Why do people love Cloud Computing?

So now that we know what AWS and cloud computing are, let's dig into why people care about it.

Speed & Agility

When we talk about speed in the context of cloud computing, we're referring to how fast you can get things done. Agility means how quickly and easily you can adapt to changes. Cloud services are only a click away, which means that you reduce the time to make resources available from weeks to minutes.

Why businesses and other cloud users love this:

• Rapid launching: Launch applications, websites, or databases within minutes rather than waiting for hardware setup.
• Experiment & innovate: Quickly test out ideas or applications without making big investments.

Scalability & Elasticity

Imagine a balloon. When you blow air into it, it expands. When you let the air out, it contracts. This ability to quickly expand and contract is similar to elasticity in cloud computing. Scalability means the ability to support something as it grows bigger and bigger. Imagine magic pot that automatically gets bigger as the plant inside grows taller!

Why businesses and other cloud users love this:

• Flexible resource usage: Cloud providers can automatically increase or decrease the amount of resources you're using in real-time, so you never have too little or too much. This is a huge benefit that also protect the apps you build from getting overwhelmed. For example, a website that's run on the cloud can easily take on big waves of new visitors without shutting down.

Economies of scale

When you buy your groceries at the supermarket, you might notice that it's usually cheaper to buy things in bulk. What if you and your friends combined your grocery lists, so you can buy everything you need in bulk and share the savings?

In cloud computing, providers like AWS operate massive data centres with millions of servers across the world. This means AWS is buying these resources 'in bulk', and sharing the savings with its customers. This concept is called economies of scale.

Why businesses and other cloud users love this:

• No hefty upfront costs: With AWS, there's no need to spend a fortune on purchasing and maintaining servers. Instead, you pay-as-you-go for the services you use.
• Cost management: Converting capital expenses (like buying hardware) into a pay-as-you-go model also makes it easier for businesses to manage their cash. It's similar to how it's easier to top up your bus card compared to buying a new car.

Global reach

Imagine you've painted a beautiful picture, and you want to show it to friends and family all over the world. Instead of traveling the world with your painting, you decide to take a photo of your artwork and send it digitally. Now, your friends, whether they're next door or on another continent, can see your masterpiece instantly.

In the world of the internet, "global reach" is somewhat similar. It's about making sure your digital creation (like a website or an app) can be easily accessed by people no matter where they are in the world. Cloud providers makes this really easy for customers by creating copies of your work and spreading it across their data centres all over the world.

Why businesses and other cloud users love this:

• Speed: If your app is hosted only in the U.S., someone trying to access it from Australia might find it slow. But if you also have a copy of your app hosted in Australia, they'll get much faster access.
• Reliability: What if the server hosting your app in the U.S. has a problem? If there are copies in other locations, people can still access your app through those other servers.

High availability

Think of it a reliable fast-food restaurant that's open 24/7. It's always open and ready to serve you, day or night, even if one of their cash registers breaks or a chef is on break. They have backup systems and staff to make sure you can get your food whenever you're hungry.

In the cloud computing, high availability means the website or app you want to use is also up 24/7. Cloud providers like AWS design their services a way that if something goes wrong, there are backup systems and plans in place so it keeps running smoothly.

Why businesses and other cloud users love this:

1. Continuous access: High availability means their users can access services or websites whenever they need to, which keeps their customers/users happy.
2. Business continuity: For businesses, high availability ensures that important operations can continue without fail. In industries like financial services, healthcare and emergency systems, time when their systems are unavailable could result in significant losses or even endanger lives.