A lot of companies are described as being born in the cloud, meaning that Amazon Web Service is something that could be relevant to them. As you advance more with your use of AWS, you'll have to prioritize AWS security of your data, as well as continual monitoring, but before you get to that point, you should understand the basics.
The following are some of the core things to know about AWS, particularly from a business standpoint.
The Basics
Amazon Web Services or AWS is a cloud services platform. It offers compute power as well as content delivery and database storage. There are other functionalities and tools that businesses can use for scalable growth.
A few of the things you can do with AWS include:
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Run web and application servers in the cloud
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Store files on the cloud so they can be accessed from anywhere
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Use managed database like Oracle for information storage
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Deliver files to anywhere with a Content Delivery Network (CDN)
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Send mass emails to customers
AWS is a huge part of Amazon's revenue. For example, in the first quarter of 2020, AWS revenue alone was $10 billion, making up 13.5% of Amazon's total revenue.
It is the leading cloud computing platform in the world, controlling more than a third of the total market.
What is Cloud Computing?
With AWS cloud computing, you get the advantage of the security it's known for. You can host a dynamic website with AWS by running web apps on a cloud server.
AWS is built on Infrastructure As a Service (IaaS), Software as a Service (SaaS), and PaaS (Platform as a Service) solutions.
When a business uses the Amazon cloud service they can scale-up without a big upfront investment. Basically, for businesses, they're getting high-level IT services that are low-cost.
Flexibility and Scalability
Two of the reasons AWS is so popular with businesses around the world is because it's both flexible and scalable.
The cost is based on customer usage, making it an option for even startups and small businesses.
It offers the tools you need to start with the cloud, and if you're an existing company to this point, Amazon has kept migration services low-cost, so you can move your infrastructure over.
Security and Reliability
Using Amazon Web Services is generally more secure than hosting your own storage or website, and they're continuously monitored and maintained.
If there's an outage in one region, it won't affect everyone since the data centers are dispersed.
Models of Cloud Computing
The cloud computing models were mentioned briefly above, and the following are more details about each. As a business, having an understanding of these can help you make the right choices for your needs.
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Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): This is a model with cloud-based options to store, visualize, and network. An on-premise infrastructure lacks flexibility and is expensive, while IaaS offers an alternative that is scalable, versatile, and affordable. IaaS controls applications, data, runtime, and operation systems through the management of servers, networks, and storage. Amazon Elastic Compute is the most used cloud service that falls into the category of IaaS. Other options include Amazon S3 and Amazon Elastic Block Store.
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Platform as a service (PaaS): This takes away the need to maintain hardware and constantly update operating systems. It can take over updates, patching, and maintenance.
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Software as a Service (SaaS): This is probably the cloud computing model most people are familiar with. AWS SaaS solutions offer delivery of end-user applications.
Specific Services
Some of the AWS services include:
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Storage: There are storage services like the Amazon Simple Storage Service, also known as S3. This scalable storage service lets users create data backups, and they can also organize their data and files. There's a long-term storage solution called Amazon Glacier, and also available is the Amazon Elastic Block Store. Amazon Glacier is a low-cost cold data cloud storage solution.
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Cloud Compute: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud or EC2 is a virtual service that you can run applications on.
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Database management: Amazon Relational Database Service lets you migrate, backup, and recover data.
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Data Migration: With AWS you can migrate your data as well as your database, servers, and applications on the public AWS cloud.
Finally, the Amazon Virtual Private Cloud or VPC lets you have control of a specific segment of the cloud, and there are tools to help you balance your network traffic there.
These aren't the only services, but they are some of the most popular.
