AWS Management Console: Okay, so you’re ready to start working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and cloud computing. But how? Well, it turns out that the services part of Amazon Web Services refers to the fact that all interaction with Amazon’s cloud computing service is performed with the help of numerous Application Programming Interface (API) calls over the Internet. These calls are accomplished by either SOAP or REST interfaces carrying data in XML or JSON format. Whew! Sounds complicated. Never fear.
AWS Management Console
Amazon offers its own, web-based interface to enable users to work with AWS. This interface, the AWS Management Console, hides all the complex details of interacting with the AWS API. You interact with the console, and Amazon’s program deals with all the complexity under the hood. In fact, many people never interact with AWS except through the Console – it’s that powerful.
This chapter introduces you to the Console, steps you through setting up your very own AWS account, and even provides your first taste of cloud computing. You get to interact with AWS’s S3 storage service, upload a picture of your choice, and then connect to it over the Internet and display it in your browser. How fun is that?
I provide screenshots of the various screens you see during your introduction to the Console so that you know exactly what you should see and do. By the end of this chapter, you’ll be ready to interact with AWS and, more importantly, to learn all about AWS’s great computing services.
Amazon updates the Management Console screens fairly frequently, so the screenshots in this book may look different than what you see displayed on your terminal. Fortunately, it’s usually pretty easy to map functionality from one screen version to another, but I wanted to provide a heads-up before you get worried about seeing a display that looks different from what’s in the book.
The Management Console display changes are a side effect of the rapid evolution and innovation within AWS. Access and manage Amazon Web Services through the AWS Management Console, a simple and intuitive user interface. You can also use the AWS Console Mobile Application to quickly view resources on the go.