The Four Pillars of AWS: A Complete Guide

Last updated: November 29, 2025 By Sunil Shaw

AWS (Amazon Web Services) is built on four powerful pillars that help businesses create secure, scalable, and reliable cloud solutions. These pillars guide every service, architecture design, and deployment model within AWS, ensuring that applications perform smoothly even when demand grows. Understanding these pillars is essential for anyone planning to build or manage systems on the AWS cloud.

What are the 4 pillars of AWS?

1. Compute

The Compute pillar focuses on providing the processing power needed to run applications. Services like EC2, Lambda, Elastic Beanstalk, and ECS allow businesses to choose how they want their workloads to run � whether through virtual servers, serverless functions, or containerized apps. This flexibility ensures that companies pay only for what they use while scaling easily whenever traffic increases.

2. Storage

The Storage pillar is all about securely storing data in a cost-efficient and durable way. AWS provides multiple storage options such as S3, EBS, EFS, and Glacier, each designed for different types of workloads. From storing large media files to maintaining backups and archives, AWS storage services ensure high availability and protection against data loss.

3. Database

AWS offers a wide range of databases to match various application needs. From relational databases like RDS and Aurora to NoSQL databases like DynamoDB, this pillar helps businesses store and retrieve data quickly and reliably. AWS also provides fully managed database services, reducing the heavy lifting of maintenance, updates, and scaling.

4. Networking

The Networking pillar focuses on connecting applications securely and efficiently. Tools like VPC, Route 53, CloudFront, and API Gateway help route traffic, deliver global content, manage domains, and create secure private networks. This ensures smooth communication between services and users across the world.

Is AWS easy to learn?

Yes, AWS is easy to learn but only if you follow the right path. AWS can be easy or difficult depending on your background and how you approach it. If you�re familiar with basic computer concepts like servers, networks, and storage, learning AWS becomes much easier. But even beginners can learn it because AWS provides a lot of beginner-friendly services, documentation, and hands-on tutorials.

Why AWS Is Easy to Learn

Beginner-friendly services like S3, EC2, and IAM are simple to understand.
Hands-on labs help you practice directly in the console without deep coding knowledge.
Plenty of free resources: AWS Free Tier, YouTube tutorials, blogs, and courses.
Step-by-step learning path makes it clear what to study next.

Why Some People Find It Difficult

AWS has 200+ services, which can feel overwhelming at first.
Concepts like VPC, networking, load balancing, and security can be tricky for beginners.
Learning without practice becomes confusing, because AWS is best understood by doing.

Who Can Learn AWS Easily?

Beginners with basic computer knowledge
Developers and DevOps engineers
Students
System admins
Anyone switching careers into cloud

With consistent practice (even 1 hour per day), most people learn the basics of AWS in 30-60 days.

Is Amazon AWS free?

Yes, Amazon AWS is free � but only up to a limit.
AWS gives a Free Tier that lets beginners learn and practice without paying, but it has some conditions.

AWS now gives a 6-month Free Tier with $200 credits, along with other free options. This makes it easier for beginners to learn and practice without paying, but it still has usage limits.

Is Amazon AWS Free?

No, AWS certifications are not free.
AWS certification exams always have a fee, but AWS provides some free resources to help you prepare.

AWS is not fully free, but it offers a Free Tier that allows you to use many services for free for a limited time or with limited usage. AWS is not completely free, but it offers multiple free options that let you use services for a limited time or within specific usage limits.

AWS Free Tier now has 4 types:

1. 6-Month Free Tier + $200 Credit (New Update)

New AWS accounts now receive:

$200 free credits (valid for 30 days)
6 months of extended free usage on selected services

This is helpful for beginners to try EC2, S3, RDS, and many other services without worrying about charges for the first few months.

2. 12-Month Free Tier (Traditional Free Tier)

Free for the first 12 months after account creation.

Examples:

EC2: 750 hours/month (t2.micro or t3.micro)
S3: 5 GB storage
RDS: 750 hours/month
CloudFront: 50 GB data transfer

3. Always Free (Lifetime Free)

These services are always free within limits.

Examples:

AWS Lambda: 1 million requests/month
DynamoDB: 25 GB storage
SNS, SQS, Glue Data Catalog (limited usage)

4. Free Trials (30-60 Days)

Short-period free access for certain services like:

Amazon Lightsail
Amazon QuickSight

Important Note

AWS is free only if you stay within Free Tier or credit limits.
If you exceed those limits, AWS will charge you.

Is AWS Certification Free?

AWS offers free learning materials, free practice labs, and a Free Tier for hands-on practice � but the actual certification exam is paid.

Here are the official exam prices:

AWS Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02): ~$100
AWS Associate level (Solutions Architect / Developer / SysOps): ~$150
Professional & Specialty certifications: ~$300

(Prices vary slightly by country)

What Is Free Then?

Although the exam isn�t free, AWS gives you:

1. Free Training

AWS Skill Builder (free courses)
AWS Educate (for students & beginners)
Free YouTube tutorials
Free whitepapers and labs

2. Free Hands-On Practice

AWS Free Tier (EC2, S3, Lambda, RDS, etc.)
$200 credit for new accounts (limited time offer)

3. Free Practice Questions

AWS gives sample exam questions on their official site.

Can AWS Certification Become Free?

Sometimes AWS runs offers like:

50% discount vouchers
Free exam retakes
Student programs with major discounts

But the exam itself is never permanently free.

the salary for someone working with Amazon Web Services (AWS) depends a lot on role, experience, skills, and location. Here�s a rough idea, especially focusing on India (since you are in Ghaziabad, UP).

What is the salary of an AWS?

What �salary of an AWS� means

Usually people ask about pay for roles like: AWS Cloud Engineer, AWS Solutions Architect, DevOps Engineer working on AWS, etc.

For a mid-level AWS Cloud Engineer: ~ INR 14.98 lakh per year (median) � salary range roughly INR 10.7 lakh to INR 20.0 lakh/year. Salary.com+1
For freshers / 0-2 years experience at some companies: ~ INR 12.7 lakh to INR 23.6 lakh/year (depending on employer, role) AmbitionBox
With more experience / advanced roles (cloud architect, senior engineer, specialist), pay tends to increase further (depending on company and responsibility). cloudkeeda.com+1

Factors that Change Salary

Your salary will depend on:

Experience level � fresher vs experienced vs specialist.
Role & responsibilities � basic cloud-support / junior engineer vs architect / senior engineer vs specialist in DevOps, data, security etc.
Company / employer � big firms usually pay more than small firms.
Skills & certifications � deeper knowledge of AWS services, architecture, DevOps practices, certifications increase demand and pay.

Conclusion

These four pillar Compute, Storage, Database, and Networking form the foundation of AWS. Together, they help businesses build applications that are fast, scalable, secure, and reliable. Whether you’re a developer, DevOps engineer, or cloud beginner, mastering these pillars is the first step to understanding how AWS works at its core.

AWS is definitely learnable, and even beginners can master it with hands-on practice and a structured approach. Start with core services like EC2, S3, IAM, RDS, and VPC, and you�ll gain confidence very quickly.