What is AWS?
Are you curious about what Amazon Web Services (AWS) is and how it relates to Cloud Computing? If so, then you’ve come to the right place! In this blog post, we’ll explore what AWS is, how it works, and how it fits into the larger world of cloud computing. We’ll look at the features and services AWS provides, how to use them, and how it can benefit businesses. So, if you’re looking for answers to the question “What is AWS?”, then you’ve come to the right place!
What is Amazon Web Services?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a comprehensive cloud computing platform developed and provided by Amazon. It offers a wide variety of cloud-based services, such as storage, databases, networking, analytics, application development and deployment, security, and much more. With AWS, businesses have the ability to create an entire infrastructure stack with just a few clicks of a button.
AWS is one of the most widely used cloud computing platforms in the world, powering companies of all sizes from small startups to large enterprises. It provides users with the flexibility and scalability of cloud computing that allows them to build powerful applications and systems quickly and efficiently.
Cloud computing is a term used to describe a set of technologies and services that allow businesses to access applications and data remotely via the internet. These cloud-based services provide users with a range of features, such as storage, computing power, networking, and analytics. With cloud computing, businesses are able to access data and applications from anywhere in the world and can scale their operations up or down
AWS Cloud is Amazon’s suite of cloud computing services that provide customers with access to secure, reliable, and scalable infrastructure. AWS Cloud allows customers to store data in the cloud, build web-based applications quickly and easily, process large volumes of data quickly, and much more. AWS Cloud also offers a variety of managed services such as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), and Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3).
The main services that AWS offers are Compute, Storage, Database, Networking, Analytics, Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence, Mobile Services, Security & Identity Management, and Application Services. Compute services include Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud), Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service), and Amazon LightSail. Storage services are provided by Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) and Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Storage). Database services are offered through Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) and Amazon DynamoDB. Networking services include Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) and Amazon Route 53.
Analytics services are provided by Amazon Athena, Amazon EMR (Elastic MapReduce), and Amazon Kinesis. Machine Learning & Artificial Intelligence services include Amazon Sagemaker, AWS DeepLens, and Amazon Rekognition. Mobile services are offered through Amazon Mobile Analytics, AWS Mobile Hub, and Amazon Pinpoint. Security & Identity Management services include AWS IAM (Identity & Access Management) and Amazon Cognito. Finally, Application Services offer customers services such as Amazon SWF (Simple Workflow Service), Amazon SQS (Simple Queue Service), and Amazon API Gateway.
By using the various AWS Services, businesses can reduce their costs by paying only for the resources they use and scale up or down as their needs change. Furthermore, with the help of AWS customers can quickly deploy their applications and store their data securely in the cloud.
The Big 3
Comparing the ‘Big 3’ in Cloud Computing
AWS is the current market leader and the eldest in the family, the most mature cloud platform with offerings spanning a huge range of both services and customers; governments, enterprises, SMBs, and even individual developers.
Azure came shortly thereafter with a debut in 2010, 4 years younger than AWS, but today it has evolved into more than 200 products and services and is among the fastest-growing cloud platforms! Typically, its customers are Microsoft-centric enterprises – making the switch to a cloud or hybrid environment as smooth as can be for many organisations. Azure is not limited to windows-based technologies, but it is the most streamlined cloud platform for utilising the Microsoft portfolio.
Google Cloud came out with App Engine in 2008, but general public availability came in 2010, by comparison it is the smallest of the providers, but it still offers a robust set of cloud services.
How can I get started with AWS?
From a development perspective, learning AWS could be very difficult. So where should you start learning with AWS? There are 3 areas to focus on: Learning the core services, prioritising hands-on learning, and structure effectively. Identify the interactions between services and the core services: EC2, IAM and S3, and the learning you need to do in order to work with them effectively.
From a business perspective, AWS is a perfect solution for starting an online business. There’s no charge for virtual machines, and you can build for scalability and dynamic flexibility. AWS offers a wide choice of services. With Pay As You Go pricing, you don’t pay for more than what you use and need, and in the event of problems, you don’t get saddled with unavoidable bills.
AWS also offers a free tier, when you first create an AWS account you can get a year of the free tier, some of these will even remain free after that year. Without a time limit, you can get hold of services such as AWS Code Commit: 5 Active Users per month, 25GB of flexible NoSQL DynamoDB database and more!
Without any fees, you can access the services and support that could help you build your billion-dollar business in the Cloud. The charges will come, of course, but not until you’re ready to face them. All you need to do is sign up for a new AWS account and you can begin selecting the services you will need.
SITC is partnered with Amazon Web Services across Professional Services and Licensing. We can be a one-stop shop for all your AWS needs: We can provide licensing and product assistance, and consultancy services for projects (all the way from planning to deployment & ongoing support!).
We can additionally offer instructors for your AWS Courses from our Certified Instructors pool!
For all things AWS, choose SITC as your one-stop shop for your solutions. Contact us for more information, and to see what the team at SITC can do for you.