AWS
We provide high quality and efficient consulting for AWS services. Amazon Web Services (AWS) was an unknown identity associated with Amazon.com Inc until recently.
AWS is composed of many different cloud computing products and services. The highly profitable Amazon division provides servers, storage, networking, remote computing, email, mobile development and security. AWS can be broken into two main products: EC2, Amazon’s virtual machine service and S3, Amazon’s storage system. AWS is so large and present in the computing world that it’s now almost 10 times the size of its nearest competitor and hosts popular websites like Netflix and many more.
AWS is split into 12 global regions, each of which has multiple availability zones in which its servers are located. These serviced regions are divided in order to allow users to set geographical limits on their services (if they so choose), but also to provide security by diversifying the physical locations in which data is held.
Traditionally, companies looking for large amounts of storage would need to physically build a storage space and maintain it. Storing on a cloud could mean signing a pricey contract for a large amount of storage space that the company could grow into. Building or buying too little storage could be disastrous if business took off and expensive if it didn’t. The same applies to computing power. Companies which experience surge traffic would traditionally end up buying loads of power to sustain its business during peak times. With AWS, companies pay for what they use. There’s no upfront cost to build a storage system and no need to estimate usage. AWS customers use what they need and their costs are scaled automatically and accordingly.
Highly scalable
Since AWS’s cost is modified based on the customers’ usage, start-ups and small businesses can see the obvious benefits of using Amazon for their computing needs. In fact, AWS is great for building a business from the bottom as it provides all the tools necessary for companies to start up with the cloud. For existing companies, Amazon provides low-cost migration services so that your existing infrastructure can be seamlessly moved over to AWS.
As a company grows, AWS provides resources to aid in expansion and as the business model allows for flexible usage, customers will never need to spend time thinking about whether or not they need to reexamine their computing usage. In fact, aside from budgetary reasons, companies could realistically “set and forget” all their computing needs.
Most reliable and secure
Arguably, AWS is much more secure than a company hosting its own website or storage. AWS currently has dozens of data centers across the globe which is continuously monitored and strictly maintained. The diversification of the data centers ensures that a disaster striking one region doesn’t cause a permanent data loss worldwide. Imagine if Netflix were to have all of their personnel files, their content and their backed-up data centralized on-site on the eve of a hurricane. It would be madness.
In fact, even failing a nature disaster, localizing data in an easily identifiable location and where hundreds of people can realistically obtain access is unwise. AWS has tried to keep their data centers as hidden as possible, locating them in out-of-the-way locations and allowing access only on an essential basis. The data centers and all the data contained therein are safe from intrusions and, with Amazon’s experience in cloud services, outages and potential attacks can be quickly identified and easily remedied, 24 hours a day. The same can’t be said for a small company whose computing is handled by a single IT guy working out of a large office.
To wrap it up
AWS is a cash cow for Amazon. The services are shaking up the computing world in the same way that Amazon is changing America’s retail space. By pricing its cloud products extremely cheaply, Amazon can provide affordable and scalable services to everyone from the newest start-up to a Fortune 500 company.