AWS Tutorial: Introduction to Amazon Web Services

With a staggering €8.8 billion investment planned by 2026, AWS is creating immense opportunities for businesses and professionals in the region, driving demand for AWS expertise. To capitalize on these opportunities, starting with an AWS tutorial will provide you with the foundational skills needed to excel in this evolving landscape.

Canalys predicts marketplace transactions will hit $100 billion by 2026, showing how fast cloud tech is growing. AWS is ahead of Microsoft and Google in this change. Learning AWS is key to staying competitive as the industry evolves.

Now is the perfect time to learn AWS and become a part of this cloud revolution. This foundational tutorial will equip you with the essential knowledge to navigate AWS services, optimize cloud solutions, and build a strong foundation for a successful career in cloud computing. Whether you’re a beginner or looking to enhance your cloud skills, mastering AWS Cloud  concepts will set you on the right path to success.

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Table of Contents:

• Understanding Cloud Computing
• Overview of AWS
• Core AWS Services
• AWS Security and Compliance
• Understanding AWS Pricing and Billing
• AWS Architecture and Best Practices
• Hands-on AWS Labs
• Conclusion

Understanding Cloud Computing

Before we dive into the deeper concepts, let’s start by understanding some basic ones. This will make the rest easier to understand, So

• What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is a method through which individuals and businesses can access and utilize technology services available in the market, such as storage, databases, and computing power, over the Internet instead of relying on their hardware.
Cloud computing allows users to store data and applications and perform a number of tasks remotely. You will, therefore, pay only for the resources you use, referred to as “pay-as-you-go” pricing. Hence, the approach becomes flexible, cost-effective, and scalable for any business and person.

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• Types of Cloud Computing

Now that you understand Cloud Computing, you must know it can be utilized by a single individual, company, or teams according to needs. However, the thing is not all clouds work in a similar way; each one of them is designed to suit a different kind of needs and scenarios. Within the clouds, there exist three cloud models. Let’s take a closer look at them.

• Public Cloud: The services in the public cloud are made available over the Internet, and these resources would be shared among multiple organizations. This simply would mean that anybody can use the services and get access to them; it’s more or less making these facilities available to a whole group of people.
• Private Cloud: A private cloud is used only by one organization. The services and resources are hosted on a private network, It allows the organization to fully manage and secure its data and infrastructure independently by their user only, without sharing access to anyone else.
• Hybrid Cloud: A hybrid cloud combines both public and private clouds. Consequently, you can keep sensitive data on your private cloud while running other operations through public clouds.

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Overview of AWS

• What is AWS?

Amazon Web Services, in short form, we call it (AWS), is mostly used by many organizations and has adopted AWS cloud platforms, which have a large number of featured services from data centers globally.

This Edureka AWS eBook covers the most integral concepts and services of AWS that will help you get started in a step-by-step manner along with examples.

• Key Services of AWS

Let’s discuss in detail some of the key AWS services behind cloud computing.
AWS provides the key services necessary to assist companies in working effectively and securely in the cloud: scalable computing power through Amazon EC2, secure storage through Amazon S3, management of databases through Amazon RDS, creation of isolated networks through Amazon VPC, etc. All these services are business enablers, not tools.

Related Article: AWS vs Azure: Which is Better?

Core AWS Services

AWS Compute Services

These are essential for AWS learner to understand as they allow you to run applications and manage computing resources in the cloud efficiently. An AWS tutorial can provide you with a detailed introduction to these key services:

• Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud): Provides resizable virtual servers in computing capacity, which allows one to change their compute capacity with their needs. This is so designed to help developers with web-scale cloud computing.
• AWS Lambda: Run code without managing servers. The server less model scales and manages infrastructure, making the process of application deployment and management simpler. Want to dive deeper? Check out this AWS Lambda guide.

All these services are must-know and work-with for an AWS  beginner. This knowledge, often covered in an AWS tutorial, will help in developing and maintaining efficient, scalable cloud solutions, positioning you as a key resource in cloud computing.

AWS Storage Services

One of the things AWS candidate must know is how one can best use storage services in handling data. Here is a very basic rundown:

• Amazon S3: Extremely reliable and scalable storage for files and data. This makes it perfect for storing large amounts of data and retrieving them securely.
• Amazon EBS: It provides durable and persistent storage with native integration with Amazon EC2 instances, giving you peace of mind that your data is safe and available while running applications in the cloud.

AWS Networking Services

Some of the most vital services in setting up and managing cloud networks are those dealing with networking.

• Amazon VPC: This helps create a private, secure network within the AWS cloud. It aids in controlling the kind of access, limits, and administration of resources within that isolated environment. Know how to work with Amazon VPC, subnets, route tables, and internet gateways. Watch demos on how to create VPC with private and public subnets. Interested in learning more? Head to this Amazon VPC tutorial blog post for a step-by-step tutorial.
• Amazon Route 53: It’s a reliable and highly scalable Domain Name System, or DNS, service for reliably routing internet traffic to applications. It is the essential infrastructure making your website or services accessible and performing well.

You can also check the Azure Cloud Certification Masters Program to learn more.

AWS Database Services

With Amazon RDS, it becomes possible to easily set up, run, and scale a relational database. Amazon RDS is designed for managing structured data with little work involved.
Amazon DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL database service that is fast, flexible, and leading its category in auto scaling. It’s great for semi-structured data and high-traffic applications.
These database services will thus be critical to a Cloud Practitioner handling data efficiently for supporting application performance without glitches.

AWS Security and Compliance

IAM: Identity and Access Management: This basically means controlling who has access to your AWS services or resources. Users and groups can be created, and permission can be granted while denying certain access to keep things secure.

Encryption and Data Protection: AWS has leading-edge encryption tools that protect data in transit and at rest. These tools protect your data and ensure it meets industry standards.
The AWS Shared Responsibility Model: AWS security is a team sport. AWS secures the infrastructure and protects the cloud, while you are responsible for what you put in the cloud—the security in the cloud.

You can have a look at the AWS Master Certification for further details.

Understanding AWS Pricing and Billing

AWS Free Tier: AWS provides a Free Tier to use many services at no cost for the first 12 months. Go through this entire AWS tutorial to learn how to set up and make the most of these free services effectively.

AWS Pricing Models:

• On-Demand: You pay for computing or database capacity based on your usage by the hour or second. Moreover, no long-term commitments are required. Therefore, this model offers great flexibility and is ideal for short-term needs.
• Reserved Instances: Commit to EC2 instance usage over either 1 or 3 years and get up to 75% off the listing prices of on-demand instances. This is perfect for steady, long-term usage.
  Spot Instances: It purchases excess capacity of EC2 at a lower price. This option is great when the work is flexible and can be interrupted.

AWS Cost Management Tools:

• AWS Budgets: create custom budgets based on AWS spending and receive alerts in case you come up to the edges. This helps keep one’s spending on top.
• AWS Cost Explorer: This tool tracks and analyzes AWS costs and usage over time, providing insight into expense management and optimization.

This will be very useful to Cloud Practitioner candidates as they become conversant with pricing options and tools.

Once you are AWS certified, check out the top AWS Interview Questions for better preparation.

AWS Architecture and Best Practices

The AWS Well-Architected Framework performs effectively in terms of efficiency and reliable contributions in building effective cloud systems for practitioners in the AWS Cloud. A simple breakdown of it is as follows:

Well-Architected Framework: AWS has a framework that guides the designing and management of cloud systems to achieve reliability, security, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. It is predicated on five pillars:

• Operational Excellence: It shows how to run and monitor your cloud systems toward delivering business value.
• Security: Securing your data and applications.
• Reliability: Helps to ensure system availability and to withstand failures.
• Performance Efficiency: Uses resources efficiently to meet your needs.
• Cost Optimization: Reduces costs and maximizes value. Design for Scalability

Designing for Scalability

• Auto Scaling: As the name suggests, this automatically scales resources according to demand. It is like keeping the performance at an optimum level without incurring high costs.
• Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) is used to distribute traffic equally over a number of servers. As such, no single server will ever get overwhelmed, and all applications will keep running smoothly.

Related Learning: Amazon SQS

Hands-on AWS Labs

For AWS Cloud Practitioners, understanding the theory is just the beginning. To truly grasp AWS, practical experience is essential. Follow this AWS tutorial to learn the essential steps for setting up your AWS account, launching an EC2 instance, and creating an S3 bucket. Ready to get started? Let’s make it hands-on!

Setting Up Your AWS Account:

To create an AWS account, follow these steps:

1. Go to the AWS Homepage:
   • Visit AWS and click on “Create an AWS Account.”
2. Enter Your Email and Account Name:
   • Input your email address and choose an account name. Click “Continue.”
3. Verify Your Email Address:
   • AWS will send you a verification code via email. Check your inbox, copy the code, and paste it into the AWS verification field. Then, click “Verify.”
4. Set Your Password:
   • Enter and confirm a unique password for your account. Click the checkbox to indicate whether you’re using the account for personal or business purposes. Provide your name, phone number, and address. Accept the agreement and click “Continue.”
5. Enter Billing Information:
   • Provide your credit card or debit card details. Click “Verify & Continue.” You’ll receive an OTP via SMS or email. Enter the OTP and submit to complete card verification.
6. Confirm Your Identity:
   • Enter your mobile number and CAPTCHA. AWS will send a verification code. Enter the code and click “Continue.”
7. Choose a Support Plan:
   • Select the Basic (free) support plan. Click “Complete Sign Up.”
8. Finish and Access the Console:
   • You’ll see a “Congratulations“ message. Click “Go to the AWS Management Console“ to start using your new AWS account.

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Launching Your First EC2 Instance:

Here’s a step-by-step guide to launching an EC2 instance in AWS:

1. Firstly, Log in to your AWS account.
2. Go to the AWS Management Console.
3. Click on ‘Services’ and select ‘EC2’ to open the EC2 Dashboard.
4. Click on ‘Launch Instance,’ and then
5. Enter a unique name for your instance, such as “test-instance.”
6. Choose an IAM role (optional): If needed, select an IAM role. For this example, you can choose the default AWS role.
7. Configure the key pair:
   • Create a new key pair and name it “test-instance.”
   • Select the key pair file format: i.e.
     • .pem for Windows, Linux, and macOS.
     • .ppk if you’re using Windows 7 or below.
   • Click on ‘Create key pair’.
8. Set up network settings:
   • Control network traffic to your instance by configuring inbound and outbound rules.
   • Allow SSH traffic for secure access.
9. Configure storage settings: Keep the default storage settings as they are unless you need to customize them.
10. Review and adjust advanced settings: If you need specific configurations, review the advanced settings and adjust them according to your needs.
11. Finally, click on ‘Launch Instance.’

Your EC2 instance is now launched and ready for use! To learn more about EC2 instances, check out our AWS EC2 tutorial here.

Creating an S3 Bucket:

Here’s a quick guide to creating an S3 bucket in AWS: This AWS tutorial blog includes the latest update on setting up your S3 bucket and securing your data. Follow these steps:

1. Firstly, log in to your AWS account.
2. Go to the AWS Management Console.
3. Navigate to the ‘Services’ menu and select ‘S3’ under the Storage section.
4. Click on the ‘Create bucket’ button.
5. Enter a unique name for your bucket.
6. If you haven’t already chosen a region, select the desired AWS region.
7. Under ‘Block Public Access settings,’ ensure that ‘Block all public access’ is selected.
8. Lastly, Click on the ‘Create bucket’ button.
9. After you create the bucket, you will then see it listed on the S3 page.
   

Your S3 bucket is now ready to use! If you want to know more about S3 buckets, click on this AWS S3 Tutorial.

Conclusion

With rapidly growing cloud technology, as I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, AWS is planning to invest €8.8 billion in the European market by 2026, and the requirement for skilled cloud professionals is on its way. This AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification shall act as the best kickstart if you want to take a career leap into this budding field. It will lay down a real foundation in AWS services and cloud concepts, which is necessary for making a niche in the technology world.

It will also prepare you for more advanced AWS credentials, such as the AWS Certified Solutions Architect or Developer, which are highly regarded and in demand worldwide. With cloud technology being the real thrust of any business, the certificates open up very attractive opportunities with brighter prospects in this competitive job market.

Well done on completing the AWS tutorial! To extend your knowledge and stay up-to-date about new AWS developments, remember to visit the Edureka Blog. It provides detailed guides, insightful articles, and other resources that can help you develop AWS skills. Keep learning and growing with us!

Got a question for us? Please mention it in the comments section of this AWS Tutorial and we will get back to you.