Azure Service Fabric vs Azure Container Services

Question

I understand that both Azure Service Fabric and Azure Container Services can be used to host microservices through containers.

In what scenarios is it practical & cost effective to use one over the other? What are some strong use cases for Azure Service Fabric and Azure Container Services models of hosting

I read this comparison but did not find it comprehensive

Update: A comparison table like one in this diagram would help keep the points "sticky" & memorable while deciding which option to use

Acronyms used in the table - AF - Azure Functions, ASF - Azure Service Fabric, ASE - App Service Environment, ACS - Azure Container Service, VMSS - Virtual Machine Scale Set

The “rank” should not be misconstrued as good or bad

Answer 1

[Feb 2019 Update]

It's a difficult comparison as Azure Service Fabric also exposes an application framework. It's pretty opinionated about the way applications should be built, which doesn't necessarily fit well with notions of 12-factor, cloud-native container apps.

This is an ever-moving feast, but there are a growing number of container runtimes in Azure:

• Azure Kubernetes Service is the container orchestrator that replaced ACS. It seems to be moving very much in a PaaS direction.
• Azure Container Instances are useful for small jobs and burst scale
• Azure Batch is optimised for large, repetitive compute jobs
• Azure Service Fabric is an IaaS offering geared more around lifting and shifting Windows applications to the cloud
• Azure Service Fabric Mesh is the new kid on the block - a PaaS service for Service Fabric apps.

All in all, if you're starting with containers then I would give Service Fabric a miss and head for Kubernetes. You can run containers in Service Fabric, but you can be made to feel like a second-class citizen. IMHO, OFC.