AWS Technical Essentials

Lesson 2—Introduction to AWS

WHAT YOU’LL LEARN

• Uses of AWS
• Advantages of AWS
• Ways to access AWS
• Creating an AWS account
• Navigation of the AWS Management Console
• AWS Global Infrastructure
• AWS security measures
Amazon Web Services or AWS
 AWS—Introduction
Amazon uses decentralized or distributed IT Infrastructure to make several IT resources available on demand.

Cloud Computing Platform

Building and managing large-

scale IT infrastructure
 AWS—Use Cases

Manufacturing Architecture
Large Enterprise Media Company
Organization Consulting Company

prototype

Get high-compute
Expand Business Deliver Training rendering of Provide different types of
construction prototypes content
 Pay-As-You-Go
Pay-as-You-go platform enables customers to procure services from AWS:

Development Platforms Computing

Pay-As-You-Go

Networking Programming Models

Database Storage
 Advantages of AWS

AWS diligently listens to its customer feedback. This enables the AWS team to efficiently deliver creative
features and services.
Even today, AWS continues to hone its operational expertise continually to retain lasting reliability by
employing its own advances and industry best practices into its cloud infrastructure. As a result, the
customers tend to benefit significantly from AWS.

The distributed IT infrastructure provided through AWS has evolved with time, through the lessons learned
from over 16 years of experience.

Flexibility Cost-Effectiveness Scalability/Elasticity Security

 Flexibility

You get a choice in running services

You get more time for core business and applications. You can choose to
tasks through the instant availability run a part of your IT infrastructure
of new features and services. in AWS and the remaining in your
data centers.

You enjoy effortless hosting

of legacy applications.
 Cost-Effectiveness

No Upfront Investment Long-term commitment Minimum Expense

This is its significant advantage when compared to the traditional IT Infrastructure.

 Scalability and Elasticity
Through Amazon Web Services, techniques such as auto scaling and elastic load balancing can automatically
scale resources.

Scale up the required resources Scale them down when the demand falls
to fulfill a sudden demand without affecting speed and performance

Deal with unpredictable and variable loads Benefits of reduced cost and
increased user satisfaction
 Security

AWS delivers end-to-end security and privacy to its customers. Its virtual infrastructure offers optimum
availability while managing full privacy for customers and isolation of their operations.

Confidentiality Integrity Availability

Customers can expect high physical security, and this is due to Amazon’s several years of experience in
designing, developing, and running large-scale IT operation centers.

The purpose of AWS Compliance is to enable you to understand its powerful controls in action and maintain security and
data protection.
 Security
AWS provides security to their global infrastructure, along with a variety of features for securing critical data
in cloud.

Controls

Supervises

Audits Data Centers and Network

 Security

Customer

Configure and Configure a security State a key pair while

Manage credentials Access control list Configure a VPC control the group as a virtual introducing virtual
Operating System firewall server
 Security Practices, Certifications, and Standards
The AWS IT infrastructure has been designed and managed according to the best security practices,
certifications, and IT security standards.

Department of Defense (DoD) Federal Risk and

Service Organization Control or
Federal Information Security Information Assurance Authorization
SOC 1, SOC 2, and SOC 3
Management Act Certification and Accreditation Management Program
Process

*Copyrights belong to the respective owners.

 Security Practices, Certifications, and Standards

DoD Cloud Computing National Institute of Standards Payment Card Industry, or PCI
Criminal Justice Information
Security and Technology Data Security Standard DSS
Services
Requirements Guide Level 1

*Copyrights belong to the respective owners.

 Security Practices, Certifications, and Standards

International Organization for US International Traffic in Section 508/Voluntary Product Federal Information
Standardization Arms Regulations Accessibility Template Processing Standard

*Copyrights belong to the respective owners.

 Security Practices, Certifications, and Standards
The industry-specific standards for customers to deploy their solutions include:

Health Insurance
Portability The Family Educational Rights Cloud Security Alliance Motion Picture Association
and Accountability Act and Privacy Act of America

*Copyrights belong to the respective owners.

Knowledge Check
KNOWLEDGE
CHECK Which of the following is NOT a benefit of Amazon Web Services?
1

a. Scalability

b. Cost-effectiveness

c. Effortless hosting

d. Security
KNOWLEDGE
CHECK Which of the following is NOT a benefit of Amazon Web Services?

a.
Scalability

b.
Cost-effectiveness

c.
Effortless hosting
d. Security

The correct answer is .c.

Explanation: With the flexibility benefit of Amazon Web Services, you enjoy the effortless hosting of legacy
applications.
KNOWLEDGE
CHECK The Deployed environmental systems reduce the influence of _____.
2

a. scalability

b. disruptions

c. security

d. flexibility
KNOWLEDGE
CHECK The Deployed environmental systems reduce the influence of _____.

a.
scalability

b.
disruptions

c.
security
d. flexibility

The correct answer is .b.

Explanation: The Deployed environmental systems reduce the influence of disruptions.
Accessing AWS
 Ways to Access AWS

AWS Management Console Command Line Tools Query APIs

1 2 3 4 5

AWS Command Line Interface, or AWS Software Development Kits,

AWS CLI or SDKs
 Features of AWS Free Usage Tier

Amazon offers free usage of AWS Cloud Services for 12 months.

Amazon S3 data storage infrastructure Amazon DynamoDB with 25 units each Amazon EC2 Container Registry, that
with a standard storage of 5 GB of Read and Write capacity, and 25GB facilitates storage and retrieval of
facilitating 20,000 Get Requests, and storage. It does not expire at the end Docker images with a storage capacity
2,000 Put Requests. of 12 months. of 500MB per month.

1 2 3 4 5

Amazon EC2, for resizing computing

AWS IoT, device to cloud connector,
capacity in the cloud, with 750 hours
that can publish and/or deliver
per month each of Linux, RHEL, or
250,000 messages every month.
SLES t2.
 Limitations of AWS Free Usage Tier

The benefits of the AWS Free Tier can be availed by the user for 12 months
after first signing up.

Once this free usage period expires, you will be required to Pay-As-You-Go,
as per the standard usage rates.

Any leftover free monthly usage limit does not roll over to the next month.

If you exceed the free limit for a month, you Pay-As-You-Go, as per standard
rates.

If you opt for Consolidated Billing, although it is spread across multiple

accounts, the entry is only for one free usage account.
 AWS Pricing

Monthly Calculator to
estimate the cost Different regions have different prices
Demo 1—Creating an Amazon Web Services (AWS) Account
(Refer to the E-Learning course: Screen Number – 2.5)
Knowledge Check
KNOWLEDGE
CHECK The AWS Management Console refers to a Web interface.
1

a. True

b. False
 KNOWLEDGE
CHECK The AWS Management Console refers to a Web interface.
1

a. True

b. False

The correct answer is a.

Explanation: There are five different ways to access AWS to create and manage your applications. First
is the AWS Management Console which refers to a Web interface.
KNOWLEDGE
CHECK What does Amazon Web Services provide to estimate the cost of using AWS?
2

a. Simple Yearly Calculator

b. Simple Quarterly Calculator

c. Simple Monthly Calculator

d. Simple Weekly Calculator

KNOWLEDGE
CHECK What does Amazon Web Services provide to estimate the cost of using AWS?

a.
Simple Yearly Calculator

b.
Simple Quarterly Calculator

c.
Simple Monthly Calculator
d. Simple Weekly Calculator

The correct answer is .d.

Explanation: Amazon Web Services provides the Simple Monthly Calculator to estimate the cost of using
AWS.
Navigation of AWS Management Console
 AWS Management Console

The AWS Management Console has a user-friendly web interface, and accessing the console requires an AWS
account. It manages all the elements of a user's AWS account that include:

Monitor monthly expenditure

Manage security permissions Create new IAM users
of each service

You can download the AWS Console app from:

Amazon App Store Google Play Store iTunes

 AWS Management Console—Navigation

Current
Page
Navigation Bar

Navigation
Pane
 AWS Management Console—Navigation

Access Services Edit Navigation Bar

Access
History List
Select Region

All AWS Services

Section
 Accessing AWS Services
By default the AWS Management console displays all AWS services.
But, unless you are familiar with the position of the service on the console, finding the right service from the
displayed list can be cumbersome.
The Services menu in the AWS Console groups all services under All AWS Services.
 Accessing AWS Services
Move the cursor over a service group to view the enclosed services.
 History List
The History list contains up to six recently used services.
 Edit Feature
Edit menu

If you regularly work with Amazon S3, placing the S3 icon on the Navigation bar would enable accessing the service
with just one click.
 Selecting a Region
Some services, such as S3 and IAM, are global resources, and do not require a specific region.

Select a region, to view and manage

resources in that region.
User Account and Support
AWS Global Infrastructure
 AWS Global Infrastructure
AWS has turned out to be one of the preferred cloud computing services in the last decade.

Active Customers Across Countries Resilient Organizational Structure

Operating Through the Internet Global Infrastructure

 Regions
Amazon has its own datacenters across the globe to host the AWS infrastructure.

Europe
Asia
North America

South America
Australia

By placing resources in distinct regions, you can design a website or application, such that it is closer to its
specific customers, and fulfills legal, contractual and other requirements.
 Regions and Availability Zones
Each datacenter site is termed as a region, and each region consists of several distinct sites, termed as
Availability Zones (AZ).

IRELAND
3 2
AWS GOVCLOUD FRANKFURT BEIJING
OREGON 3 2 2 2
3 5 3 TOKYO
N. CALIFORNIA SEOUL
N. VIRGINIA

2
SINGAPORE

3
SAO PAULO 2 SYDNEY

By placing resources in different Availability Zones, you can shield your data, site, or application from the
failure at one location.
 Regions and Availability Zones

IRELAND
3 2
AWS GOVCLOUD
UK FRANKFURT BEIJING
OREGON 3 2 MONTREAL
3 NINGXIA 2
2 3 TOKYO
5
N. CALIFORNIA OHIO SEOUL
N. VIRGINIA

INDIA
2
SINGAPORE

3
SAO PAULO 2 SYDNEY
# Regions

New Region Coming Soon

 Regions
AWS physically secures datacenters by:

Employing multi-factor
access control systems and state- Deploying environmental
of-the-art electronic scrutiny systems

Several regions along with their Availability Zones are resilient against most failures, including even the
one due to natural disaster.
 Characteristics of Region and Availability Zone

Region
Risk Assessment Availability Zone

• It is an isolated physical location or a geographical area in the world.

• It is used to:

o Run applications and workloads

o Minimize the gap between request and response time, or latency for end-users

o Manage long-term commitments

o Tackle challenges to scale and manage a global infrastructure

• It consists of minimum two Availability Zones connected through low-latency links.

 Characteristics of Region and Availability Zone

Region
Risk Assessment Availability Zone

• It is an isolated location with single or multiple advanced datacenters.

• The presence of multiple availability zones enable the customers to distribute their
computing resources among several tier 1 Internet Service and Power providers.
 Demo 2—Selecting a Region
(Refer to the E-Learning course: Screen Number – 2.9)
Knowledge Check
KNOWLEDGE
CHECK Which of the given feature includes six recently used services?
1

a. Navigation bar

b. Task Manager

c. Region

d. History list
KNOWLEDGE
CHECK Which of the given feature includes six recently used services?

a.
Navigation bar

b.
Task Manager

c.
Region
d. History list

The correct answer is d.

.
Explanation: One of the convenient features of AWS console is the History List. It contains up to six
recently used services.
KNOWLEDGE
CHECK A region should consist of minimum four Availability Zones.
2

a. True

b. False
 KNOWLEDGE
CHECK A region should consist of minimum four Availability Zones.
2

a. True

b. False

The correct answer is b.

Explanation: A region consists of minimum two Availability Zones connected through low-latency
links.
KNOWLEDGE From the following options, identify the number of Availability Zones within the current
CHECK
3 12 geographic AWS Regions.

a. 32

b. 31

c. 35

d. 36
KNOWLEDGE From the following options, identify the number of Availability Zones within the
CHECK current 12 geographic AWS Regions.

a.
32

b.
31

c.
35
d. 36

The correct answer is a.

.
Explanation: Currently, AWS Cloud operates in 32 Availability Zones within 12 geographic Regions, across
the globe.
Security Measures Provided by AWS
 Cloud Security

The AWS provides data security by employing state of the art datacenters and network architecture that help
you meet security related objectives such as:

Alertness Visibility

Security

Manageability Auditability
 Information Security
AWS delivers the information related to the implemented security using different mediums such as:

Papers Reports Certifications Third-party Attestations

Information Security plays a vital role in letting the customers get acquainted with AWS security controls,
and how an independent author would validate these controls.
 Security Measures of AWS

Security Benefits Expert Guidance Access to Different Tools Privacy and Data Protection

*Copyright belongs to the respective owners.

 Security Benefits

AWS infrastructure is designed to offer the highest degree of data security, and robust safety mechanism.

Review

Employ less time Emphasize on measures

P
on routine tasks to increase security

Security Managers
Verify
 Expert Guidance
Following are the expert guidance provided by Amazon Web Services.

Documentation

Products Services
 Expert Guidance
AWS offers Trusted Advisor, an online tool to:

Examine the customer’s Identify security gaps,

AWS environment and fill them

Customers seeking a single point of contact to resolve their technical queries, can always connect with their
Technical Account Manager (TAM).
 Key Features of Security Tools

Ensuring infrastructure security by providing mechanisms such as data encryption,

and built-in network firewalls.

Evaluating applications for weaknesses or deviations, using tools such as

Amazon Inspector.

Defining user account permissions and hardware-based authenticators, using AWS

Identity and Access Management, and AWS Multi-Factor Authentication.

Monitoring and maintaining logs of access and changes in the customer’s AWS
environment.
 Compliance
AWS products and services cater to different industries, and each industry adheres to their own compliance
and audit standards.

Some of the key compliance programs include:

HIPAA, PCI, ISO 9001:2008, ISO 27001:2013, ISO 27017:2015, ISO 27018:2014, EU Data Protection, SOC, FedRAMP, DoD CSM,
and Data Privacy.
Shared Responsibility Model for Security

AWS Customers
 Shared Responsibility Model for Security

Security

Shared Responsibility Model

Data Products Services

Shared Responsibility Model for Security

Security “of” the Cloud

Global infrastructure for

Services that run
in the Cloud

Security “in” the Cloud

Customers Data and Applications using

the AWS Services
Shared Responsibility Model for Security

Operates
Host Operating System Virtualization Lab

Manages

Controls Physical Security

of the Facilities
 Shared Responsibility Model for Security
Customers have the control to protect:

Content Platform Applications Applications Software Security Group Firewall

 Shared Responsibility Model for Security
AWS provides multiple data protection services.

Multi-Factor Authentication
Encryption Security Groups Capabilities
Shared Responsibility Model for Security

Customers

Utilize

Data Protection
Services

Deploy Configure Maintain Security

 Physical Security
The crucial components of AWS are their Datacenters, and keeping them physically secure is their prime
responsibility.

Datacenters

The AWS team has the expertise to design, build, and operate within large-scale datacenters, and
maintain their physical security.
 Physical Security

AWS team undertakes the following key measures to ensure physical security of their facilities and
datacenters:

Deploying trained security guards Implementing two-factor authentication

Allowing only individuals with Providing non-stop monitoring, logging,

approved and authorized access and auditing of physical access controls
 AWS Monitoring Tools

AWS services provide security for all supported hardware and software products using different AWS
monitoring tools.

These tools monitor:

Usage of network Port scanning Unauthorized

Applications
and server activities intrusion attempts
 AWS Monitoring Tools

Initiating Node

First hop range

Destination Node

Denial of Service or DoS Attacks Flooding Software or Logic Attacks

 Key AWS Security Measures
AWS implements other key security measures that include the following:

Monitoring and Only authorized individuals

controlling change gain access

Access to confidential software or

Monitoring and controlling
hardware only using SSH login
communications
 Measures Implemented by AWS Tools

Use SSL and secured API endpoints or customer access points for encrypted transmission over HTTPS.

Allow only users and software with cryptographic keys and certificates to access an AWS API.

Control external access to EC2 instances using built-in firewalls, called security groups.

Create individual user accounts in the IAM tool.

Enable multi-factor authentication or MFA with the help of hardware token or a Software app.

Offer data encryption of files and objects stored using AWS services such as Amazon S3, Amazon Glacier,
Amazon Redshift, Oracle RDS, and others.
 Security Groups
AWS provides security groups that work as built-in firewalls for your virtual servers.

Security Groups

Totally public

Completely private

Between Public Access Control

and Private Virtual Private Cloud
Setting
 Virtual Private Cloud

Logically isolate a section Virtual Private

of the AWS cloud Cloud
Launch AWS resources

Selecting IP address range

Creating subnets

Configuring routing tables

Control virtual
network settings
Configuring network
gateways
 Virtual Private Cloud
Amazon VPC adds a network security layer to your data instances.

Network Security

IPsec VPN tunnel

Home Network Virtual Private

Cloud

Network Network Access Internet Virtual Private

Subnets Routing Tables
Topology Control Lists Gateways Gateways
 Identity and Access Management

Define group functions related

to user management Control the user’s service level access

Set security for users accessing AWS

Set IAM access control policies
services and resources

Define roles Work with AWS users and groups

Set permissions for users

Create users and groups
accessing AWS resources

IAM fails to provide any solution to set application level security, and control resource level access. In case of single
user policies, it uses the least privileged model to aggregate permissions, and maintains a deny bias.
Knowledge Check
KNOWLEDGE
CHECK ____________ permits customers to recognize the strong controls in place at AWS.
1

a. Compliance

b. Cloud Security

c. Availability zones

d. Regions
KNOWLEDGE
CHECK ____________ permits customers to recognize the strong controls in place at AWS.

a. Compliance

b. Cloud Security

c. Availability zones

d. Regions

The correct answer is a.

.
Explanation: AWS Cloud Compliance permits customers to recognize the strong controls in place at AWS
to maintain security and data protection in the cloud.
KNOWLEDGE
CHECK Which of the following adds another layer of network security to your instances?
2

a. Security Groups

b. Physical Security

c. Compliance

d. Virtual Private Cloud

KNOWLEDGE Which of the following adds another layer of network security to your
CHECK instances?

a.
Security Groups

b.
Physical Security

c.
Compliance
d. Virtual Private Cloud

The correct answer is d.

.
Explanation: Virtual Private Cloud adds another layer of network security to your instances.
Quiz
QUIZ In the context of user data, Amazon Web Services ensures all of the following except
1 _______.

a. confidentiality

b. integrity

c. availability

d. security
 QUIZ In the context of user data, Amazon Web Services ensures all of the following except
1 _______.

a. confidentiality

b. integrity

c. availability

d. security

The correct answer is d.

Explanation: Amazon Web Services ensures confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the user’s
data.
QUIZ Which of the following services assists you in securing your systems and data in the
2 cloud?

a. Compute and Networking

b. Security and Identity

c. Storage and Content Delivery

d. Analytics and Database

 QUIZ Which of the following services assists you in securing your systems and data in the
2 cloud?

a. Compute and Networking

b. Security and Identity

c. Storage and Content Delivery

d. Analytics and Database

The correct answer is b.

Explanation: The product category, Security and Identity services, assists you in securing your systems
and data in the cloud.
QUIZ
Which of the following enables you to get hands-on experience with AWS?
3

a. Free Computing

b. Free Networking

c. Free Tier

d. Free Analytics
 QUIZ
Which of the following enables you to get hands-on experience with AWS?
3

a. Free Computing

b. Free Networking

c. Free Tier

d. Free Analytics

The correct answer is c.

Explanation: The Free Tier enables you to get hands-on experience with AWS cloud services.
QUIZ
A ___________ is a physical location in the world, which has a multiple Availability Zone.
4

a. Availability Zone

b. Data center

c. Region

d. Resource location
 QUIZ
A ___________ is a physical location in the world, which has a multiple Availability Zone.
4

a. Availability Zone

b. Data center

c. Region

d. Resource location

The correct answer is c.

Explanation: A Region is a physical location in the world, which has a multiple Availability Zone.
QUIZ AWS has planned to expand their real estate, with how many more Availability Zones and
5 Regions?

a. 12, 6

b. 11, 5

c. 13, 3

d. 15, 5
 QUIZ AWS has planned to expand their real estate, with how many more Availability Zones and
5 Regions?

a. 12, 6

b. 11, 5

c. 13, 3

d. 15, 5

The correct answer is b.

Explanation: AWS has planned to expand their real estate, with 11 more Availability Zones and 5 more
Regions coming online throughout the next year.
QUIZ
AWS replicates data between physical Regions, to avoid ________.
6

a. Disruptive network and Security breach

b. Time and Disruptive network

c. Security breach and Time

d. Idle time and Fault tolerance

 QUIZ
AWS replicates data between physical Regions, to avoid ________.
6

a. Disruptive network and Security breach

b. Time and Disruptive network

c. Security breach and Time

d. Idle time and Fault tolerance

The correct answer is d.

Explanation: For avoiding idle time and fault tolerance, AWS replicates data between physical Regions.
QUIZ
Which of the following is not the feature of security measures provided by AWS?
7

a. Expert Guidance

b. Product Features

c. On-Premises Security

d. Security Benefits
 QUIZ
Which of the following is not the feature of security measures provided by AWS?
7

a. Expert Guidance

b. Product Features

c. On-Premises Security

d. Security Benefits

The correct answer is c.

Explanation: AWS offers several measures in relation to security. It provides security benefits, expert
guidance, expert guidance, and compliance.
Key Takeaways
 Key Takeaways
AWS is Amazon’s cloud computing environment offering significant advantages of flexibility,
economies of scale, scalability, and security.

Flexibility Cost-Effectiveness Scalability/Elasticity Security

 Key Takeaways
The infrastructure of AWS resides in Amazon data centers spread across the globe. These sites are
called regions.
 Key Takeaways
You can access AWS through the Management Console, the Command Line Interface, Command Line
Tools, AWS Software Development Kits, and Query APIs.

AWS Management Console Command Line Tools Query APIs

1 2 3 4 5

AWS Command Line Interface, AWS Software Development

or Kits,
AWS CLI or SDKs
 Key Takeaways
AWS provides the Simple Monthly Calculator to estimate the cost of using AWS.
 Key Takeaways
AWS offers several security benefits, provides expert guidance, allows access to different tools, and
ensures complete privacy and data protection.

Security Benefits Expert Guidance Access to Different Tools Privacy and Data Protection

*Copyright belongs to the respective owners.

 Key Takeaways
Amazon VPC offers you the facility to logically isolate a section of the AWS cloud, and launch AWS
resources in your defined virtual network.

Logically isolate a section Virtual Private

of the AWS cloud Cloud
Launch AWS resources
Key Takeaways

AWS is Amazon’s cloud computing environment offering significant advantages of

flexibility, economies of scale, scalability, and security.

The infrastructure of AWS resides in Amazon data centers spread across the globe. These
sites are called regions.

You can access AWS through the Management Console, the Command Line Interface,
Command Line Tools, AWS Software Development Kits, and Query APIs.

AWS provides the Simple Monthly Calculator to estimate the cost of using AWS.
 Key Takeaways

AWS offers several security benefits, provides expert guidance, allows access to different tools, and
ensures complete privacy and data protection.

Amazon VPC offers you the facility to logically isolate a section of the AWS cloud, and launch AWS
resources in your defined virtual network.
This Concludes 'Introduction to AWS.'
The Next Lesson is 'Storage and Content Delivery.'