What Is AWS? (A Complete Guide)
What Is AWS?
It can be difficult to transition to the cloud, especially if you are unfamiliar with the jargon and concepts. In order to make the best use of Amazon Web Services (AWS), it is important to first understand the basics. I will discuss some key terms and concepts that will help you get started.
What Is Cloud Computing?
Cloud computing is a model for delivering information technology services in which resources are retrieved from the Internet through web-based tools and applications, as opposed to a local server or a personal computer. Cloud computing allows users to access applications and data stored on remote servers, making it possible to work from anywhere with an Internet connection.
Cloud service platforms, such as Amazon Web Services, provide a variety of services that can be used to build and run applications. These services are delivered over the Internet and can be accessed through web-based tools or APIs.
What Are The Benefits Of Cloud Computing?
There are many benefits of cloud computing, including the following:
– Scalability: Cloud services are designed to be scalable, so you can easily add or remove resources as your needs change.
– Pay-as-you-go pricing: With cloud computing, you only pay for the resources you use. There is no upfront investment required.
– Flexibility: Cloud services can be quickly provisioned and released, so you can experiment and innovate at a rapid pace.
– Reliability: Cloud services are designed to be highly available and fault-tolerant.
– Global reach: Cloud services are available in multiple regions around the world, so you can deploy your applications closer to your users.
What Is Amazon Web Services (AWS)?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a comprehensive, evolving cloud computing platform provided by Amazon.com. AWS offers a wide range of services that can be used to build and run applications in the cloud, including compute, storage, database, and networking.
AWS is a pay-as-you-go service, so you only pay for the resources you use. There is no upfront investment required. AWS also offers a free tier of services that can be used to learn about and experiment with the platform.
On-Prem Vs. Cloud Computing
Another important concept to understand is the difference between on-premises and cloud computing. On-premises computing refers to applications and data that are stored locally, on your own servers. Cloud computing, on the other hand, refers to applications and data that are stored on remote servers, accessed through the Internet.
Cloud computing allows you to take advantage of the economies of scale and the pay-as-you-go pricing model. With on-premises computing, you must make a large upfront investment in hardware and software, and you are also responsible for maintaining and upgrading your infrastructure.
What Are The Differences Between IaaS, Paas, and Saas?
There are three main types of cloud services: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).
IaaS is a type of cloud computing that provides users with access to storage, compute, and networking resources. IaaS providers manage the infrastructure and provide a self-service platform for users to provision and manage resources.
PaaS is a type of cloud computing that provides users with access to a platform for developing, deploying, and managing applications. PaaS providers manage the infrastructure and provide a platform that can be used to develop, deploy, and manage applications.
SaaS is a type of cloud computing that provides users with access to a software application. SaaS providers manage the infrastructure and provide a software application that can be used by users.
Global Infrastructure With AWS
AWS is a global cloud computing platform with over 70 Availability Zones in 22 regions around the world. Regions are geographical areas that are isolated from one another, and each region contains multiple Availability Zones.
Availability Zones are data centers that have been designed to be isolated from other Availability Zones in the same region. This ensures that if one Availability Zone goes down, the others will continue to operate.
Developer Tools On AWS
AWS uses API calls to provision and manage resources. The AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) is a tool that can be used to manage your AWS resources.
The AWS Management Console is a web-based interface that can be used to provision and manage resources.
AWS also provides a set of SDKs that can be used to develop applications that run on AWS. Programming languages supported include Java, .NET, Node.js, PHP, Python, and Ruby.
There are several different ways that you can manage API calls with AWS:
– The AWS Management Console: The AWS Management Console is a web-based interface that can be used to make API calls.
– The AWS Command Line Interface (CLI): The AWS CLI is a tool that can be used to make API calls. Calls can be run in Linux, Windows, and Mac OS.
– The AWS Software Development Kits (SDKs): The AWS SDKs can be used to develop applications that make API calls. The SDKs are available for Java, .NET, PHP, Node.js, and Ruby.
– The Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3): S3 provides
IDEs for AWS: There are several different Integrated Development Environments (IDEs) that can be used to develop applications on AWS. Eclipse is a popular open-source IDE that can be used to develop Java applications. Eclipse can be used to connect to AWS and make API calls.Visual Studio is a popular IDE from Microsoft that can be used to develop .NET applications. Visual Studio can be used to connect to AWS and make API calls.
– The AWS API Gateway: The AWS API Gateway is a managed service that can be used to create, publish, and manage APIs.
When you make an API call, you will need to specify an HTTP method (such as GET, POST, or PUT), a path (such as /users or /items), and a set of headers. The body of the request will contain the data that you are sending to the API.
The response from the API will contain a status code, headers, and a body. The status code will indicate if the request was successful (such as 200 for success or 404 for not found). The headers will contain information about the response, such as the content type. The body of the response will contain the data that was returned from the API.
Infrastructure As Code (IaC)
AWS allows you to provision and manage resources using Infrastructure as Code (IaC). IaC is a way of representing infrastructure in code. This allows you to define your infrastructure using code, which can then be used to provision and manage resources.
IaC is an important part of AWS because it allows you to:
– Automate the provisioning and management of resources.
– Version control your infrastructure.
– Modularize your infrastructure.
AWS provides a few different ways to provision and manage resources using IaC:
– The AWS CloudFormation service: CloudFormation allows you to define your infrastructure using templates written in JSON or YAML. These templates can then be used to provision and manage resources.
– The AWS Command Line Interface (CLI): The AWS CLI can be used to provision and manage resources using IaC. The AWS CLI uses a declarative syntax, which allows you to specify the desired state of your infrastructure.
– The AWS SDKs: The AWS SDKs can be used to provision and manage resources using IaC. The AWS SDKs use an imperative syntax, which allows you to specify the actions that you want to take.
In order for IaC to be effective, it is important to understand the basics of how AWS works. This includes understanding how APIs are used to provision and manage resources. It is also important to understand the different services that AWS offers and how they can be used.
The AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK) is a toolkit that allows you to define your infrastructure using code. The AWS CDK uses a declarative syntax, which makes it easy to define your infrastructure. The AWS CDK is available for Java, .NET, and Python.
The benefits of using the AWS CDK include:
– It is easy to get started with the AWS CDK.
– The AWS CDK is open source.
– The AWS CDK integrates with other AWS services.
How Does An AWS CloudFormation Work?
An AWS CloudFormation stack is a collection of resources that are created and managed as a unit. A stack can contain any number of resources, including Amazon S3 buckets, Amazon SQS queues, Amazon DynamoDB tables, and Amazon EC2 instances.
A stack is defined by a template. The template is a JSON or YAML file that defines the parameters, mappings, conditions, outputs, and resources for the stack.
When you create a stack, AWS CloudFormation will create the resources in the order they are defined in the template. If one resource depends on another resource, AWS CloudFormation will wait for the dependent resource to be created before creating the next resource in the stack.
AWS CloudFormation will also delete the resources in the reverse order they are defined in the template. This ensures that resources are not left in an undefined state.
If an error occurs while AWS CloudFormation is creating or deleting a stack, the stack will be rolled back to its previous state.
What Is An Amazon S3 Bucket?
An Amazon S3 bucket is a storage location for files. A bucket can store any type of file, such as images, videos, documents, and so on. Buckets are organized into folders, similar to how folders are used on your computer.
The files in a bucket are accessible via URL. The URL for a file is made up of the bucket name and the file path.
What Is Amazon SQS?
Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS) is a message queue service. Message queues are used to store messages that need to be processed by an application.
SQS makes it easy to decouple and scale microservices, distributed systems, and serverless applications. SQS can be used to transmit any type of message, such as commands, notifications, or alerts.
What Is Amazon DynamoDB?
Amazon DynamoDB is a fast and flexible NoSQL database service for all applications that need consistent, single-digit millisecond latency at any scale. It is a fully managed cloud database and supports both document and key-value data models.
DynamoDB enables developers to build modern, serverless applications that can start small and scale globally to support millions of users.
What Is Amazon EC2?
Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) is a web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It is designed to make web-scale cloud computing easier for developers.
EC2 provides a wide variety of instance types that are optimized for different use cases. These instances can be used for everything from running web servers and application servers to running big data applications and gaming servers.
EC2 also provides features such as auto scaling and load balancing, which make it easy to scale your application up or down as needed.
What Is AWS Lambda?
AWS Lambda is a serverless compute service that lets you run code without provisioning or managing servers. Lambda handles all the administration of the underlying infrastructure, so you can just write code and let Lambda handle the rest.
Lambda is a great choice for running backend services, such as web APIs, data processing jobs, or cron jobs. Lambda is also a good choice for running applications that need to scale up or down based on demand.
What Is Amazon API Gateway?
Amazon API Gateway is a web service that makes it easy to create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale.
API Gateway handles all the tasks involved in accepting and processing requests from clients, including traffic management, authorization and access control, monitoring, and API version management.
API Gateway can also be used to create APIs that expose data from other AWS services, such as DynamoDB or SQS.
What Is Amazon CloudFront?
Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery network (CDN) that speeds up the delivery of your static and dynamic web content, such as HTML pages, images, videos, and JavaScript files.
CloudFront delivers your content through a worldwide network of data centers called edge locations. When a user requests your content, CloudFront routes the request to the edge location that can best serve the content.
If the content is already cached at the edge location, CloudFront serves it immediately. If the content is not cached at the edge location, CloudFront retrieves it from the origin (the web server where the original files are stored) and caches it at the edge location.
What Is Amazon Route 53?
Amazon Route 53 is a scalable and highly available Domain Name System (DNS) service.
Route 53 routes user requests to your application based on several factors, including the content of the request, the geographical location of the user, and the status of your application.
Route 53 also provides health checking to monitor the health of your application and automatically route traffic away from unhealthy endpoints.
What Is Amazon S3?
Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) is an object storage service that offers industry-leading scalability, data availability, security, and performance.
S3 is a great choice for storing data that you need to access frequently, such as website images or videos. S3 also makes it easy to store and retrieve data that you need to share with other people or applications.
What Is Amazon EFS?
Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) is a file storage service for Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances.
EFS provides a simple, scalable, and cost-effective way to manage files in the cloud. EFS is designed to be used with EC2 instances, and it offers features such as high availability and durability.
What Is Amazon Glacier?
Amazon Glacier is a secure, durable, and low-cost storage service for data archiving.
Glacier is a good choice for long-term storage of data that you don’t need to access frequently. Data stored in Glacier can take several hours to retrieve, so it is not suitable for applications that require real-time access to data.
What Is AWS Storage Gateway?
AWS Storage Gateway is a hybrid storage service that gives you on-premises access to virtually unlimited cloud storage.
Storage Gateway connects your on-premises applications to the cloud, making it easy to store and retrieve data from the cloud. Storage Gateway can be used with a variety of storage devices, such as hard drives, tapes, and SSDs.
What Is AWS Snowball?
AWS Snowball is a petabyte-scale data transport service that uses physical storage devices to transfer large amounts of data into and out of the Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3).
Snowball is a good choice for transferring data when you need high throughput or low latency, or when you want to avoid the cost of Internet bandwidth.
What Is Amazon CloudSearch?
Amazon CloudSearch is a fully-managed search service that makes it easy to set up, manage, and scale a search engine for your website or application.
CloudSearch supports a wide range of search features, such as autocomplete, spelling correction, and wildcard searches. CloudSearch is easy to use and provides results that are highly relevant to your users.
What Is Amazon Elasticsearch Service?
Amazon Elasticsearch Service (Amazon ES) is a managed service that makes it easy to deploy, operate, and scale Elasticsearch in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud.
Elasticsearch is a popular open-source search and analytics engine that offers a powerful set of features for indexing, searching, and analyzing data. Amazon ES makes it easy to set up, scale, and monitor your Elasticsearch clusters.
What Is Amazon Kinesis?
Amazon Kinesis is a cloud-based service that makes it easy to collect, process, and analyze real-time streaming data.
Kinesis can be used for a wide range of applications, such as processing log files, monitoring social media activity, and powering real-time analytics applications. Kinesis makes it easy to collect and process data in real time so you can get insights quickly.
What Is Amazon Redshift?
Amazon Redshift is a fast, scalable data warehouse that makes it easy to store and analyze data.
Redshift is a good choice for data warehousing, business intelligence, and analytics applications. Redshift is easy to use and provides fast performance.
What Is AWS Data Pipeline?
AWS Data Pipeline is a cloud-based service that makes it easy to transfer data between different AWS services.
Data Pipeline can be used to move data between Amazon S3, Amazon EMR, Amazon DynamoDB, and Amazon RDS. Data Pipeline is easy to use and provides a simple way to manage data in the cloud.
What Is AWS Import/Export?
AWS Import/Export is a data migration service that makes it easy to transfer large amounts of data into and out of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud.
Import/Export can be used to move data between Amazon S3, Amazon EBS, Amazon Glacier, and your on-premises storage devices. Import/Export is fast and reliable, and it can be used to transfer large amounts of data quickly and efficiently.
What Is AWS OpsWorks?
AWS OpsWorks is a cloud-based service that makes it easy to deploy and manage applications in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud.
OpsWorks can be used to manage applications of all sizes, from small websites to large-scale web applications. OpsWorks is easy to use and provides a simple way to manage applications in the cloud.
What Is Amazon CloudWatch?
Amazon CloudWatch is a cloud-based service that makes it easy to monitor your Amazon Web Services (AWS) resources.
CloudWatch can be used to monitor Amazon EC2 instances, Amazon DynamoDB tables, and Amazon RDS databases. CloudWatch is easy to use and provides a simple way to monitor your AWS resources.
What Is Amazon Machine Learning?
Amazon Machine Learning is a cloud-based service that makes it easy to build, train, and deploy machine learning models.
Machine learning is a popular technique for building predictive models that can be used to make predictions about future events. Amazon Machine Learning is easy to use and provides a simple way to build, train, and deploy machine learning models.
What Is Amazon Simple Notification Service?
Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) is a cloud-based service that makes it easy to send and receive notifications.
SNS can be used to send messages to Amazon SQS queues, Amazon S3 buckets, or email addresses. SNS is easy to use and provides a simple way to send and receive notifications.
What Is Amazon Simple Workflow Service?
Amazon Simple Workflow Service (Amazon SWF) is a cloud-based service that makes it easy to build, run, and scale background jobs.
SWF can be used to process images, transcode video files, index documents, and run machine learning algorithms. SWF is easy to use and provides a simple way to run background jobs.
What Is Amazon Elastic MapReduce?
Amazon Elastic MapReduce (Amazon EMR) is a cloud-based service that makes it easy to process big data.
EMR can be used to run Apache Hadoop, Apache Spark, and Presto on Amazon EC2 instances. EMR is easy to use and provides a simple way to process big data.
The AWS Concept Of Well-Architected Infrastructure
The AWS concept of well-architected infrastructure is a set of guidelines for building and running applications on Amazon Web Services.
The well-architected framework helps you to make decisions about how to design, deploy, and operate your applications on AWS. The well-architected framework is based on five pillars: performance, security, reliability, cost optimization, and operational excellence.
The performance pillar helps you to design your applications for high performance. The security pillar helps you to protect your applications from security threats. The reliability pillar helps you to design your applications for high availability. The cost optimization pillar helps you to optimize your AWS costs. And the operational excellence pillar helps you to operate your applications effectively.
When you design and run your applications on AWS, it is important to consider all five pillars of the well-architected framework.
Ignoring any one of the pillars can lead to problems down the road. For example, if you ignore the security pillar, your application may be vulnerable to attack. Or if you ignore the cost optimization pillar, your AWS bill may be higher than it needs to be.
The well-architected framework is a great way to get started with AWS. It provides a set of guidelines that can help you to make decisions about how to design, deploy, and operate your applications on AWS.
If you are new to AWS, I recommend starting with the well-architected framework. It will help you to get started on the right foot and avoid some common mistakes.
Security On AWS
AWS shares responsibility with customers to maintain security and compliance. AWS is responsible for securing the underlying infrastructure that customers use to build and run their applications. Customers are responsible for securing the applications and data they put on AWS.
AWS provides a set of tools and services that can be used to secure your applications and data. These tools and services include Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC), Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), and AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM).
The responsibilities that AWS takes on include:
– Physical security of data centers
– Network security
– Host security
– Application security
Customers are responsible for:
– Securing their applications and data
– Managing user access to AWS resources
– Monitoring for threats
Conclusion
AWS is a great way to run your applications in the cloud. It is easy to use and provides a simple way to run background jobs.
AWS is a great way to process big data. It is easy to use and provides a simple way to process big data.
The well-architected framework is a great way to get started with AWS. It provides a set of guidelines that can help you make decisions about how to design, deploy, and operate your applications on AWS.
If you are new to AWS, I recommend starting with the well-architected framework. It will help you get started on the right foot and avoid costly mistakes with your infrastructure.
