Amazon Web Services is pretty much the cloud platform everyone talks about these days. With over 200 services, though, figuring out what you actually need can get overwhelming fast.
You don’t need to become an AWS wizard to build something solid in the cloud. Most successful cloud projects stick to 10–15 core AWS services that cover the basics — computing, storage, databases, and security.
Whether you’re a startup putting out your first app or a big company moving to the cloud, these services are the real backbone. They show up in nearly every AWS deployment I’ve seen.
Let’s run through the AWS services you’ll bump into in almost any project. I’ll also point out the crucial tools that keep your stuff secure and humming along.
If you focus on these proven services, you’ll have what you need to build something robust — without drowning in AWS’s endless menu.
The Most Popular AWS Services for Every Cloud Project
There are a handful of AWS services that really do the heavy lifting for most cloud apps. They handle everything from spinning up servers to storing your data.
They’re built to work together and scale as your business grows. Here’s what you should know:
Amazon EC2: Powering Your Cloud Compute Needs
Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) gives you virtual servers you can launch on demand. It’s like renting computers by the hour — no need to buy hardware.
You get full control over your compute resources. Need more juice for a big job? Just spin up extra instances. Done? Shut them down and save money.
Key EC2 benefits:
- Launch virtual servers in minutes
- Pay only for what you use
- Choose from dozens of instance types
- Scale up or down automatically
EC2 is flexible — good for web apps, dev environments, or crunching data. You can pick instances tuned for CPU, memory, or storage, depending on what you need.
Best part is, you don’t have to guess how much capacity you’ll need. Start small, then add more as you go. That’s one less thing to stress about.
Amazon S3: Object Storage for Everything and Anything
Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is all about storing files — images, backups, huge datasets, you name it. It’s your cloud filing cabinet.
S3 organizes everything into “buckets” — think folders, but in the cloud. You can stash unlimited data and grab it from anywhere.
What makes S3 special:
- Store files from 0 bytes to 5TB each
- Built-in data backup and versioning
- Fine-grained access controls
- Multiple storage classes for different needs
Managing data gets a lot easier with S3’s simple interface. You can set up rules to move old files to cheaper storage or get rid of them automatically.
It plays nice with other AWS services, too. EC2 can read from S3, Lambda can process S3 files, and RDS can back up to S3 buckets. That’s pretty handy.
Amazon RDS: Hassle-Free Relational Database Management
Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service) takes the pain out of databases. No more installing or patching database software — RDS does it all for you.
Pick from six popular engines: Amazon Aurora, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, or MariaDB. They run just like you’d expect, minus the maintenance headaches.
RDS handles these tasks for you:
- Automatic software updates and patches
- Daily backups with point-in-time recovery
- Hardware scaling when you need more power
- Multi-region replication for disaster recovery
Routine maintenance is on autopilot here. No more worrying about security patches or running out of storage space.
RDS works smoothly with your other AWS stuff. EC2 can connect directly to your databases, and you can monitor everything or set alerts right from AWS.
AWS Lambda: Effortless Serverless Computing
AWS Lambda lets you run code without thinking about servers at all. Upload your function, and Lambda takes care of scaling, monitoring, and billing.
It’s great for real-time data processing, handling API calls, or running background jobs. Your code only runs when it’s triggered, so you only pay for what you use.
Lambda shines for:
- Processing files uploaded to S3
- Responding to database changes
- Handling web API requests
- Running scheduled maintenance tasks
You can write Lambda functions in Python, Node.js, Java, C#, and a few others. Each function can run up to 15 minutes and use as much as 10GB of memory.
The coolest part? You never have to worry about server capacity. Lambda just scales up or down based on what’s happening.
Your Lambda functions can tie into other AWS services, like firing off when there’s a new S3 file or an API Gateway event. It’s all pretty seamless.
Crucial AWS Tools for Security, Networking & App Scalability
Some AWS services are all about keeping your apps secure, connected, and able to handle whatever gets thrown at them. These are the heavy hitters for network isolation, access control, content delivery, and messaging.
Amazon VPC: Building Secure Virtual Networks
Amazon VPC gives you your own private slice of AWS. It’s like building a data center in the cloud that nobody else can touch.
You get to call the shots — define IP ranges, set up subnets, create routing tables. It’s your network, your rules.
Key VPC Components:
- Public subnets — for stuff that needs internet access
- Private subnets — for databases or sensitive apps
- Security groups — act like firewalls for your instances
- Network ACLs — provide subnet-level security
Network isolation is the real win here. Your VPC keeps your apps away from everyone else’s. That’s huge if you’re handling sensitive data or need to meet compliance standards.
You can hook your VPC up to your on-premises network with a VPN, too. That way, your local systems and cloud resources play nice together.
AWS IAM: Managing Access & Identity
AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) is how you control who can touch your AWS resources and what they can do. It’s like a bouncer checking IDs at the door.
IAM is all about least privilege. People only get the permissions they absolutely need — nothing extra.
Core IAM Features:
- Users — individual people who need AWS access
- Groups — collections of users with similar permissions
- Roles — temporary access for apps or services
- Policies — documents that spell out what’s allowed
You can write detailed policies, down to the service and action. Maybe a dev gets EC2 and S3 access, but not billing info. Makes sense, right?
Multi-factor authentication gives you an extra layer of security. Even if someone grabs a password, they’re still not getting in without that second factor.
IAM ties into all AWS services automatically. Set permissions once, and you’re good across the whole platform.
Amazon CloudFront: Speeding Up Content Delivery
Amazon CloudFront is AWS’s content delivery network. It makes your sites and apps load faster everywhere by copying your content to edge locations worldwide.
When someone visits your site, CloudFront serves it from the closest edge location. That means way less waiting around for your users.
CloudFront Benefits:
- Global reach — 400+ edge locations worldwide
- Dynamic content — handles static files and live data
- Security — built-in DDoS protection and SSL
- Cost savings — cuts bandwidth costs from your origin servers
You can use CloudFront with pretty much any origin — S3, EC2, or even servers outside AWS. It just works.
The service takes care of traffic spikes, so you don’t have to sweat it during busy times. Whether you’re streaming video or running a shop, it’ll scale up for you.
Setup’s straightforward in the AWS console. Just point CloudFront at your content source and let it do its thing.
Amazon SQS & SNS: Queueing and Messaging Made Simple
Amazon SQS and SNS are like the backbone for messaging between different pieces of your app. If you’re building microservices that need to chat with each other reliably, you pretty much need these.
Amazon SQS is a message queuing service. Basically, it holds onto messages until your apps are ready to deal with them.
That means if your systems get slammed, you don’t lose any data. It’s a lifesaver when things get busy.
SQS gives you two types of queues:
- Standard queues — super high throughput, at-least-once delivery
- FIFO queues — keeps things in order, delivers exactly once
Amazon SNS is all about notifications. It can blast messages out to a bunch of places at once.
Simple Notification Service can ping emails, fire off SMS, send stuff to mobile apps, or even other AWS services. Super handy for alerting people or kicking off automated stuff.
SNS can also broadcast events to several SQS queues. That way, different services can pick up the same message and do their own thing with it.
And hey, both SQS and SNS are fully managed. You don’t have to mess with servers or scaling headaches — they just handle whatever you throw at them.
Top comments (1)
Nice overview! One area that might help future readers is a bit more detail on when to prefer Lambda over EC2 (and vice versa)—for example, around cost at scale, cold starts, long-running jobs, and operational trade-offs.