Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Overview

• Amazon Web Services, Inc. (AWS): Subsidiary of Amazon providing on-demand cloud computing platforms and APIs.
• Service Model: Metered, pay-as-you-go model.
• Key Offering: Allows clients to use more computing resources when needed (autoscaling) and scale down to reduce costs during low traffic.
• Core Service: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) providing virtual clusters of computers.

Company Details

• Founded: July 2002 (Web services), March 2006 (Cloud computing)
• Key People: Matt Garman (CEO), C.J. Moses (CISO)
• Revenue (2024): $107.6 billion
• Operating Income (2024): $39.8 billion
• Parent: Amazon
• Subsidiaries: Annapurna Labs, AWS Elemental, NICE Software, Wickr
• Website: aws.amazon.com

Services and Offerings

• Delivery Method: Services delivered via AWS server farms globally.
• Pricing Model: Pay-as-you-go, based on usage, hardware, and selected features.
• Service Categories:
  • Computing
  • Storage
  • Networking
  • Database
  • Analytics
  • Application services
  • Deployment
  • Management
  • Machine Learning
  • Internet of Things
• Popular Services: EC2, Amazon S3, Amazon Connect, AWS Lambda.
• API Access: REST, SOAP, and JSON protocols.

Market Position

• Market Share: 31% as of Q1 2023.
• Competitors: Microsoft Azure (25%), Google Cloud (11%).

Historical Context

Founding (2000-2005)

• Initial focus on service-oriented architecture to scale Amazon's engineering operations.
• AWS's first service launched as Amazon.com Web Services in 2002.
• Vision for "Internet OS" began under Andy Jassy in 2003.

Early Services (2006-2010)

• S3 launched in March 2006, EC2 in August 2006.
• Introduction of services like SimpleDB, Mechanical Turk, and others.

Growth (2010-2015)

• 2010: Migration of Amazon.com retail sites to AWS.
• 2012: First re:Invent conference held.
• 2013: Certified training and Activate program for start-ups.
• 2015: Acquisition of Annapurna Labs.

Recent Developments (2016-present)

• 2016: AWS revenue surpassed Amazon's North American retail business.
• 2018: Introduction of autoscaling and custom ARM cores.
• 2023: Partnership and investment in AI startup Anthropic.

Global Infrastructure

• Regions: 33 as of March 2024, with 8 in North America.
• Planned Regions: Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Thailand, Saudi Arabia, EU.
• Renewable Energy Commitment: Aiming for 100% renewable energy usage.

Notable Customers

• Government and Agencies: NASA, CIA, UK spy agencies.
• Enterprises: DISH Network.
• Contracts: $9 billion contract shared with Google, Microsoft, Oracle.

Challenges and Incidents

• Significant Outages: Various dates from 2011 to 2021, impacting major sites and services.
• Security Issues: Log4Shell vulnerability and ALB configuration risks in 2024.

Ethical and Environmental Concerns

• Environmental Impact: Criticized for carbon footprint but committed to renewable energy.
• Social and Ethical Issues: Protests over contracts related to government surveillance and defense collaborations.

Community Engagement

• Pop-up Lofts: Locations around the world to engage startups and developers.
• AWS re/Start Program: Initiative to retrain young adults and veterans in technology skills.

Summary

AWS is a leading cloud service provider with a diverse range of offerings across computing, storage, and analytics services. It has a strong market position, global infrastructure, and a commitment to renewable energy, despite facing various challenges related to security, ethical concerns, and service outages.