68 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
68 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
---
|
||
title: Amazon Web Services
|
||
---
|
||
## Amazon Web Services
|
||
|
||
Amazon Web Services, or AWS for short, is a subsidiary of Amazon.com that provides on-demand cloud computing platforms to individuals, companies and governments on a
|
||
paid subscription basis with a free-tier option available for 12 months. AWS, along with Microsoft's Azure and Google's Cloud Platform, are considered the three major
|
||
public cloud vendors.
|
||
|
||
The technology allows subscribers to have at their disposal a full-fledged virtual cluster of computers, available all the time, through the internet. AWS's version of
|
||
virtual computers have most of the attributes of a real computer including hardware (CPU(s) & GPU(s) for processing, local/RAM memory, hard-disk/SSD storage); a choice
|
||
of operating systems; networking; and pre-loaded application software such as web servers, databases, CRM, etc. Each AWS system also virtualizes its console I/O (keyboard,
|
||
display, and mouse), allowing AWS subscribers to connect to their AWS system from anywhere in the world using a modern browser. The browser acts as a window into the
|
||
virtual computer, letting subscribers log-in, configure and use their virtual systems just as they would a real physical computer.
|
||
|
||
Subscribers can choose to deploy their AWS systems to provide internet-based services for their own and their customers' benefit. Since individuals or organizations
|
||
using AWS do not physically own the AWS infrastructure, they do not have to deal with some of the maintenance tasks associated with owning a physical datacenter such as
|
||
operating networking equipment.
|
||
|
||
AWS in particular has also been expanding on their cloud offerings. They are providing innovative services such as AWS Lambda, in which users only need to focus on
|
||
writing code and not on the servers that will be running their code (giving rise to the new *serverless* movement). As a result of these benefits, cloud computing
|
||
platforms such as AWS have been popular among startups who might initially have less capital to invest into their Information Technology or IT. Instead, they can focus
|
||
on building great products for their users and growing their business over time with AWS’s on demand model.
|
||
|
||
Popular AWS services include:
|
||
* Virtual Machines via the EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) platform
|
||
* Databases including both SQL and NoSQL
|
||
* S3 (Simple Storage Service)
|
||
* SQS (Simple Queue Service)
|
||
* Games development via the Amazon Lumberyard game development engine and subsequent hosting platform
|
||
* DynamoDB (Amazon Dynamo Data Base)
|
||
* CloudWatch (Metrics and Alarms)
|
||
* CodeDeploy (Deployments)
|
||
* Lambda (Serverless)
|
||
* Application Monitoring tools
|
||
* Mobile development tools and platforms
|
||
* Amazon Alexa development area
|
||
* CloudFormation (Infrastructure as Code)
|
||
|
||
#### AWS Certifications
|
||
|
||
AWS offers many different certifications for its practitioners. AWS offers a prerequisite AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials certification relevant to anyone no matter their role. There are different tiers to AWS certs as well as role-based certifications.
|
||
|
||
The roles are:
|
||
* Any role:
|
||
* [Foundational: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-cloud-practitioner/)
|
||
* Architect:
|
||
* [Foundational: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (optional)](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-cloud-practitioner/)
|
||
* [Associate: AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-solutions-architect-associate/)
|
||
* [Professional: AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-solutions-architect-professional/)
|
||
* Developer:
|
||
* [Foundational: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (optional)](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-cloud-practitioner/)
|
||
* [Associate: AWS Certified Developer - Associate](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-developer-associate/)
|
||
* [Professional: AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-devops-engineer-professional/)
|
||
* Operational:
|
||
* [Foundational: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (optional)](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-cloud-practitioner/)
|
||
* [Associate: AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-sysops-admin-associate/)
|
||
* [Professional: AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-devops-engineer-professional/)
|
||
* Specialty (unrelated to eachother):
|
||
* [AWS Certified Big Data - Specialty](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-big-data-specialty)
|
||
* [AWS Certified Advanced Networking - Specialty](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-advanced-networking-specialty)
|
||
* [AWS Certified Security - Specialty](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-security-specialty/)
|
||
|
||
#### More Information:
|
||
* [AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/)
|
||
* [Certifications](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/)
|
||
* [Certification Preparation](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certification-prep/)
|