AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a comprehensive, evolving cloud computing platform provided by Amazon that includes a mixture of infrastructure as a service (IaaS), platform as a service (PaaS) and packaged software as a service (SaaS) offerings. AWS services can offer an organization tools such as compute power, database storage and content delivery services.

How AWS works

AWS is separated into different services; each can be configured in different ways based on the user's needs. Users should be able to see configuration options and individual server maps for an AWS service.More than 100 services comprise the Amazon Web Services portfolio, including those for compute, databases, infrastructure management, application development and security. These services, by category, include:

• Compute
• Storage databases
• Data management
• Migration
• Hybrid cloud
• Networking
• Development tools
• Management
• Monitoring
• Security
• Governance
• Big data management
• Analytics
• Artificial intelligence (AI)
• Mobile development

Availability

Amazon Web Services provides services from dozens of data centers spread across availability zones (AZs) in regions across the world. An AZ is a location that contains multiple physical data centers. A region is a collection of AZs in geographic proximity connected by low-latency network links. A business will choose one or multiple availability zones for a variety of reasons, such as compliance and proximity to end customers.

Storage

Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) provides scalable object storage for data backup, collection and analytics. An IT professional stores data and files as S3 objects -- which can range up to 5 gigabytes (GB) -- inside S3 buckets to keep them organized. A business can save money with S3 through its Infrequent Access storage tier or by using Amazon Glacier for long-term cold storage.

Databases, data management

The Amazon Relational Database Service -- which includes options for Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB and a proprietary high-performance database called Amazon Aurora -- provides a relational database management system for AWS users. AWS also offers managed NoSQL databases through Amazon DynamoDB.

Management and monitoring

An admin can manage and track cloud resource configuration via AWS Config and AWS Config Rules. Those tools, along with AWS Trusted Advisor, can help an IT team avoid improperly configured and needlessly expensive cloud resource deployments. AWS provides several automation tools in its portfolio. An admin can automate infrastructure provisioning via AWS CloudFormation templates, and also use AWS OpsWorks and Chef to automate infrastructure and system configurations.