Chapter 1. What is Amazon Web Services?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a platform of web services that offers solutions for computing, storing, and networking, at different layers of abstraction. For example, you can use block-level storage (a low level of abstraction) or a highly distributed object storage (a high level of abstraction) to store your data. You can use these services to host websites, run enterprise applications, and mine tremendous amounts of data. Web services are accessible via the internet by using typical web protocols (such as HTTP) and used by machines or by humans through a UI. The most prominent services provided by AWS are EC2, which offers virtual machines, and S3, which offers storage capacity. Services on AWS work well together: you can use them to replicate your existing local network setup, or you can design a new setup from scratch. The pricing model for services is pay-per-use.

As an AWS customer, you can choose among different data centers. AWS data centers are distributed worldwide. For example, you can start a virtual machine in Japan in exactly the same way as you would start one in Ireland. This enables you to serve customers worldwide with a global infrastructure.

1.1. What is cloud computing?

1.2. What can you do with AWS?

1.3. How you can benefit from using AWS

1.4. How much does it cost?

1.5. Comparing alternatives

1.6. Exploring AWS services

1.7. Interacting with AWS

1.8. Creating an AWS account

1.9. Create a billing alarm to keep track of your AWS bill

Summary