Amazon Web Services (AWS) stand out as the world's leading and most comprehensive cloud platform, boasting over 200 services that come with a wide range of capabilities and are delivered from data centres distributed across the globe. That sounds impressive, but what do AWS services really entail? How can they be leveraged, and when do they bring distinct advantages? Allow us to demystify these aspects in our guide to Public Cloud 101.
What are AWS Services?
To better understand AWS services, let's delve into the products offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS)
in the Public Cloud. AWS provides a comprehensive cloud-based range of products covering data processing, storage, databases, analytics, mobile, development tools, management tools, IoT security, and enterprise applications. Each of these products, in turn, comprises individual services.
Let's break it down with an example: in the "Analytics" product category, you'll find 13 different services that users can integrate individually into their existing cloud environment.
Amazon Web Services, therefore, are cloud-based products provided by Amazon Web Services through their AWS Management Console or API interface. These services are pre-programmed products designed for specific purposes and need to be installed by the user in their own cloud environment. Each AWS service serves a distinct purpose, as exemplified by the "Amazon Athena" service, which automates querying data in S3 using SQL.
Why you should use AWS Services
Amazon Web Services broke new ground in 2008 with the creation of its first cloud computing service, Amazon EC2. AWS offers more solutions and features than other hyperscalers and public cloud providers and has free tiers with access to the AWS Management Console, which allows users to centrally control their services.
AWS is designed for ease of use for a range of user skill levels and is tailored to those who do not specialise in software development programs. Web applications can be built in minutes with AWS Services, without having to provision servers or write additional code.
AWS hosts more than 24 global data centres with an extensive network that ensures low latency worldwide. The most widely deployed AWS Services include Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), and Amazon Lambda.