Activity 12: What is AWS?
AWS or Amazon Web Services is a subsidiary of Amazon that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs to individuals, companies, and governments, on a metered, pay-as-you-go basis. Clients will often use this in combination with auto scaling (a process that allows a client to use more computing in times of high application usage, and then scale down to reduce costs when there is less traffic). These cloud computing web services provide various services related to networking, compute, storage, middleware, IoT and other processing capacity, as well as software tools via AWS server farms.
One of the foundational services is Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), which allows users to have at their disposal a virtual cluster of computers, with extremely high availability, which can be interacted with over the internet via REST APIs, a CLI or the AWS console. AWS's virtual computers emulate most of the attributes of a real computer, including hardware central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) for processing; local/RAM memory; hard-disk (HDD)/SSD storage; a choice of operating systems; networking; and pre-loaded application software such as web servers, databases, and customer relationship management (CRM).
EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud): This provides scalable virtual servers for running applications, where you can run any software you need.
S3 (Simple Storage Service): Highly durable storage for any type of data like videos, photos, backups, etc. It’s a super secure hard drive in the cloud that scales as you need more space.
RDS (Relational Database Service): It manages relational databases like MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Oracle. It takes care of the heavy lifting involved in setting up, operating, and scaling a database.
Lambda: Lets you run code without provisioning or managing servers. You write the code, and Lambda runs it only when needed and scales automatically. Perfect for small tasks that don’t need a full server running 24/7.
Comparison:(AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
Market Share: AWS has the largest market share, followed by Azure, with Google Cloud having the smallest share.
Global Reach: All three have extensive global reach, with numerous data centers worldwide.
Compute Services: AWS offers EC2 and Lambda. Azure provides Virtual Machines and Functions. Google Cloud has Compute Engine and Functions.
Storage Services: AWS features S3 and Glacier. Azure has Blob Storage and File Storage. Google Cloud offers Cloud Storage and Persistent Disks.
Database Services: AWS includes RDS and DynamoDB. Azure offers SQL Database and Cosmos DB. Google Cloud has Cloud SQL and Bigtable.
AI & ML: AWS has SageMaker and Rekognition. Azure provides Azure Machine Learning and Cognitive Services. Google Cloud excels with AI Platform and Vision API.
Integration: AWS has a broad ecosystem. Azure integrates seamlessly with Microsoft products. Google Cloud has a strong focus on data analytics.
Pricing: AWS offers flexible, pay-as-you-go pricing. Azure's pricing is competitive, especially for enterprise users. Google Cloud’s pricing is also competitive, particularly for data analytics.
Why is AWS most beneficial for small and large enterprises?
AWS is awesome for both small businesses and big companies. For small businesses, it’s super easy to get started because you only pay for what you use. This is great because it means you can start small and grow as you need to without spending a lot of money upfront. AWS even has a Free Tier that gives you access to some services for free, so you can try things out without any cost.
For big companies, AWS offers a ton of services and a strong, reliable infrastructure. They have everything from storage and computing power to AI and machine learning. Plus, their global reach is perfect for companies that operate in different parts of the world. And let’s not forget about security. AWS has a bunch of certifications and tools to help companies meet their security and compliance needs.
For further understanding, you can visit these sites provided below;
what-is-aws. (n.d.). [Video]. Amazon Web Services, Inc. https://aws.amazon.com/what-is-aws/
Wikipedia contributors. (2024, October 5). Amazon Web Services. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Web_Services
Cloud computing services - Amazon Web Services (AWS). (n.d.). Amazon Web Services, Inc. https://aws.amazon.com/