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Intro to AWS

Regions and Availability Zones in AWS​

Region​

A Region is a geographical area composed of multiple Availability Zones. It is a distinct location with independent failure domains.

Key Considerations for Region Selection:

  • Compliance: Adherence to data residency laws and regulations.
  • Latency: Proximity to end-users for optimal performance.
  • Service Availability: Not all services and features are available in every Region.
  • Pricing: Regional pricing variations.

Example Regions:

  • us-east-1 (US East (N. Virginia))
  • ap-south-1 (Asia Pacific (Mumbai))

Availability Zone (AZ)​

An Availability Zone is a distinct location within a Region, physically isolated from other Availability Zones. It consists of one or more data centers, each with independent power, cooling, and networking.

Key Characteristics of Availability Zones:

  • Isolation: Protects against single points of failure.
  • High-Speed Networking: Ensures low-latency communication between AZs.
  • Unique Identifiers: AZ IDs are used to coordinate across multiple AWS accounts.

Example Availability Zones in the us-east-1 Region:

  • us-east-1a
  • us-east-1b
  • us-east-1c