AWS Has Over 200 Services… But What Is Everyone Using?
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has an extensive suite of more than 200 custom cloud solutions tailored for businesses seeking to optimize their daily operations with cloud technology. With so many options available, how do you navigate the vast AWS landscape to determine the best fit for your needs? This article sets out to answer that very question while shedding light on which services are widely adopted and which remain undiscovered.
As you dive into AWS documentation, you’ll likely notice a handful of services that seem to offer similar functionalities. On the flip side, you might uncover some hidden gems — niche services that are relatively unknown. Join us as we explore the AWS services that are true game-changers in terms of functionality and discover how they can transform your cloud journey.
Unveiling the Top 5 Popular AWS Services
- Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud, 2006): EC2 is the workhorse of AWS, offering resizable compute capacity suitable for web servers, applications, and more. It’s a trusted choice for businesses of all sizes, providing full control over virtual machines.
Docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ec2/ - Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service, 2009): RDS simplifies database management, making it a go-to for applications relying on structured data. Its popularity stems from its reliability, automated backups, and ease of scaling.
Docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/rds/ - Amazon CloudFront (2008): Revolutionizing content delivery with a global network of edge locations, CloudFront ensures lightning-fast access to web content and applications. Its speed and efficiency make it essential for businesses prioritizing exceptional user experiences and content delivery.
Docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/rds/ - Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service, 2006): For scalable and cost-effective data storage, S3 is a top choice. It’s a foundational service for many applications and data lakes, offering high durability and availability.
Docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/s3/ - Amazon Redshift (2012): When it comes to data warehousing and analytics, Redshift shines. Its popularity stems from its ability to derive valuable insights from vast datasets. Redshift’s columnar storage and query optimization make it a favorite for data-driven organizations.
Docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/redshift/
Exploring the Most Underused AWS Services
- AWS Snowball (2015): Snowball simplifies data transfer in situations where internet speed or bandwidth is a constraint. It’s especially useful for large-scale data migration projects, but its underused status might be due to its niche use case.
- AWS Glue (2017): Glue is a fully managed extract, transform, and load (ETL) service that can save time and effort in data preparation and integration tasks. Its underutilization could be attributed to the complexity of data integration workflows.
- AWS Elemental MediaConvert (2017): MediaConvert enables video transcoding, making it easier to create and deliver high-quality video content. Its limited popularity may be due to the specialized nature of video processing requirements.
Why the Underused Services Remain Underused
While the top 5 services enjoy popularity due to their versatility and wide-ranging applications, the underused AWS services find themselves in a different landscape. Many of these services were initially designed to cater to specific use cases that were prevalent in the on-premises era, especially in the context of cybersecurity and data recovery. In the evolving cloud-centric tech landscape, businesses have shifted towards more contemporary solutions. However, it’s worth noting that older applications, still integrated with these services, may persist even though newer, more suitable options have emerged. As a result, these once-prominent services may have lost some of their luster, despite their historical relevance.
Popular Severless Options in AWS
- AWS Lambda (2014): Severless computing revolves around AWS Lambda. It allows businesses to run code without provisioning or managing servers, making it perfect for event-driven applications, microservices, and APIs.
Docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/ - Amazon API Gateway (2015): API Gateway complements AWS Lambda by enabling the creation, publishing, and management of APIs. It’s a key component for building serverless applications with AWS.
Docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/apigateway/ - AWS Amplify (2017): Empowering developers to build scalable and feature-rich web and mobile apps swiftly. Its streamlined development workflow, robust libraries, and hosting capabilities make it an essential tool for creating modern applications with ease.
Docs: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amplify/
Why Severless Options Are Thriving
Severless options in AWS are thriving due to their scalability, cost-effectiveness, and ease of use. Businesses increasingly embrace serverless computing to build agile, efficient, and responsive applications that can scale with demand. The pay-as-you-go model of serverless computing aligns with cost-efficiency goals, making it a natural choice for modern applications.
As you may have noticed from this article, navigating the cloud can be a complex journey, and every business has its unique needs. When a software engineer becomes AWS certified, they gain a deeper understanding of how each AWS service can bring value to the table.
At Paragon Cloud Consulting, our certified and experienced developers are here to tailor solutions to your specific requirements. We do the research so you don’t have to, and we hope this article has been informative for anyone looking to learn about AWS Cloud. If you’re ready to embark on your cloud journey with a web or mobile application, be sure to visit our website and reach out to us for more information. We eagerly anticipate the opportunity to connect with you!
