1. What is AWS? Can you provide an overview of its key services and features?
AWS, or Amazon Web Services, is a leading cloud computing platform offering a variety of services including compute, storage, databases, networking, machine learning, security, and more to help businesses innovate and scale their operations efficiently.
2. Explain the difference between EC2 and Lambda. When would you use one over the other?
Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud, allowing users to run virtual servers for various workloads, while AWS Lambda is a serverless computing service that runs code in response to events and automatically scales to match the demand, making it ideal for event-driven and short-duration tasks where you pay only for the compute time consumed. You would use EC2 for long-running, persistent workloads requiring full control over the environment, whereas Lambda is suitable for stateless, event-triggered tasks with short execution times, reducing operational overhead and cost.
3. How do you secure data in AWS? Discuss various AWS security services and best practices.
Data security in AWS involves implementing a multi-layered approach using various services such as AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) for fine-grained access control, encryption at rest and in transit using AWS Key Management Service (KMS) and AWS Certificate Manager, network security with AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and Security Groups, continuous monitoring and logging with AWS CloudTrail and Amazon GuardDuty, and adhering to best practices like regular security audits, least privilege principle, and keeping software up to date.
4. What is AWS IAM? How do you use it to manage access to AWS services and resources?
: AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management) is a service that allows you to securely control access to AWS services and resources by creating and managing users, groups, and roles, and assigning permissions to them through policies
5. Describe the process of setting up high availability and fault tolerance in AWS architecture.
Setting up high availability and fault tolerance in AWS architecture involves distributing application components across multiple Availability Zones (AZs) within a region, utilizing AWS services like Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) for distributing traffic, deploying resources in auto-scaling groups, and leveraging managed services like Amazon RDS Multi-AZ for database redundancy, ensuring continuous operation and minimal downtime in the event of failures.
6. Explain the difference between S3, EBS, and EFS. When would you use each storage service?
Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) is object storage for storing and retrieving data over the internet, ideal for storing large volumes of unstructured data like backups and media files. Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store) provides persistent block-level storage volumes for EC2 instances, suitable for database storage or file systems requiring low-latency access. Amazon EFS (Elastic File System) offers scalable file storage for multiple EC2 instances, perfect for shared access to files across multiple servers, such as content management systems or development environments.
7. What is AWS CloudFormation? How do you use it to automate infrastructure deployment?
AWS CloudFormation is a service that allows you to define and provision AWS infrastructure resources in a declarative template format, enabling automated and repeatable deployment of infrastructure components using code.
8. Discuss AWS Lambda's serverless architecture. What are its advantages and limitations?
AWS Lambda follows a serverless architecture where developers can run code without provisioning or managing servers. Its advantages include automatic scaling, pay-per-use pricing, and reduced operational overhead, while limitations may include cold start latency, execution duration limits, and potential vendor lock-in.
9. How do you monitor AWS resources and applications? Describe AWS monitoring tools and techniques.
AWS resources and applications are monitored using tools like Amazon CloudWatch for metrics, alarms, and logs, AWS CloudTrail for auditing API calls, AWS Config for configuration monitoring, and AWS X-Ray for tracing requests, ensuring optimal performance, security, and compliance.
10. Explain the concept of auto-scaling in AWS. How do you implement it for different services?
Auto-scaling in AWS allows for automatically adjusting the number of compute resources (such as EC2 instances or ECS tasks) based on the workload demand. It ensures optimal performance and cost efficiency by scaling resources up during periods of high demand and down during periods of low demand.
