Are you new to cloud computing and want to master Amazon Web Services (AWS)? Whether you are a developer, IT professional, student, or business owner, this comprehensive AWS cheatsheet will help you get started quickly and confidently. AWS is the world’s leading cloud platform, offering over 200 services with a pay-as-you-go pricing model that delivers unmatched scalability, reliability, and global reach.
In this guide, you will find everything you need: core concepts, key services, practical tips, and best practices. Let’s dive in.
Core Concepts (Must-Know for Beginners)
- Regions: Geographic areas (e.g., us-east-1). Choose based on latency, compliance, or cost.
- Availability Zones (AZs): Isolated data centers within a Region for high availability (usually 3+ per Region).
- Edge Locations: For services like CloudFront (CDN) — hundreds worldwide for low-latency delivery.
- Shared Responsibility Model: AWS secures the cloud (hardware, facilities); you secure your stuff in the cloud (data, configs, OS patching).
- Well-Architected Framework Pillars: Operational Excellence, Security, Reliability, Performance Efficiency, Cost Optimization, Sustainability.
- Free Tier: Limited free usage for 12 months on many services (always check aws.amazon.com/free).
Pricing Basics: On-demand, Reserved/Savings Plans (cheaper for commitments), Spot (cheap interruptible), Data transfer costs matter.
1. Compute Services (Run Your Code/Apps)
| Service | What It Is | Key Use Cases | Notes/Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| EC2 | Virtual servers (Instances) | Web apps, databases, anything needing full control | Choose instance types (t3, m6, etc.). Use AMIs (OS images). |
| Lambda | Serverless — run code without servers | Event-driven apps, APIs, automation | Pay per execution time. Great with API Gateway. |
| ECS / EKS | Container orchestration (Docker) | Microservices | ECS simpler; EKS is Kubernetes-managed. |
| Fargate | Serverless containers | Run containers without managing servers | Pairs with ECS/EKS. |
| Elastic Beanstalk | Easy app deployment (PaaS) | Web apps (Java, .NET, Node, etc.) | Handles scaling, load balancing. |
| Lightsail | Simplified VPS for beginners | Small websites, dev environments | Budget-friendly bundles. |
Auto Scaling + Elastic Load Balancing (ELB): Scale EC2/containers automatically and distribute traffic.
2. Storage Services
| Service | Type | Durability/Use Cases | Key Features |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 | Object storage | Websites, backups, data lakes | 99.999999999% durability. Buckets + keys. |
| EBS | Block storage (for EC2) | Databases, boot volumes | Snapshots to S3. |
| EFS | Managed NFS file system | Shared files across EC2/Linux | Scales automatically. |
| Glacier (S3 Glacier) | Archival storage | Long-term backups, compliance | Cheap but slower retrieval. |
| Storage Gateway | Hybrid cloud storage | On-prem to AWS backup | File, Volume, Tape gateways. |
S3 Tips: Use versioning, lifecycle policies (move to Glacier), encryption, public/private access.
3. Databases
| Service | Type | Best For | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| RDS | Relational (SQL) | Traditional apps (MySQL, Postgres, Aurora) | Managed backups, scaling. |
| DynamoDB | NoSQL/Key-value | High-scale apps, serverless | Single-digit ms latency. DAX for caching. |
| Redshift | Data warehouse | Analytics, BI | Petabyte-scale. |
| ElastiCache | In-memory cache | Redis/Memcached | Speed up apps. |
| Aurora | MySQL/Postgres compatible | High performance relational | Serverless option available. |
4. Networking & Content Delivery
- VPC (Virtual Private Cloud): Your isolated network in AWS (subnets, route tables, NACLs, Security Groups).
- Route 53: Highly available DNS + domain registration.
- CloudFront: Global CDN for fast content delivery (caches at edge locations).
- API Gateway: Build, secure, and monitor APIs (REST, WebSocket).
- Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB): Distribute traffic.
- Direct Connect / Transit Gateway: Private connectivity from on-prem.
Security Groups = instance firewalls. IAM controls access.
5. Security, Identity & Compliance (Critical!)
- IAM (Identity & Access Management): Users, Groups, Roles, Policies (JSON). Least privilege principle.
- Cognito: User authentication/sign-up for apps.
- KMS: Key management & encryption.
- GuardDuty: Threat detection.
- Inspector: Vulnerability scanning.
- WAF: Web Application Firewall.
- CloudTrail: API logging/auditing.
- Config: Track resource configurations.
Always enable MFA on root/IAM accounts.
6. Management & Monitoring
- CloudWatch: Metrics, logs, alarms, dashboards.
- CloudFormation: Infrastructure as Code (YAML/JSON templates).
- AWS Organizations: Manage multiple accounts (billing, SCPs).
- Cost Explorer / Budgets: Track & control spending.
- Systems Manager: Patch, run commands on fleets.
- Trusted Advisor: Cost, security, performance recommendations.
7. Other Popular Categories
- Analytics: EMR (Spark/Hadoop), Kinesis (streaming), Glue (ETL), QuickSight (BI).
- AI/ML: SageMaker, Bedrock, Rekognition, Comprehend, etc.
- Developer Tools: CodePipeline (CI/CD), CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, CodeCommit.
- Migration: DMS, Snowball (physical data transfer), Server Migration Service.
- Application Integration: SQS (queues), SNS (pub/sub), Step Functions (orchestration).
AWS CLI Basics (Essential Commands)
Install: aws configure (access key, secret, region, output).
Common Commands:
- aws s3 ls / aws s3 cp file s3://bucket/ / aws s3 sync
- aws ec2 describe-instances
- aws lambda invoke –function-name myfunc output.json
- aws cloudformation deploy –template-file template.yaml –stack-name mystack
- aws iam list-users
Use –profile for multiple accounts.
Quick Start Tips for Dummies
- Create a free AWS account.
- Use IAM user (not root) with MFA.
- Start with Lightsail or Elastic Beanstalk for simple apps.
- Learn S3 + EC2/Lambda + VPC + IAM first.
- Draw architectures (use draw.io or Cloudcraft).
- Practice in Free Tier + AWS Console + CLI.
- For certifications (Cloud Practitioner first): Focus on core services, billing, security, global infrastructure.
Best Practices:
- Use Infrastructure as Code (CloudFormation/Terraform).
- Encrypt everything.
- Tag resources for cost allocation.
- Design for failure (multi-AZ).
AWS evolves fast — check the official console or docs.aws.amazon.com for latest features. For deeper dives, use Tutorials Dojo, A Cloud Guru, or official AWS training.
This cheatsheet covers ~80% of what beginners and associate-level users need daily. Build small projects (static site on S3+CloudFront, serverless API with Lambda+DynamoDB) to solidify knowledge!
Happy cloud computing! 🚀
