Chapter 1: Understanding AWS Cloud Principles and Key Characteristics

You would be hard-pressed to talk to someone today that has not heard of the cloud. For most of its history, Amazon did not advertise, but when it did begin advertising on television, the first commercials were for Amazon Web Services (AWS) and not for its e-commerce division.

Even though the term cloud is pervasive today, not everyone understands what the cloud is. One reason this is the case is that the cloud can be different things for different people. Another reason is that the cloud is continuously evolving.

In this chapter, we will put our best foot forward and attempt to define the cloud, and then we will try to define the AWS cloud more specifically. We will also cover the vast and ever-growing influence and adoption of the cloud in general and AWS in particular. After that, we'll start introducing some elementary cloud and AWS terms to start getting our feet wet with the lingo.

We will then try to understand why cloud computing is so popular. Assuming you buy the premise that the cloud is taking the world by storm, we will then learn how we can take a slice of the cloud pie and build our credibility by becoming certified. Finally, toward the end of the chapter, we will look at some tips and tricks you can use to simplify your journey to obtain AWS certifications, and we will look at some frequently asked questions about AWS certifications.

In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

• What is cloud computing?
• What is AWS cloud computing?
• The market share, influence, and adoption of AWS
• Basic cloud and AWS terminology
• Why is cloud computing so popular?
• The five pillars of a well-architected framework
• Building credibility by becoming certified
• Learning tips and tricks to obtain AWS certifications
• Some frequently asked questions about AWS certifications

Let's get started, shall we?