Learn the essential AWS services that power millions of applications worldwide
AWS (Amazon Web Services) is like a massive global network of data centers. Imagine having warehouses full of computers all over the world that you can rent! AWS has data centers in 30+ geographic regions, each with multiple availability zones for redundancy.
Region: Geographic area (e.g., US East, Europe, Asia Pacific)
Availability Zone (AZ): Isolated data center within a region
Edge Location: CDN endpoints for faster content delivery
EC2 is like renting a computer in the cloud! Instead of buying physical servers, you launch virtual servers (called instances) in minutes. Need more power? Upgrade. Don't need it anymore? Delete it. Pay only for what you use!
Multiple Instance Types
Choose CPU, memory, storage based on your needs
Auto Scaling
Automatically add/remove instances based on demand
Load Balancing
Distribute traffic across multiple instances
Multiple OS Options
Linux, Windows, or custom AMIs
S3 is like an infinite hard drive in the cloud! Store any amount of data - photos, videos, backups, logs, anything. It's incredibly durable (99.999999999% durability) and accessible from anywhere. Think of it as Dropbox, but for applications!
Bucket: Container for objects (like a folder)
Object: File you store (up to 5TB each)
Storage Classes: Different tiers for different access patterns
• S3 Standard: Frequently accessed data (websites, apps)
• S3 Intelligent-Tiering: Automatic cost optimization
• S3 Glacier: Long-term archival (cheap but slow retrieval)
RDS is managed database service - AWS handles backups, patches, scaling, and maintenance while you focus on your application. Like having a database administrator without hiring one!
VPC is your own private network in AWS cloud. Like having your own office building with controlled access - you decide who can enter, which rooms connect, and how data flows. Essential for security!
Divide your VPC into smaller networks (public for web servers, private for databases)
Virtual firewalls controlling inbound/outbound traffic
Allows communication between VPC and internet
IAM controls who can access what in your AWS account. Like a security system with ID badges - you create users, assign permissions, and ensure only authorized people can access resources. Critical for security!
Users: Individual people or applications
Groups: Collection of users with same permissions
Roles: Temporary permissions for services
Policies: JSON documents defining permissions
Lambda lets you run code without managing servers! Upload your code, and AWS runs it when triggered. Like having a robot that wakes up, does a task, then goes back to sleep. You only pay for the milliseconds your code runs - perfect for event-driven applications!
1. Upload Code: Write function in Python, Node.js, Java, etc.
2. Set Trigger: API call, file upload, schedule, etc.
3. AWS Runs It: Automatically scales, no server management
4. Pay Per Use: Charged only for execution time
Excellent! You now understand AWS core services. Next, we'll learn Docker and containerization - a revolutionary way to package and deploy applications. Get ready to containerize your first app!