Web-based GUI for managing AWS services. Best for learning, one-time setup tasks, and visual monitoring. Not repeatable at scale.
Terminal-based tool for programmatic access. Write scripts to automate tasks. Useful for repeatable operations and automation.
Language-specific libraries (Python/boto3, Java, JavaScript, etc.) for calling AWS APIs from application code.
Define infrastructure in config files that are version-controlled and repeatable. Two AWS-native tools:
A geographic area containing multiple, isolated Availability Zones. Each Region is independent — data does not leave a Region without explicit permission.
Choose a Region based on: compliance, latency to users, service availability, and pricing.
One or more discrete data centers within a Region with redundant power, networking, and connectivity. AZs are physically separated to isolate failures.
Deploy across multiple AZs for high availability. Each Region has at least 2 AZs (most have 3+).
Points of presence (PoPs) for AWS content delivery. More numerous than Regions — closer to end users. Used by CloudFront (CDN) and Route 53 (DNS).
400+ edge locations worldwide for low-latency content delivery.
Content Delivery Network (CDN). Caches content at edge locations close to users. Reduces latency and origin server load.
Extensions of a Region placed in metro areas. Deliver compute, storage, and database closer to large population centers for single-digit millisecond latency.
Embed AWS compute within 5G telecom networks. Enables ultra-low latency for mobile edge applications.
| Service | Type | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon EC2 | Virtual machines (IaaS) | Full OS control needed; persistent long-running workloads; lift-and-shift migrations |
| AWS Lambda | Serverless functions | Event-driven, short-lived functions; no server management; pay only when code runs; scales to zero |
| Amazon ECS | Container orchestration (AWS-native) | Run Docker containers without managing Kubernetes; AWS-managed control plane |
| Amazon EKS | Managed Kubernetes | Run Kubernetes workloads; existing K8s expertise or portability required |
| AWS Fargate | Serverless containers | Run containers without managing EC2 instances; works with ECS or EKS |
| Auto Scaling | Elasticity | Automatically add/remove EC2 instances based on demand; ensures right capacity |
| Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) | Traffic distribution | Distribute traffic across multiple EC2 instances/AZs; eliminates single point of failure |
| Service | Type | When to Use |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon RDS | Managed relational DB (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, MariaDB) | Structured data with relationships; existing SQL workloads; managed patching and backups |
| Amazon Aurora | AWS-native relational DB (MySQL & PostgreSQL compatible) | High performance relational workloads; up to 5x faster than MySQL; serverless option available |
| Amazon DynamoDB | Managed NoSQL (key-value & document) | Massive scale, single-digit millisecond latency, flexible schema, serverless |
| Amazon ElastiCache | In-memory cache (Redis, Memcached) | Sub-millisecond reads; caching database query results; session stores |
| Amazon Redshift | Data warehouse (columnar SQL) | Analytics on large datasets; business intelligence; OLAP (not OLTP) |
| AWS DMS | Database Migration Service | Migrate databases to AWS; ongoing replication; minimal downtime migration |
Logically isolated section of AWS for your resources. Define your own IP address range, subnets, route tables, and network gateways.
AWS's managed DNS service. Translates domain names to IP addresses. Also provides health checks and routing policies (latency, geolocation, failover).
CDN that caches content at 400+ global edge locations. Reduces latency for users worldwide. Integrates with S3, ALB, and custom origins.
Routes user traffic through the AWS global network to optimize performance. Provides static anycast IP addresses — traffic goes to the nearest healthy endpoint.
| Service | Type | Key Facts |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon S3 | Object storage | Unlimited storage. Accessed via URL. Great for files, backups, static websites, data lakes. 11 nines durability. |
| Amazon EBS | Block storage (EC2 attached) | Persistent volumes attached to one EC2 instance (AZ-specific). Like a hard drive. Survives instance stop/start. |
| Instance Store | Ephemeral block storage | Physically attached to EC2 host. Extremely fast. Data LOST when instance stops or terminates. |
| Amazon EFS | Managed file storage (NFS) | Shared file system mountable by multiple EC2 instances simultaneously across AZs. Auto-scales. |
| Amazon FSx | Managed file systems | FSx for Windows File Server (SMB/Active Directory), FSx for Lustre (high-performance computing). |
| AWS Storage Gateway | Hybrid storage | Connects on-premises environments to AWS storage. Use for backups to S3 from on-premises. |
| AWS Backup | Centralized backup | Centrally manage and automate backups across AWS services (EC2, RDS, EFS, DynamoDB). |
Pub/sub messaging. One message → many subscribers (fan-out). Push-based. Used for notifications and alerts. Supports email, SMS, Lambda, SQS.
Message queue. Producer puts messages in; consumer pulls them out. Decouples application components. Pull-based. Handles traffic spikes by buffering.
Serverless event bus. Route events from AWS services, custom applications, or SaaS apps to targets (Lambda, SQS, etc.). Event-driven architecture.
CI/CD pipeline — automate build, test, and deploy. CodePipeline orchestrates; CodeBuild compiles and tests; CodeDeploy deploys to EC2/Lambda/ECS.
Managed virtual desktops (Desktop-as-a-Service). Access Windows or Linux desktops from any device.
Connect IoT devices to AWS. Securely ingest and route device data to other services (S3, Lambda, Kinesis).
34% of CLF-C02 · Cloud Technology & Services
Good luck on the exam!
Deploy & Infra
Compute & DB
Network & Storage
AI/ML & Integration