Demystifying the Cloud: An Introduction to Amazon Web Services
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has become the world’s most comprehensive and broadly adopted cloud platform, as of today (3rd Sept, 2023) AWS offering 202 fully featured services from data centers globally. This article will provide a high-level overview of AWS infrastructure, core services, account creation, and platform access to help newcomers take their first steps into the AWS cloud.
The AWS Cloud – A Foundation Built for Business
AWS utilizes a shared responsibility model, investing billions to build secure, high-performing data centers while customers pay only for the resources they use [1]. This allows enterprises and organizations to innovate without upfront capital expenditures. AWS customers pay only for the specific resources consumed, avoiding the costs and complexity of owning and maintaining their own servers or data centers. [2].
AWS empowers businesses with flexibility and efficiency through on-demand delivery and per-second billing aligned to usage [3]. Server capacity scales seamlessly to accommodate spikes in application workloads or traffic. Companies can customize environments from basic shared servers to dedicated performance instances tailor-made to their needs. [4]
The Global Reach of AWS Infrastructure
The AWS Cloud spans 102 Availability Zones within 32 geographic regions around the world, with announced plans for 12 more Availability Zones and 4 more AWS Regions in Canada, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Thailand. [5].
Each AWS Region consists of multiple isolated locations known as Availability Zones, connected through low-latency networks. This redundancy allows for high availability and automatic failover between zones [6].
Enterprises can deploy cloud architecture near end users to reduce latency while also meeting data sovereignty laws. For newcomers, AWS recommends selecting US East (North Virginia) region to ensure full access to the broadest array of services as accounts are initialized. [7].
Getting Started with AWS
Getting started with AWS is straightforward. Simply visit the AWS website to setup an account by providing contact information and payment details. Take advantage of the AWS Free Tier to explore select services for 12 months at no charge [8].
Once signed up, users can securely access the AWS Management Console to launch and configure cloud resources, monitor usage, adjust security controls and review billing – all from an intuitive graphical interface [9].
For added flexibility, AWS offers a command line interface and software development kits for automation and scripting cloud management tasks [10]. With cloud skills in demand, there are also opportunities to engage through whitepapers, training guides and service documentation as you chart your cloud journey [11].
Check the website frequently for new product announcements.
Conclusion
This introductory guide summarized the benefits of AWS cloud infrastructure and steps to get started. Hands-on practice through AWS labs and tutorials will further develop cloud architecture expertise.
References:
[1] https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/shared-responsibility-model/
[2] https://aws.amazon.com/pricing/
[3] https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-per-second-billing-for-ec2-instances-and-ebs-volumes/
[4] https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/dedicated-instances/
[5] https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/
[6] https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/using-regions-availability-zones.html
[7] https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/regional-product-services/
[8] https://aws.amazon.com/free/
[9] https://aws.amazon.com/console/