Chapter 1. Before you begin
Welcome to the cloud: the brave new world where “here” doesn’t matter, and where anything is possible. Right now.
Let me explain. Cloud computing is the provision of on-demand (that is, self-service) compute, memory, and storage resources remotely over a network. In addition to its many built-in service efficiencies, the model is most cost effective for the widest range of projects when usage charges are calculated and billed in very small increments (often in fractions of a penny).
I’ll try that again. Suppose you didn’t want to purchase, build, and house all the expensive hardware you’d need to properly support your new e-commerce website. Perhaps you’re not sure how successful the project will be, so investing heavily in server, cooling, and routing equipment doesn’t make sense. But if you could rent just enough of someone else’s equipment to match the fast-changing ups and downs in demand on your site and pay only for what you actually used, then your new venture might work.
Is there anyone out there who might rent you this kind of stuff? Yup. They’re called cloud computing providers. And Amazon Web Services (AWS) is by far the most feature-rich and (generating nearly $12 billion in revenue in 2016) successful player in the market.