Amazon Web Services

What is "Amazon Web Services" (AWS)?

With Amazon Web Services (AWS), organizations can flexibly deploy storage space and computing capacity into Amazon's data centers without having to maintain their own hardware. A big advantage is that the infrastructure covers all dimensions for cloud computing. Whether it's video sharing, high-resolution photos, print data, or text documents, AWS can deliver IT resources on-demand, over the Internet, at a cost-per-use basis. The service exists since 2006 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Amazon Inc. The idea arose from the extensive experience with Amazon.com and the own need for platforms for web services in the cloud.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud Computing is a service that gives you access to expert-managed technology resources. The platform in the cloud provides the infrastructure (eg computing power, storage space) that does not have to be installed and configured in contrast to the hardware you have purchased yourself. Cloud computing only pays for the resources that are used. For example, a web shop can increase its computing power in the Christmas business and book less in "weak" months.

Access is via the Internet or VPN. There are no ongoing investment costs after the initial setup, but resources such as Virtual servers, databases or storage services are charged only after they have been used.

Where is my data on Amazon AWS?

There are currently eight Amazon Data Centers (AWS Regions) in different regions of the world. For each Amazon AWS resource, only the customer can decide where to use or store it. German customers typically use the data center in Ireland, which is governed by European law.

How safe is my data on Amazon AWS?

The customer data is stored in a highly secure infrastructure. Safety measures include, but are not limited to:

• Protection against DDos attacks (Distributed Denial of Service)
• Defense against brute-force attacks on AWS accounts
• Secure access: The access options are made via SSL.
• Firewall: Output and access to the AWS data can be controlled.
• Encrypted Data Storage: Data can be encrypted with Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256.
• Certifications: Regular security review by independent certifications that AWS has undergone.

Each Amazon data center (AWS region) consists of at least one Availability Zone. Availability Zones are stand-alone sub-sites that have been designed to be isolated from faults in other Availability Zones (independent power and data supply). Certain AWS resources, such as Database Services (RDS) or Storage Services (S3) automatically replicate your data within the AWS region to the different Availability Zones.

Amazon AWS has appropriate certifications such as ISO27001 and has implemented a comprehensive security concept for the operation of its data center.

Do I have to worry about hardware on Amazon AWS?

No, all Amazon AWS resources are virtualized. Only Amazon takes care of the replacement and upgrade of hardware.

Normally, you will not get anything out of defective hardware because defective storage media are exchanged by Amazon and since your data is stored multiple times redundantly, there is usually no problem either.

Incidentally, if your chosen resources do not provide enough performance, you can easily get more CPU power from resources by just a few mouse clicks. You do not have to install anything new, just reboot your virtual machine or virtual database instance.