up:: [[AWS MOC]] tags:: #on/computing/cloud/aws # AWS Basics Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the global leader in the cloud provider market. It allows you to build scalable, reliable applications in the cloud. ## Global Infrastructure ### Regions AWS infrastructure is composed of *regions*, which are clusters of data centers. There are regions located across the globe. Most AWS services are scoped to a region. For example, if you create an [[AWS EC2|EC2]] instance in the us-east-1 region, then it only operates in that region. If you switch regions in the management console, that instance will not be listed. Some AWS services are global, meaning that they are not scoped to a region. An example of this is [[AWS Route 53|Route 53]], which handles DNS. ### Availability Zones Each AWS region is composed of 3-6 *availability zones*. These are discrete data centers with redundant power and networking. They are separated in order to isolate them from disasters. ### Points of Presence (Edge Locations) AWS has over 400 edge locations in over 90 cities across more than 40 countries. These edge locations deliver content to users with lower latency, depending on location. --- > [!createdat] Created at: [[2025-01-09]]