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Basics of AWS (Amazon Web Services) and IAM (Identity and Access Management)

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Nikita Jadhav
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3 min read

let's dive into the basics of AWS (Amazon Web Services) and IAM (Identity and Access Management):

Amazon Web Services (AWS): AWS is a cloud computing platform provided by Amazon. It offers a wide range of cloud services that can be used to build and manage various types of applications and services without the need to invest in physical hardware. Some of the key aspects of AWS include:

  1. Compute Services: AWS provides services like Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) for scalable virtual servers, AWS Lambda for serverless computing, and more.

  2. Storage Services: AWS offers various storage solutions such as Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) for object storage, Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) for block storage, and Amazon Glacier for long-term archival storage.

  3. Database Services: AWS provides managed database services like Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service), Amazon DynamoDB for NoSQL databases, and more.

  4. Networking Services: AWS offers services like Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) for network isolation, Amazon Route 53 for domain name services, and more.

  5. Security and Identity: AWS provides tools and services for securing your applications and data, including IAM, encryption, and monitoring.

  6. Analytics and Machine Learning: AWS offers services for data analytics, big data processing, and machine learning, such as Amazon Redshift, Amazon EMR (Elastic MapReduce), and Amazon SageMaker.

  7. Content Delivery and CDN: AWS has services like Amazon CloudFront for content delivery and Amazon S3 for storing and distributing static content.

Identity and Access Management (IAM): IAM is a service provided by AWS that allows you to manage access to AWS resources securely. It enables you to control who can access your resources and what actions they can perform. Key concepts of IAM include:

  1. Users: IAM users are entities within your AWS account that represent individuals or applications needing access to AWS resources.

  2. Groups: Groups are collections of IAM users. You can assign permissions to groups, making it easier to manage permissions for multiple users.

  3. Roles: IAM roles are similar to users, but they are not associated with a specific identity. Roles are often used for giving permissions to AWS services or for cross-account access.

  4. Policies: IAM policies are JSON documents that define what actions are allowed or denied on which resources. Policies can be attached to users, groups, or roles.

  5. Permissions: Permissions in IAM are defined by policies. Policies can be managed and attached to different entities to control access.

  6. Authentication: IAM provides mechanisms for users to authenticate, including using passwords, access keys (for programmatic access), and multi-factor authentication (MFA).

  7. Authorization: Once authenticated, IAM enforces authorization by checking the permissions associated with the authenticated entity.

  8. Access Control: IAM allows you to define fine-grained access control, specifying which services and resources a user can access and what actions they can perform.

IAM enables you to follow the principle of least privilege, ensuring that users and services have only the necessary permissions to perform their intended tasks, which enhances the security of your AWS environment.

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