Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud computing platform that offers a wide range of web services. Many large companies use it today, such as Netflix, Expedia, and Airbnb. AWS is the world's most popular platform, and guess what? It's snowballing. This blog post will teach you everything you need to know about AWS!
What is a Cloud Computing Platform?
Wait a minute! Before diving into AWS. Do you know what a Cloud Computing platform is? A cloud computing service lets users access cloud resources like servers, basic storage, databases, software, networking tools, and building blocks for developing web applications. So, instead of purchasing and maintaining hardware and software, you can simply access these resources via technology services. These kinds of services let software and hardware products co-exist simultaneously and scale. Some examples of public platforms include AWS, GCP, Azure, and IBM Bluemix.
What is Amazon Web Services?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is, indeed, a cloud computing platform. This program offers computing storage space, virtual machines, content delivery operations, and database management. AWS has over 200 services that provide infrastructure services for multiple needs. Its portfolio includes security focused, stable and high performance Linux based operating systems. Amazon publicly launched AWS on March 3, 2006. AWS offered Simple Storage Service (S3) and Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) at launch, and Simple Queue Service (SQS) followed soon after.
How does Amazon Web Services (AWS) work?
AWS delivers customer services worldwide via data center networks (physical servers). These centers correspond to a geographic region or physical location, allowing AWS to provide high availability and redundancy to its millions of customers. AWS offers companies and Software Developers various basic cloud services and solutions for building and running software applications.
Regarding pricing plans, AWS operates on a pay-as-you-go model. AWS monthly pricing is like how you pay for utilities like water and electricity. You only pay for the services you use, and once you stop, there are no extra costs or termination fees. Flexible pricing models such as savings plans are also available. Those offer savings for a one or three-year period. Additionally, with AWS, you can get volume-based discounts as your usage increases.
Amazon Web Services Popular Solutions
1. Simple Storage Service (S3). Amazon Simple Storage Service provides object storage in the cloud infrastructure. You can store and retrieve data using versioning, encryption, and lifecycle management.
2. Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2). Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud lets you launch and manage virtual servers (also known as instances) in the cloud. You can use load balancing and auto-scaling to improve your performance. You can choose from different types and sizes depending on your needs.
3. Relational Database Service (RDS). Amazon Relational Database Service serves relational database management systems (RDBMS) in the cloud. You can use database storage like MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, and Oracle. Consider also the backups, encryption, and multi-AZ deployment features that ensure your data's availability and durability.
4. Sagemaker. Sagemaker is a wholly managed Machine Learning (ML) platform. You can use it to build, train, and deploy Machine Learning models at any scale with notebooks, algorithms, frameworks, and tools to simplify your ML workflow.
5. Lambda. AWS Lambda is a compute service that allows the running of supported programming languages like Python, Node, or Java code without provisioning or managing servers. A great pro in Software Engineering is that you only pay for the computing time you consume, and you can trigger code from HTTP Requests, S3 Events, or DynamoDB Streams.
Ultimately, AWS provides a scalable, cost-effective cloud-computing platform through various software services. It helps businesses build and run any app, which empowers companies' infrastructure to become more agile and lower costs. Further, AWS has played a significant role in the growth of cloud computing, helping to create a multibillion-dollar industry where it's the dominant player. AWS has 99 availability zones (AZs) spanning 245 countries and territories and controls 40% of the cloud computing market. But it’s not the only option for cloud computing. Some cloud computing services offer similar or better features for different use cases. What are the established current competitors in the cloud computing field?
AWS vs Azure vs GPC
Microsoft Azure is an innovative service platform offered by the multinational tech giant Microsoft. It's a cloud computing service for building, testing, and managing applications. Like AWS, Azure also provides SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS services to businesses. And if you didn't know, Azure is growing faster than AWS! In 2022, Microsoft's commercial cloud services hit $23.4 billion in Q1.
Likewise, Google Cloud Platform is Google's cloud service provider and the leading search engine and technology company. It provides flexible services and intelligent insights to help users grow their businesses. Like AWS and Azure, Google Cloud products include Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS). GCP has an 11% market share in the cloud computing industry.
What are the differences between these three tech giants' cloud computing services?
| |
AWS |
Azure |
GCP |
| Storage |
S3, EBS, EFS |
Cloud Storage, Local SSD |
Blob Storage, File Storage |
| Compute |
EC2, Lambda, Elastic Beanstalk |
Compute Engine, Cloud Functions, App Engine |
Virtual Machines, App Service, Azure Functions |
| Database |
RDS, DynamoDB, Redshift |
Cloud SQL, Spanner, and Datastore |
SQL Database, Cosmos DB, Blob Storage |
| Network |
VPC, Route 53, CloudFront |
VPC, Cloud DNS, Load Balancing |
Virtual Network, Traffic Manager |
| Security |
AM, WAF, Inspector |
Identity-Aware Proxy, Cloud IAM |
Active Directory, Key Vault |
Conclusion
It may be the leading cloud provider in the world, but what does the future hold for AWS? Amazon Cloud Applications constantly explores a wide range of technologies and domains to improve its offerings. Some examples include Artificial Intelligence software, Blockchain, Microservices, Software Development, Mobile Development, and the Internet of Things (IoT). Likewise, it's entering the Augmented and Virtual Reality world, which allows access to products like Managed Blockchain and RoboMaker.
AWS is not resting on its laurels but innovating and expanding its computing power to stay ahead of the curve. The platform has a clear vision of the future of cloud computing and is working hard to make it a reality. AWS is a service cloud provider, leader, and partner in the cloud ecosystem. You can expect exciting developments from AWS as it continues to shape the cloud transformation revolution. What features do you see Amazon launching next?
