AWS Infrastructure Overview

Cloud Foundations

Welcome to AWS Infrastructure Overview.

 What you will learn

At the core of the lesson

You will learn how to do the following: Key terms:
• Describe the AWS Global Infrastructure and its features. • Elastic infrastructure
• Identify the difference between Amazon Web Services • Scalable infrastructure
(AWS) Regions, Availability Zones, and points of • Fault tolerance
presence (PoPs).

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In this module, you will review the AWS Global Infrastructure and its features. You will
also learn how to identify the difference between Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Regions, Availability Zones, and points of presence (PoPs).
 AWS Global Infrastructure
The AWS Global Infrastructure is designed and built to deliver a flexible, reliable, scalable, and secure cloud
computing environment with high-quality global network performance.

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The diagram shows the 24 current AWS Regions in addition to a few Regions that will
become available soon (as of August 2020).

To learn more about the current AWS Regions, refer to the Global Infrastructure page
at https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/?p=ngi&loc=0.
 AWS Global Infrastructure elements
Regions, Availability Zones, and PoPs

Applications Virtual desktops Collaboration and sharing

Relational Cluster computing Queuing Containers Identity

NoSQL Real time Orchestration DevOps tools Sync
caching Data warehouse App streaming Resource templates Mobile analytics
Platform Data workflows Transcoding email Usage tracking Notifications
services Search Monitoring and logs

Deployment
Databases Analytics App services and management Mobile services

Compute (virtual,
Foundation Storage (object, block,
auto scaling, and Networking
services and archive)
load balancing)

Infrastructure Regions Availability Zones PoPs

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As discussed earlier, AWS provides a broad set of services, such as compute, storage
options, networking, and databases. They are delivered as an on-demand utility that
is available in seconds with pay-as-you-go pricing. All these services reside on the
AWS Global Infrastructure.

The AWS Global Infrastructure consists of three elements: Regions, Availability Zones,
and points of presence (PoPs).

Next, you will take an in-depth look at the AWS Global Infrastructure and learn about
these elements.
 AWS Global Infrastructure (cont.)
AWS Cloud infrastructure spans 84 Availability Zones in 26 geographic Regions around the world, with many more on the way.

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AWS offers 7 Regions in North America, 1 Region in South America, 6 Regions in

Europe, 1 Region in the Middle East, 1 Region in Africa, and 10 Regions in the Asia
Pacific. Within each Region, there is one or more Availability Zone.

Benefits include security, availability, performance, a large global footprint, scalability,

and flexibility.

For more information, see Regions and Availability Zones at

https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/regions_az/?p=ngi&loc=2 .
 AWS data centers
The foundation for the AWS infrastructure is the data centers.

Data centers usually have specific characteristics, such as the following:

• They are a location where the actual physical data resides and data processing occurs.
• They house physical servers (typically 50,000 to 80,000 servers).
• They are online.
- All data centers are online.
- No data center is cold (or not being used).

Also, data centers contain AWS custom network equipment, such as the following:
• Multi-original design manufacturer (ODM) sourced hardware
• Amazon custom network protocol stack

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The foundation for the AWS infrastructure is the data centers. A data center is a
location where the actual physical data resides and data processing occurs. AWS data
centers are built in clusters in various global Regions.

Data centers are securely designed with several factors in mind:

• Each location is carefully evaluated to mitigate environmental risk.
• Data centers have a redundant design that anticipates and tolerates failure while
maintaining service levels.
• To help ensure availability, critical system components are backed up across
multiple isolated locations that are known as Availability Zones.
• To help ensure capacity, AWS continuously monitors service usage to deploy
infrastructure to support availability commitments and requirements.
• Data center locations are not disclosed, and all access to them is restricted.
• In case of failure, automated processes move customer data traffic away from the
affected area.

A single data center typically houses 50,000 to 80,000 physical servers.

All data centers are online and serving customers, so no data center is cold.

AWS uses custom, multi-ODM sourced network equipment. An original design

manufacturer (or ODM) designs and manufactures products based on specifications
from a second company. The second company then rebrands the products for sale.

For more information about AWS data center security, see the AWS Data Centers
page at https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/data-center/.
 AWS Availability Zones

Availability Zones
• Each Availability Zone is made up of one or more data
centers.

• Availability Zones are designed for fault isolation.

Data center Data center
• Availability Zones are interconnected with other
Availability Zones by using high-speed private links.
• You choose your Availability Zones.

• AWS recommends replicating across Availability Zones

for resiliency.
Data center Data center

Availability Zone

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Availability Zones consist of one or more discrete data centers that are designed for
fault isolation. They each have redundant power, networking, and connectivity
resources that are housed in separate facilities. They are interconnected with other
Availability Zones by using high-speed private links. Some Availability Zones have as
many as six data centers. However, no data center can be part of two Availability
Zones.

Each Availability Zone is designed as an independent failure zone. Availability Zones

are physically separated in a typical metropolitan Region. They are located in lower-
risk flood plains with specific flood-zone categorization that varies by Region. In
addition to having a discrete, uninterruptible power supply and onsite backup
generation facilities, they are each fed through different grids from independent
utilities to further reduce single points of failure. Availability Zones are all redundantly
connected to multiple tier-1 transit providers. Availability Zones in a Region are
connected through low-latency links.

You are responsible for selecting the Availability Zones where your systems will
reside. Systems can span across multiple Availability Zones. AWS recommends
replicating across Availability Zones for resiliency. You should design your systems to
survive temporary or prolonged failure of an Availability Zone if a disaster occurs.
Distributing applications across multiple Availability Zones helps them remain
resilient in most failure situations, including natural disasters or system failures.
 AWS Regions

AWS Regions
• An AWS Region is a geographical area.
• Each Region is made up of two or more Availability Data center Data center Data center Data center
Zones

• AWS has 24 Regions worldwide.

• You activate and control data replication across Data center Data center Data center Data center
Regions.
Availability Zone Availability Zone
• Communication between Regions uses AWS backbone
network connections infrastructure.

AWS Region

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The AWS Cloud infrastructure is built around Regions and Availability Zones.

An AWS Region is a physical geographical location in the world where AWS has
multiple Availability Zones. To achieve fault tolerance and stability, Regions are
isolated from each other. Resources in one Region are not automatically replicated to
other Regions. Each AWS Region contains two or more Availability Zones. As of
August 2020, AWS had 24 Regions worldwide.

When you store data in a specific Region, it’s not replicated outside that Region. AWS
never moves your data out of the Region that you put it in. It’s your responsibility to
replicate data across Regions if your business needs require it. AWS provides
information about the country and—where applicable—the state where each Region
resides. You are responsible for selecting the Region to store data in based on your
compliance and network latency requirements.

Consider these additional details. If you are using cloud computing services, you can
deploy your application in multiple Regions. For instance, you can have an application
in a Region that’s nearest to your headquarters, such as San Diego on the West Coast
of the US. You could then also have a deployable application in a Region on the East
Coast of the US. Say that your largest customer base is in Virginia. With a few clicks,
you can deploy in the US East Region to provide a better experience for your
customers who are located there. You will reduce latency and increase agility for your
organization within minutes with minimal cost.

Some Regions have restricted access. For example, the isolated AWS GovCloud (US)
Region is designed so that US government agencies and customers can move
sensitive workloads into the cloud by addressing their specific regulatory and
compliance requirements.
 Selecting a Region

Data governance and

legal requirements

Proximity to customers
Determine the right Region for your services, (latency)
applications, and data based on these factors.

Services available within

the Region

Costs (vary by Region)

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You should consider a few factors when you select the optimal Region or Regions
where you store data and use AWS services.

One essential consideration is data governance and legal requirements. Local laws
might require that certain information be kept within geographical boundaries. Such
laws might restrict the Regions where you can offer content or services. For example,
consider the European Union (EU) Data Protection Directive.

All else being equal, it’s generally desirable to run your applications and store your
data in a Region that is as close as possible to the user and systems that will access
them. This will help you reduce latency. CloudPing is one website that you can use to
test latency between your location and all AWS Regions. For more information about
CloudPing, see the CloudPing website at https://www.cloudping.info/.

Keep in mind that not all services are available in all Regions. For more information,
see the AWS Regional Services page at https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-
infrastructure/regional-product-services/.

Finally, there is some variation in the cost of running services, which can depend on
which Region you choose. For example, as of this writing, the per-hour cost to run a
t3.medium Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) On-Demand Linux Instance
in the US East (Ohio) Region might differ from running the same instance in the Asia
Pacific (Tokyo) Region.

In summary, when you select a Region, you should consider which Region offers the
services that you need and where it’s located. Doing so can help you optimize latency
while reducing costs. It can also help you follow whatever regulatory requirements
you might have.
 Points of presence

AWS provides a global network of 216 PoP locations.

• The PoPs consist of 205 edge locations and 11
Regional edge caches.

• PoPs are used with Amazon CloudFront, a global

content delivery network (CDN) that delivers content
to end users with reduced latency.
• Regional edge caches are used for content with
infrequent access.

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A PoP is where end users access AWS services through either the Amazon CloudFront
or the Amazon Route 53 services.

As of August 2020, the global AWS infrastructure contained 216 PoPs, consisting of
205 edge locations and 11 Regional edge caches located in most of the major cities
around the world. These PoPs serve requests for CloudFront and Route 53.

CloudFront is a content delivery network (or CDN) used to distribute content to end
users to reduce latency. Route 53 is a Domain Name System (DNS) service. Requests
going to either one of these services will be routed to the nearest edge location
automatically.

Regional edge caches, used by default with CloudFront, are used when you have
content that is not accessed frequently enough to remain in an edge location.
Regional edge caches absorb this content and provide an alternative to the content
having to be fetched from the origin server.

For more information about AWS Global Infrastructure, see the Global Infrastructure
page at https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/?p=ngi&loc=0.
 Physically Backup
AWS infrastructure features distinct zones generator
s

Data center Data center Data center Data center

Elastic and scalable:
• Elastic infrastructure that dynamic adapts to
capacity
• Scalable infrastructure that adjusts to Data center Data center Data center Data center
accommodate growth
Availability Zone Availability Zone
Fault-tolerant:
• Continues operating properly in the presence
of a failure
• Includes built-in redundancy of components Data center Data center
Highly available: Network
connectivity Cooling
• High level of operational performance with equipmen
reduced downtime t
Uninterruptible Data center Data center
power supply
Availability Zone
AWS Region
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The AWS Global infrastructure is built around Regions and Availability Zones. AWS
Regions provide multiple physically separated, isolated Availability Zones. An AWS
Region contains two or more Availability Zones.

An Availability Zone is a data center or collection of data centers. Availability Zones

are connected with low-latency, high-throughput, highly redundant networking.
Availability Zones are physically distinct. Each one has equipment like uninterruptible
power supplies, cooling equipment, backup generators, and security, to help ensure
uninterrupted operations.

This infrastructure has several valuable features:

• First, it is elastic and scalable. This means that resources can dynamically adjust to
increases or decreases in capacity requirements. The infrastructure can also rapidly
adjust to accommodate growth.
• Second, this infrastructure is fault tolerant, which means it has built-in component
redundancy so that it can continue operations despite a failed component.
• Finally, it requires minimal to no human intervention while providing high
availability with minimal downtime.
 Key takeaways
• The AWS Global Infrastructure consists of Regions and Availability
Zones.
• Your choice of a Region is typically based on compliance
requirements or to reduce latency.
• Each Availability Zone is physically separate from other Availability Zones
and has redundant power, networking, and connectivity.
• Edge locations and Regional edge caches (which are also called points
of presence) improve performance by caching content closer to users.

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This module includes the following key takeaways:

• The AWS Global Infrastructure consists of Regions and Availability Zones.
• Your choice of a Region is typically based on compliance requirements or to reduce
latency.
• Each Availability Zone is physically separate from other Availability Zones and has
redundant power, networking, and connectivity.
• Edge locations and Regional edge caches (which are also called points of presence)
improve performance by caching content closer to users.
Thank you

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owners.

Thank you for completing this module.

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