What is AWS?

Lauren

AWS (Amazon Web Services) is a cloud platform that provides services like servers, storage, databases, networking, and security over the internet.
It helps individuals and companies build and run applications faster by scaling resources on demand and paying only for what they use.
Which AWS services have you used the most, and what was your biggest learning or challenge while working on AWS?

Christopher

In most real-world projects, teams rely heavily on core AWS services such as EC2 for compute, S3 for object storage, RDS or DynamoDB for data, and IAM for secure access control, often complemented by CloudWatch for monitoring and Lambda for event-driven tasks. These services form the foundation for scalable, highly available applications. The biggest learning and challenge many teams face is managing complexity at scale—especially around IAM permissions, VPC networking (subnets, security groups, routing), and cost visibility. Misconfigured access policies or networking rules can cause outages or security gaps, while poorly monitored resources can lead to unexpected bills. Over time, adopting infrastructure as code, clear tagging standards, and proactive monitoring becomes essential to keep AWS environments secure, predictable, and cost-efficient.