🧠Beginner’s Guide to AWS: Core and Advanced Services
Mar 29, 2025 • 3 min read
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the most widely used cloud platform, offering services that help you build secure, scalable, and cost‑efficient applications. This guide introduces foundational services—Lambda, S3, EC2, and VPC—and gives a quick look at advanced offerings like EKS, SNS, and Lambda@Edge.
Core AWS Services
1) AWS Lambda — Event‑Driven Serverless Compute
AWS Lambda runs your code in response to events without you managing servers. It scales automatically and charges only for execution time.
- Runtimes: Node.js, Python, Go, Java, .NET, Ruby, custom (containers)
- Pricing: requests + duration (ms granularity)
- Integrations: S3, DynamoDB, API Gateway, EventBridge, SNS/SQS
Common uses:
- Serverless APIs (REST/GraphQL)
- Real‑time file/data processing
- Background jobs and scheduled tasks
Considerations: Stateless by design (use DynamoDB/RDS for state), cold starts (mitigated via provisioned concurrency).
2) Amazon S3 — Durable, Scalable Object Storage
S3 stores any amount of data as objects in buckets with 11 nines durability.
- Storage classes from Standard to Glacier Deep Archive
- Access via IAM, bucket policies, ACLs
- Lifecycle rules for cost optimization
- Event notifications to trigger Lambda/SNS
Use cases: static site hosting, backups/DR, data lakes, content delivery.
3) Amazon EC2 — Flexible Virtual Servers
EC2 provides customizable virtual machines with autoscaling and load balancing support.
- Choice of OS and instance families
- Spot Instances for cost savings
- Security Groups and IAM roles for access control
Use cases: web/database servers, batch/ML workloads, custom apps needing OS control.
4) Amazon VPC — Private, Isolated Networking
VPC lets you define an isolated network with subnets, route tables, gateways, and network ACLs.
- Public/private subnets per Availability Zone
- Internet/NAT Gateways for connectivity
- Secure per‑tier isolation and compliance
Use cases: tiered app architectures, regulated workloads, fine‑tuned network topologies.
Comparison Table
| Service | Functionality | Benefits | Common Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Lambda | Serverless event-driven compute | No servers, autoscale, pay-per-use | APIs, data processing, automation |
| Amazon S3 | Object storage service | Highly durable, scalable | Backup, static hosting, analytics |
| Amazon EC2 | Virtual machines | Flexible, configurable | General compute, legacy apps |
| Amazon VPC | Private isolated cloud network | Secure, flexible network design | Enterprise-grade security, network control |
| Amazon EKS | Managed Kubernetes | Simplified container orchestration | Microservices, container apps |
| Amazon SNS | Pub/sub messaging service | Multi-protocol deliverability | Alerts, notifications |
| Lambda@Edge | Edge serverless compute | Low latency, global reach | Personalization, CDN logic |
Brief Look at Advanced Services
- Amazon EKS: Managed Kubernetes (control plane management, IAM/networking integration)
- Amazon SNS: Pub/sub messaging across SMS, email, push, HTTP/S
- AWS Lambda@Edge: Run functions at CloudFront edge for low‑latency personalization and request/response control
Summary
Start with Lambda, S3, EC2, and VPC to cover most foundations. As your needs grow, EKS, SNS, and Lambda@Edge add orchestration, messaging, and edge compute to your toolkit.
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