AWS Beginner's Guide: How to Efficiently Utilize AWS Infrastructure and Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the world's leading cloud computing platform, offering a variety of services to help users and businesses with data storage, computing, and network management. This guide aims to help beginners quickly grasp the basic concepts, services, and practical applications of AWS.

What is AWS?

AWS is a cloud computing service platform provided by Amazon, which includes computing power, storage options, networking, databases, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and many other services. Users can pay as they go based on their needs for application development, deployment, and data management.

Core Services of AWS

AWS offers a variety of core services, and beginners can start with the following main services:

1. Compute Services

   • Amazon EC2: Provides scalable computing power, allowing users to run virtual servers in the cloud.
   • AWS Lambda: Runs code in an event-driven manner without the need to manage servers.

2. Storage Services

   • Amazon S3: Offers secure and scalable object storage services suitable for backup and archiving data.
   • Amazon EBS: Fast and flexible block storage, typically used with EC2 instances.

3. Database Services

   • Amazon RDS: Supports various relational databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, etc., simplifying database management tasks.
   • Amazon DynamoDB: A serverless NoSQL database that supports high-speed read and write operations and scalability.

4. Networking Services

   • Amazon VPC: Creates isolated network environments within AWS.
   • Elastic Load Balancing (ELB): Automatically distributes traffic across multiple instances to enhance application availability.

Steps to Start Using AWS

Step 1: Register for an AWS Account

Visit AWS Official Website, click "Create a Free Account" and follow the prompts to complete registration. AWS offers a free tier suitable for beginners to test and experiment.

Step 2: Learn the AWS Management Console

After registration, log in to the AWS Management Console and learn how to navigate. The interface is user-friendly and provides multiple service entry points. You can quickly find services of interest in the search box.

Step 3: Create Infrastructure

For example, to create a simple EC2 instance:

1. In the AWS Management Console, select the EC2 service.
2. Click Launch Instance.
3. Choose the desired AMI (Amazon Machine Image), such as Amazon Linux or Ubuntu.
4. Select the instance type (t2.micro can be used for free).
5. Configure instance details, you can choose default settings.
6. Add storage, and you can increase EBS storage if needed.
7. Configure security groups to allow access to specific ports, such as 22 (SSH) and 80 (HTTP).
8. Launch the instance, and after it starts, you can access it via the public IP.

# Example: Connect to EC2 instance using SSH
ssh -i "your-key.pem" ec2-user@your-ec2-public-ip

Step 4: Explore Other Services

After establishing a simple EC2 instance, you can continue to explore other services. For example, you can create a bucket in S3 to store files:

1. In the AWS Console, select S3.
2. Click Create Bucket, enter the bucket name, and select the region.
3. Configure permissions and options, then complete the creation.
4. Upload files to the bucket and set public access permissions if needed.

Step 5: Master Best Practices

When using AWS, here are some best practices:

• Use IAM for Permission Management: Create users and configure permissions appropriately, following the principle of least privilege.
• Regularly Backup Data: Use AWS Backup or S3 versioning features for data backup.
• Monitoring and Log Management: Use CloudWatch to monitor resource usage and handle alerts promptly.
• Optimize Costs: Regularly review billing reports and use the AWS Pricing Calculator for cost estimation.

Conclusion

The powerful features of AWS make it the preferred cloud platform for various enterprises. After mastering the basic AWS services and operational steps, you can gradually expand and deepen your learning based on business needs. With the rapid development of cloud computing, continuously keeping an eye on new features and best practices from AWS will help enhance the technical competitiveness of individuals and businesses.

I hope this beginner's guide helps you smoothly start your AWS journey!