Amazon Web Services launched in 2002 with a modest set of infrastructure services and has since grown into the dominant cloud computing platform. For organizations considering a move to the cloud, understanding the core AWS services is the first step toward a successful migration strategy.
Core Services You Need to Know
EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) provides resizable virtual servers in the cloud, allowing you to scale compute capacity on demand. S3 (Simple Storage Service) offers virtually unlimited object storage with high durability. Together, these two services form the foundation upon which most AWS architectures are built.
Networking in AWS revolves around VPC (Virtual Private Cloud), which lets you create isolated network environments with full control over IP addressing, subnets, route tables, and gateways. Properly designing your VPC architecture from the start prevents costly refactoring later and ensures your cloud environment meets security and compliance requirements.
Cost management is often overlooked by newcomers. AWS bills by the hour for compute and by the gigabyte for storage and data transfer. Implementing tagging strategies, setting up billing alerts, and right-sizing instances from day one will prevent budget overruns that have caught many organizations off guard.