Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides more than 70 different services and is the fastest growing cloud provider. No matter what you need to do, it’s likely that there is already a service on AWS that will make it quick and easy. On top of that, the infrastructure of AWS is there for you to make use of.
However, there are some limitations where AWS is concerned. Some may be obvious but others are not, and all of them should be considered before you choose AWS as your provider. We’re going to look at those so you fully understand them and can make the decision right for you.
Service Limits
AWS has service limits that are set by the platform. There are two reasons for this. These restrictions are in place to protect the system from resource usage that is out of control, and they are there to prevent you from spending too much money when you’re just getting started with the platform.
AWS and other cloud platforms are known for offering scalability and the ability to add more resources as they are needed. The reason for this is that you often don’t need as many resources as you might think. Most companies using AWS won’t need more than five elastic IPs per region or more than 20 instances of EC2 per region. As such, the default limitations are set there. You can increase those as needed, but there is an additional charge. The list of limitations is on the AWS service limit page.
Technology Limitations
This relates to any cloud service, but it bears discussion. Technology limitations refer to the fact that some things are not yet possible on any cloud server. For instance, if Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) sends out an email per second and that is the limit, asking for more won’t do anyone any good. Maybe it will be possible in the future, but for now, it is not.
What this means is that your company needs to be aware of the limits of technology, so you don’t go into AWS or another service expecting more than is possible. At that point, you can work around the limitations that simply cannot be changed at this time.
Lack of Knowledge
When choosing AWS as your provider, you will need to be prepared to invest in educating your team. The platform is excellent and has many services, but you need to know what you’re doing to use it the way it is intended. You might want to hire an AWS consultant, but it’s also important to educate the rest of your team as much as you can about the platform. There are many resources online that can help with this.
Technical Support
Your monthly fee with AWS offers you a limited amount of support, but if you end up needing more immediate or intensive assistance, you’ll want to opt for one of the support packages. This will add to your monthly costs, but it will also ensure you have a great team to help you if anything ever comes up that needs an immediate resolution.
General Cloud Computing
Of course, with any cloud computing platform, there are concerns related to backup protection, downtimes, limited control, security, and privacy. These are things it is natural to worry about, but in most cases, the cloud computing process and platform handle these situations. With companies like Google, Microsoft, and Amazon behind systems like these, they are exceptionally trustworthy to most. Some companies such as Cloudways offer a managed cloud platform where you can pick from the top cloud networks – AWS, Google, Digital Ocean, Linode and Vultr.
Being aware of your expectations and what reality holds is essential. You can’t expect AWS to be perfect, easy to setup, and requiring no education or help. It’s a complicated infrastructure with its own rules. Once you understand them, you can enjoy your time on the cloud.