The 21st century has been defined as the age of technology, with businesses of all sizes, regions and industries moving to cloud services. Cloud adoption has increased in recent years with the aim of improving efficiency, flexibility and reducing management costs.
Today, millions of organisations are leveraging AWS cloud services to build sophisticated applications that help them increase reliability, flexibility and scalability. This post on “What is AWS?” is designed to help you gain an in-depth understanding of this popular cloud platform, its benefits, services and more.
What is AWS and what is it for?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud services platform that offers a mix of software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) packages from dozens of data centres and multiple availability zones (AZs) in regions around the world. Each AZ contains multiple data centres. Customers can configure virtual machines and replicate their data across multiple AZs to provide a system that is highly resilient to server or data centre failure.
AWS aims to enable organisations to grow and profit through its wide range of services. With this platform, they can store, access, and manage their business data while protecting it from unauthorized access.
What services/products does AWS offer?
Within all the services offered by AWS, we find various cloud computing products, databases, blockchain, application integration, internet of things, migration and transfer, networking and content delivery, and many more. Some of the most widely used Amazon Web Services technologies are:
1. Amazon EC2
Amazon EC2‘s web interface is used to reduce costly physical servers by creating virtual machines and managing other server features, such as storage, security, ports, etc. With Amazon EC2 you can create servers in minutes with your preferred operating system.
2. Amazon RDS
Amazon helps us in every way it can to make our infrastructure less complicated, which is why it provides us with the RDS service. By using this AWS service, dedicated database instances can be created in a matter of minutes, fully managed by the AWS support team and capable of supporting multiple database engines such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, MariaDB, and many more.
3. Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)
Amazon S3 is AWS‘s core service for file storage and retrieval via an API (Application Programming Interface). Amazon S3 offers a file storage service as well as high-quality integrations such as PCI-DSS, HIPAA/HITECH and FedRAMP so that data is not compromised. In addition, the S3 service offers you different types of storage to optimise the cost.
4. Amazon CloudFront
Amazon CloudFront helps you improve website speed and access to data in the cloud. It also manages all user content efficiently through a global content delivery service.
5. Amazon VPC
If you are ready to isolate your entire IT infrastructure from exposure, then the only way to do it is with Amazon VPC. This service creates a virtual private network that cannot be accessed by anyone or anything except the people and systems you authorise. These networks are logically isolated from other virtual networks in the AWS clouds.
6. Amazon SNS
SNS is a Simple Notification Service that alerts subscriber services to automatically perform tasks in response to specified triggers. Amazon SNS is a notification system that offers integration with any type of application, be it PHP, Python, Node, etc; and notifications can be sent to all types of users whether on the web or mobile.
7. AWS Lambda
Is your server getting saturated with requests? AWS Lambda is designed to scale to handle any traffic load. It is possibly one of the most innovative services on AWS, as it allows you to run your code in a serverless way, i.e. without the need to manage servers. In addition, it is compatible with the main programming languages such as Node.js, Python, Java, and more.
8. AWS Autoscaling
If you are looking to grow or expand your application to millions of users then AWS Autoscaling is the solution. This tool allows you to manage a fleet of servers when your application demands it, creating multiple instances when needed. The service is free, only charged for the number of instances used.
9. AWS Beanstalk
AWS Beanstalk was created to help developers manage website infrastructure and save time. This tool automates the installation, configuration and provisioning of other AWS services such as EC2, RDS and S3.
As you can see, AWS has a large number of services related to cloud infrastructure, related to data and the use of this data for any business, of any size and sector. If you want to know more about all the products offered by AWS, click on the following link to get all the information: Cloud Products (amazon.com)
Advantages of using AWS
Many companies, small or large, rely on AWS for the wide range of services it offers. Here are some of the most notable advantages that differentiate it from other companies. These are:
SECURITY
Security is one of the most important issues when working in cloud environments. AWS has dozens of data centres around the world that are continuously monitored 24/7 and strictly maintained. In addition, AWS has certifications and accreditations, encryption of data at rest and in transit, hardware security modules and strong physical security.
PAY PER USE
One of the most important advantages is the AWS pay-as-you-go billing model. There is no upfront cost to build a storage system and no need to estimate usage. For organisations that have daily or seasonal peaks, this is a real advantage.
WIDE RANGE OF SERVICES
Over time, AWS has expanded its range of products and services to more than 175 products ranging from basic storage and computing to more specialised services such as robotics. In short, AWS offers such a wide variety of services that there is bound to be a product or service that fits your business needs perfectly.
COST-EFFECTIVE
Whether you are a start-up or a large enterprise organisation, you can benefit from the economic advantages that AWS offers, such as not having to pay upfront to use its services or resources.
GLOBAL LEADER
Amazon Web Services has networks in nearly 190 countries around the world and supports more than one million active customers. Its customers include large enterprises and public sector organisations. As businesses continue to migrate to the cloud, the choices of cloud-based services continue to multiply. However, only a handful of options manage to meet the different business needs that exist, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS).
How does AWS work?
First of all, you need to register with AWS. When you go to create your account, you will be asked for your credit card details. Once your account is created, you can start exploring the AWS management console and view its services. You can also watch 10-minute tutorials on Amazon to learn how each of their products works.
AWS and Geko Cloud
At Geko Cloud we are cloud experts and we work with DevOps methodology, accompanying our customers throughout the process from cloud migration to cloud management. Contact us with no commitment! 😊