configurations; remap SSM patch baselines to Huawei image-maintenance workflows or CCE/AOM equivalents if containers are involved. Recreate cross-account and cross-region distribution using IMS image export/import through OBS plus IAM sharing, since AMI's one-step cross-region copy has no direct IMS analogue; confirm per-region OS availability before promoting a target region.

Validate each converted image by provisioning a test ECS, running smoke and load tests, and verifying OS boot, attached EVS/data disks, encryption (KMS), and AS-driven scaling behave as the AMI fleet did. On cutover, flip DNS/traffic steering and decommission EBS-backed AMIs only after observability confirms parity. Recompute TCO including OBS image storage, inter-region replication traffic, EVS for the system disk, and any HCE or marketplace licensing, since AWS per-hour instance-plus-snapshot billing does not map 1:1 to Huawei's ECS runtime, EVS, and OBS-storage model.