It can’t have escaped your notice that cloud computing is the current ‘big thing’ in IT, and it looks set to be this way for years to come. In fact, it’s safe to say that cloud computing is the future for all of us, both for individuals and corporations large and small.
Since 2006 Amazon have been growing a range of cloud-based solutions which have become so efficient and cost effective that organizations such as Netflix, NASA, Pinterest and even the CIA are using Amazon cloud services for some or all of their networking requirements or applications.
When I was creating howtonetwork.com, I was searching for an easy way to stream videos for members but have them delivered from a local server to cut down latency. It needed to have security built in and all the backups and redundancy taken care off. It also needed to scale well from just a few to thousands of videos. Of course, it also needed to be affordable. I eventually found that Amazon S3 was an ideal solution but getting it all to work was a headache because there was no training available at the time.
Amazon web services offer computing functions, databases, storage and content delivery, networking, administration and security, analytics, applications, deployment and management and also mobile services. In fact, the number of services they offer numbers over 50. Although the phrase is overused, to any company small or large and even home users, Amazon web services can be considered a no-brainer. You only pay for what you use and can have access to vast computing resources for just a few hours or years, and you only pay for what you need.
Hosting Providers
Consider hosting providers for example. They would previously have to invest millions in creating a robust and scalable infrastructure, deal with compliance and staffing issues as well as build mirror sites all over the world so their customers could be offered a cloud solution. Now, hosting providers such as Page.ly can offer their customers enterprise-class hosting within a few clicks of a mouse. If the customer wants to grow, downsize or even quit then no problem. The same service can grow, shrink or close in a few moments.
It gets better, though. Imagine the nightmare of having to serve up different options and content (think legal compliance) based on where the customer lives. This headache is taken care of for you. Downtime is a near impossibility with multiple failover locations, and Amazon have cutting edge security procedures and protocols in place. You will never run into a server load issue due to limited or exhausted resources thanks to Amazon Auto Scaling. If your website suddenly receives an influx of visitors Amazon Elastic Load Balancing will distribute the load automatically to other availability zones.
The trouble of course is that most businesses don’t have a suitably trained person to advise on the services available, so they are fumbling around in the dark trying to get by while the competition is ahead of them. Even companies who can afford an IT department still need trained staff to plan, configure and support Amazon Web Services (although Amazon do also offer free and premium support).
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect (Associate) course covers all the basics of cloud computing before delving into explaining all of the available solutions, how they work as well as how to configure them via the graphical interface or the command line interface if you wish.
If you are struggling to get ahead in your IT career, then I strongly advise you to consider Amazon AWS certification because it could help you get the break you need. If you are already in IT and see the massive benefits of AWS, then you should seek to understand the available technologies because I guarantee you will be using them sooner rather than later.
AWS certifications have been voted the hottest, highest paid and most valuable cloud certifications for the past two years running by CIO magazine and TOMs IT Pro.
Here is our brand new AWS Solutions Architect Associate Course. Well worth checking out.
Have Fun.
Paul Browning
