About Amazon Web Services
Amazon Web Services, usually called AWS, is the cloud platform run by Amazon. It offers more than a hundred services for computing, storage, databases, networking and machine learning.
What it does
AWS lets you rent servers, storage and other infrastructure on demand instead of buying your own hardware. You can start with a few virtual machines or serverless functions and scale up as traffic grows. Many services are managed, so the provider handles much of the patching and day-to-day upkeep.
Key features
- Virtual servers, containers and serverless functions
- Managed databases for relational and NoSQL data
- Object and block storage for files and backups
- Data centers in many regions around the world
- Identity and access controls for team accounts
Who it's for
AWS suits startups that want to launch quickly and enterprises that run large, complex systems. Backend and platform teams use it to build APIs, data pipelines and internal tools. Many developers also learn cloud skills on it because of its wide documentation and training material.
Pricing and good to know
AWS uses pay-as-you-go billing, so costs follow actual usage. New accounts can use a free tier and promotional credits for many services. Bills can grow quickly without monitoring, so set budget alerts and review unused resources regularly. The catalog is large, which can make the first setup feel complex.
Highlights
- Virtual servers, containers and serverless functions on demand
- Managed databases for relational and NoSQL data
- Object, block and file storage for application data
- Regions around the world for low-latency hosting
- Pay-as-you-go billing with a free tier for many services
