Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud computing platform that offers over 200 fully featured services from data centers globally. AWS is designed to allow application providers, ISVs, and vendors to quickly and securely host applications, whether existing or new SaaS-based applications. AWS provides a virtual environment that lets users load the software and services their application requires, easing the migration process for existing applications while preserving options for building new solutions.
AWS offers a range of services for cloud security, including AWS identity and access management, which lets admins define and manage user access to resources. AWS also includes tools and services that provide software- and hardware-based encryption, protect against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, acquire secure sockets layer and Transport Layer Security certificates, and filter potentially harmful traffic to web applications.
Some benefits of AWS include:
- Scalability: AWS allows users to scale their applications up or down based on demand, using tools like Auto Scaling and Elastic Load Balancing.
- Cost-effectiveness: Users only pay for the compute power, storage, and other resources they use, with no long-term contracts or up-front commitments.
- Reliability: AWS provides a scalable, reliable, and secure global computing infrastructure, with data centers across the globe that are continuously monitored and strictly maintained.
- Flexibility: AWS enables users to select the operating system, programming language, web application platform, database, and other services they need.
AWS has significantly more services and features within those services than any other cloud provider, from infrastructure technologies like compute, storage, and databases to emerging technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, data lakes and analytics, and Internet of Things. This makes it faster, easier, and more cost-effective to move existing applications to the cloud and build nearly anything users can imagine.
