aws hosting website essentials and setup guide
What it means
Running a site on Amazon Web Services blends storage, compute, networking, and security into a flexible stack. Static pages can live on S3 with CloudFront acceleration, while dynamic backends use EC2 or Lambda. DNS is handled by Route 53, and certificates come from AWS Certificate Manager for seamless HTTPS.
How it works
Traffic flows from your domain to CloudFront, which caches content at the edge and fetches origins from S3 or an application load balancer. Auto Scaling keeps capacity right-sized, CloudWatch records logs and metrics, and IAM enforces least privilege. The result is fast delivery, resilience, and global reach.
Quick steps
- Create an account, set a budget, and lock down IAM users.
- Register or point your domain to Route 53.
- Provision an ACM certificate and enforce HTTPS.
- Host static assets on S3 and front them with CloudFront.
- Deploy APIs on Lambda or containers behind an ALB.
Costs and tips
Use the free tier when possible, compress images, tune cache TTLs, enable lifecycle policies, and review cost explorer monthly to avoid surprises.