AWS stands for Amazon Web Services – essentially, it is an Amazon product that provides cloud computing platforms to customers ranging from individuals right up to national governments on a pay-as-you-go basis. It comprises over 200 products in total which cover all of the computing needs a client might have, from machine learning and developer tools to simple computing, storage, and networking. One key feature of the service is that it offers virtual computers which can be accessed at any time via the Internet; these tend to resemble a real computer in that they have CPU/GPUs, RAM memory, and SSD storage.

The system markets itself as being a relatively cheap and easy way to achieve large-scale computer processing, with its pay-as-you-go style helping to control the price paid by the customer. Subscribers can choose from a variety of services within AWS, depending on the level of security and the specific hardware and operating systems they require. In terms of security, AWS offers coverage all subscribers; in North America alone, there are six different locations from which the service operates.

As of 2017, AWS owned 33% of all cloud, which put it far ahead of its nearest competitors, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, which owned 18% and 9% respectively. The service was founded in 2002 in order to move Amazon towards a more customer-facing approach and to open their platform to any developers; the huge interest taken in it right from its inception meant that the company has since developed over 200 products. Notable customers include Netflix and Obama’s presidential campaign (2012). The huge growth that AWS has seen (32% yearly growth was reported in 2021) only looks set to continue.

Source: www.wikipedia.com