AWS Flashcards

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud platform offered by Amazon, which provides a wide range of commercial services based on information technology. The AWS platform enables companies worldwide to leverage computing power, data storage, database access, and a host of other services that aid in scaling and growth across various business sectors.

AWS offers over 200 fully functional products and services, including computing, databases, analytics, machine learning, networking, mobility, game development, the Internet of Things (IoT), developer applications, developer tools, security, enterprise, media, migration, and hybrid services. Each of these services can operate in the cloud, meaning there is no need for owning hardware infrastructure since these services are available on-demand and are easily scalable. Moreover, AWS offers unparalleled experience, security, openness, versatility, and a developer community.

**AWS Lambda** is a service provided by Amazon Web Services that allows users to run code without the need to manage servers. It is known as serverless computing, which means you don't have to buy or reserve infrastructure or manage the scaling of your application. Instead, AWS Lambda automatically scales according to the load.

Users define what are called Lambda functions, which are pieces of code triggered by various events. These events can come from other AWS services as well as external systems. Examples of events that can trigger a Lambda function include a change in the state of an object in S3 or a new entry in a DynamoDB table.

Charges for using AWS Lambda are accrued only for the time the code is running, not when the application is merely available.

Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) is a service that simplifies the process of setting up, operating, and scaling database solutions in the cloud. It supports various database engines, such as MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, and Amazon Aurora.

Amazon Aurora, on the other hand, is a database engine available within AWS RDS. Initially built with MySQL compatibility in mind, Aurora is tightly integrated with the AWS platform and offers features that are not available in other RDS engines—for example, read replicas that replicate data across multiple servers in multiple regions, thus ensuring fault tolerance.

The main difference between RDS and Aurora is that RDS supports a variety of different database engines, while Aurora is a specific engine built and optimized specifically for AWS. Aurora also offers higher performance, automatic capacity scaling, and advanced data replication.

Amazon CloudFront speeds up content delivery using a global network of data centers called edge locations. When a user requests content from AWS-hosted resources, the request is directed to the nearest edge location, reducing the distance data must travel and thereby speeding up content delivery.

Here are some ways AWS CloudFront accelerates content delivery:
1. **Content Caching**: CloudFront caches copies of files close to users, enabling delivery with minimal latency. When a user requests a file that is not cached, CloudFront fetches the file from the origin server, returns it to the user, and then stores a copy at the edge location for future requests.
2. **TLS Handshake Optimization**: CloudFront, using "CloudFront Key Pairs," allows the complete TLS handshake to be performed closer to users, significantly reducing response times.
3. **Network Routing Optimization**: CloudFront uses AWS Shield, Route 53, and AWS Global Accelerator technologies to optimize the route to the nearest edge location, increasing content delivery speed.
4. **Compression and Minification**: CloudFront can automatically compress and minify certain file types before delivering them to users, speeding up content delivery.