AWS

/ˌviː-piː-siː/

n. “A logically isolated virtual network in the cloud that allows secure control over networking and resources.”

VPC, short for Virtual Private Cloud, is a service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) that lets users create a private, isolated section of the cloud. Within a VPC, you can define IP address ranges, subnets, routing tables, and network gateways, giving fine-grained control over how resources communicate and connect to the internet or other networks.

VPCs are often used to deploy secure applications, run multi-tier architectures, and isolate sensitive workloads while still taking advantage of AWS’s scalable infrastructure.

Key characteristics of VPC include:

• Network Isolation: Provides a logically separate network environment for security and control.
• Subnet Management: Allows segmentation into public, private, and isolated subnets.
• Routing Control: Customizable route tables and gateways for managing traffic flow.
• Security: Supports security groups and network ACLs to control inbound and outbound traffic.
• Hybrid Connectivity: Can connect to on-premises networks via VPN or AWS Direct Connect.

Conceptual example of VPC usage:

// Setting up a VPC
Create VPC with CIDR block (e.g., 10.0.0.0/16)
Divide into public and private subnets
Attach Internet Gateway for public access
Configure route tables and security groups
Launch EC2 instances and other resources within subnets

Conceptually, a VPC is like building your own private neighborhood in the cloud, where you control who can enter, how resources communicate, and how traffic flows in and out, all while leveraging the scalable infrastructure of AWS.

/ˌɛs-θriː/

n. “A scalable object storage service provided by Amazon Web Services for storing and retrieving data in the cloud.”

S3, short for Simple Storage Service, is a cloud storage solution offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). It allows users to store and access unlimited amounts of data, ranging from documents and images to large datasets and backups, with high durability, availability, and security.

S3 organizes data into buckets, which act as containers for objects. Each object consists of data, metadata, and a unique key, which enables efficient retrieval. S3 supports various storage classes to optimize cost and performance depending on access frequency and durability requirements.

Key characteristics of S3 include:

• Scalability: Stores virtually unlimited data without infrastructure management.
• Durability and Availability: Provides 99.999999999% (11 nines) durability and high availability across regions.
• Access Control: Fine-grained permissions with AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) integration.
• Storage Classes: Standard, Intelligent-Tiering, Glacier, and other classes for cost optimization.
• Integration: Works with AWS compute services like EC2, Lambda, and analytics services.

Conceptual example of S3 usage:

// Uploading a file to S3
Create an S3 bucket
Upload file with unique key
Set permissions and metadata
Retrieve file using key when needed

Conceptually, S3 is like a massive, infinitely scalable cloud filing cabinet, where you can securely store and access files from anywhere, with AWS handling the underlying hardware, redundancy, and availability.

/iː-siː-tuː/

n. “A scalable virtual server service provided by Amazon Web Services for cloud computing.”

EC2, short for Elastic Compute Cloud, is a core service of Amazon Web Services (AWS) that allows users to launch and manage virtual servers, known as instances, in the cloud. EC2 provides flexible computing capacity, enabling organizations to scale up or down based on demand without investing in physical hardware.

EC2 instances can run multiple operating systems, including Linux and Windows, and can be configured with varying CPU, memory, storage, and network capabilities. Users can select from a wide variety of instance types optimized for general-purpose computing, high-performance computing, memory-intensive workloads, or GPU-accelerated tasks.

Key characteristics of EC2 include:

• Elasticity: Scale resources up or down based on workload.
• Variety of Instance Types: Supports general-purpose, compute-optimized, memory-optimized, and GPU-enabled instances.
• Flexible Operating Systems: Run Linux, Windows, or custom OS images.
• Integration with AWS Services: Works with storage, databases, networking, and security services.
• Pay-as-You-Go Pricing: Pay only for the compute capacity you use.

Conceptual example of EC2 usage:

// Launching an EC2 instance
Select instance type and OS
Configure network, storage, and security settings
Launch instance in the desired AWS region
Connect to instance via SSH or RDP
Deploy applications and scale as needed

Conceptually, EC2 acts as a virtual server you can spin up in minutes, giving developers and organizations on-demand computing power in the cloud, without managing physical servers.