Getting Started with AWS provides an overview of fundamental AWS services and steps to get started using AWS. It covers creating an AWS account, SSH keys for access, security groups for firewall rules, launching EC2 virtual machines, connecting to instances, taking EBS volume snapshots for backups, monitoring with CloudWatch alarms, and using S3 storage. The presentation aims to give attendees a hands-on introduction to common AWS services needed for basic deployment and management of cloud resources.

1. Getting Started with AWS
Adam Glick

2. Agenda:
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Fundamental pillars of the AWS cloud
The typical cloud user progression
Getting started walk-thru
Q&A

3. Fundamentals of the AWS Cloud
Complete Set
of Services
Flexibility
Global Presence
Instant Access
to Resources
Low Cost IT
Productive

4. What is Available from AWS
Deployment & Administration
Application Services
Compute
Storage
Networking
AWS Global Infrastructure
Database

5. Typical Startup Growth Cycle
Create
Share
Deploy
Cloud
PC
Server
Scale up
Scale out
Manage & Optimize
$
Colocation
$
Server room

6. Shortcut
Elastic Beanstalk
• Supports common platforms:
• Java, Ruby, Python, PHP, Node.js, .Net
• Automatic deployment; upload and go.
• No infrastructure planning needed; handles: load
balancing, virtual machines, databases,
monitoring, etc.
• Resources are automatically allocated
• Scales automatically (horizontally)

7. Free tier
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FREE
Includes most of the AWS services
Available for all new account
Good for one year from the day the account is created
Everything we show today can be done within the free
tier
• More details at http://aws.amazon.com/free

8. Let’s Get Started:
We’ll learn how to:
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Set up an AWS account
Create your SSH keys (used to log into your instances)
Create a security group (firewall)
Start an EC2 instance (virtual machine)
Connect to your EC2 instance
Create a CloudWatch alarm to email you if your server is under heavy
load
– Take a snapshot (backup) of your instance and restore it
– Use S3 (Internet connected storage)

9. Sign Up
• Sign up though https://aws.amazon.com
• You need a CC
• There will be a phone verification

10. Demo
Signing Up for AWS

11. Creating your SSH Key
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SSH stands for Secure Shell
SSH keys are used for secured access to EC2 (Linux)
SSH keys avoid password weaknesses
Can import your own or use AWS created keys

12. Demo
Creating SSH Keys

13. Creating a Security Group
• Security Groups are firewalls for your instances
• By default, the Security Group blocks everything
• Choose which protocols & ports are open
– Can use port ranges (e.g. 22-24)
• Choose which addresses the ports are open to
– Uses CIDR rules for IP address access
– (use /32 for allowing a single address)

14. Demo
Creating a Security Group

15. Start a New Instance
• Instances are virtual machines running in the cloud
• You have full control of the instance and can install
any software that you choose
• In this process, you define what kind of machine you
want (processing power, HD space, etc.)
• You will need:
– A Key Pair to connect to your instance via SSH
– A Security Group to put your instance in

16. Demo
Starting an EC2 Instance

17. Select Choose one or more of your existing Security groups

18. Connecting to EC2 Instances
• SSH is used to connect to Linux
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There is a Java-based terminal available in the EC2 Console
Linux/OSX: Terminal
Windows: PuTTY
Note: If you are using an Linux distribution that has a GUI, you can
use a remote GUI tool like VNC
• Remote Desktop is used to connect to Windows
– Windows: MSTSC (Microsoft Terminal Services Client)
– Linux/OSX: 2X client
– Note: you can also use Remote PowerShell or a 3rd party shell
extension with Windows.

19. Connecting to a Linux Instance (from Linux/OSX)
• Open a terminal window
• ssh -i {ssh private key location} ec2user@{public DNS name}

20. Connecting to a Linux Instance (from Windows)
• Download/Install PuTTY
– http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/download.html
• Convert .pem file to .ppk with puttygen
• Create a connection in PuTTY

21. Connecting to a Windows Instance (from Windows)
• Open a Remote Desktop connection
• Windows + r or start and then the “run” option
• mstsc /v:{EC2 instance public DNS Name}

22. Demo
Connecting to a Linux EC2 Instance
from Windows

23. Demo
Connecting to a Linux EC2 Instance

24. CloudWatch
• CloudWatch provides monitoring information for
your EC2 instances
• CloudWatch allows you to specify actions to take
when a condition is met
– Example 1: Send an email when CPU Utilization >80% for 5
minutes
– Example 2: Add another machine to an Auto-Scaling Group if
Average Disk Read IOPS across an Auto-Scaling Group exceeds
500
– Example 3: Remove a machine from an Auto-Scaling Group if
Network input drops below 2,000 Bytes

25. Demo
Creating a CloudWatch Alarm

26. Additional Information
• CloudWatch works with Auto-Scaling
• When you have defined an Auto-Scaling Group,
CloudWatch Alarms can be used to increase
and decrease the resources in the Auto-Scaling
Group.

27. Elastic Block Storage
• Elastic Block Storage (EBS) is block level
storage for EC2 instances (think HDD)
• EBS volumes can be removed and re-attached
• Custom volume sizes from 1TB – 1 GB (RAID
for larger)
• Use Provisioned IOPS for predictable I/O

28. Demo
Backing up an EBS volume

29. Restoring a Snapshot / Creating an AMI
• AMIs are Amazon Machine Images
• AMIs are bootable versions of a snapshot (backup)
• AMIs are private, but you can choose to share them
with others

30. Demo
Creating an AMI / Restoring a Snapshot

31. S3
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S3 is Amazon’s Simple Storage Service
Store and retrieve almost any amount of data – 1 Byte to 5 Terabytes
Highly scalable
Highly durable
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Encryption available
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Regular S3 has 99.999999999% durability
Reduced Redundancy Storage (RRS) offers 99.99% durability at discount
At rest and for ingest/delivery
Storage is isolated by region
Object level permissions
Easily Accessible
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Web (HTTP/HTTPS)
P2P (BitTorrent)
APIs (REST & SOAP)

32. Demo
Using S3

33. Summary
• We covered:
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Signing up (and in) with AWS
Creating SSH Keys (not needed for Windows)
Configuring a Security Group (setting firewall rules)
Creating an EC2 instance
Connecting to an EC2 instance
Creating a snapshot of your instance (Taking a backup)
Restoring a snapshot of your instance (Creating an AMI)
Setting a CloudWatch Alarm
Creating an S3 bucket, uploading a file, & making the file public

34. Thank You!

35. Interested to Learn More?
Sign up for the next webinar in the series at:
http://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/events/

36. Questions?
Also engage with us at:
Twitter: @AWSCloud
Forums: https://forums.aws.amazon.com