Part 2. Building virtual infrastructure with servers and networking

Computing power and network connectivity have become basic needs for private households, medium-sized enterprises, and big corporations alike. Operating hardware in-house or in outsourced data centers covered these needs in the past. Today, the cloud is revolutionizing the way we access computing power. Virtual servers can be started and stopped on demand to fulfill computing needs within minutes. Being able to install software on virtual servers enables you to execute computing tasks without having to buy or rent hardware.

If you want to understand AWS, you have to dive into the possibilities offered by the API working behind the scenes. You can control every service on AWS by sending requests to a REST API. Based on this API, a variety of solutions can help you to automate your overall infrastructure. Infrastructure automation is a major advantage of the cloud, compared to on-premises solutions.

This part of the book will introduce you to infrastructure orchestration and automated deployment of applications. Creating virtual networks allows you to build closed, secure network environments on AWS and to connect them with your home or corporate network. Chapter 3 explores working with a virtual server; you’ll learn key concepts of the EC2 service. Chapter 4 discusses approaches to automating your infrastructure and using infrastructure as code. Chapter 5 shows you three different ways to deploy software to AWS. Finally, chapter 6 is about networking; you’ll learn how to secure your system with a virtual private network and firewalls.