Lesson 26
Compute Services Overview
The four categories of AWS compute — virtual machines, containers, serverless, and PaaS
1. The Four Compute Categories
AWS offers four categories of compute. Each trades control for convenience. The exam tests whether you can match a use case to the right category. Understanding this spectrum before diving into each service is essential.
| Category | Services | You Manage | AWS Manages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virtual Machines (IaaS) | Amazon EC2 | OS, patching, scaling, availability | Hypervisor, host hardware, network |
| Containers | ECS, EKS, Fargate, ECR | Container images, task definitions | Orchestration, cluster scaling, control plane |
| Serverless | AWS Lambda | Function code and IAM permissions | Servers, scaling, patching, availability |
| Platform (PaaS) | AWS Elastic Beanstalk | Application code | Infrastructure, deployment, load balancing, scaling |
Rule of thumb: More control = more responsibility. Less control = less responsibility. Choose the highest level that meets your needs so you can focus on your application, not undifferentiated heavy lifting.
Compute Overview Quiz
Select one answer per question. You will receive immediate feedback.
1. A developer wants to run a function every time a file is uploaded to an S3 bucket. The function runs for 2 seconds and the developer does not want to manage any servers. Which service should they use?
2. A company has an existing Kubernetes cluster and wants to run it on AWS without managing the control plane. Which service should they choose?
3. A startup wants to deploy a Python web application and wants AWS to handle load balancing, scaling, and health monitoring automatically. Which service requires the least management overhead?
4. A company needs to run a legacy application that requires a specific Linux kernel module and full administrative access. Which compute option is most appropriate?
Progress: 0/4 correct (0%). Answer all questions to see the final recommendation.
Primary Source: AWS Academy Module 6: Compute (module-6.txt).