Introduction to 30 Most Common AWS Basic Interview Questions

Landing a job in cloud computing often starts with acing the AWS basic interview questions interview. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the leading cloud platform, and demonstrating a solid understanding of its foundational concepts is crucial. This blog post will equip you with 30 of the most common AWS basic interview questions interview questions, complete with explanations, answer strategies, and example responses, helping you walk into your interview with confidence and increase your chances of success.

What are AWS Basic Interview Questions Interview Questions?

AWS basic interview questions interview questions are designed to assess your understanding of fundamental AWS concepts and services. These questions typically cover topics like cloud computing models, core AWS services (EC2, S3, IAM), and basic architecture principles. They aim to gauge your familiarity with the AWS ecosystem and your ability to apply this knowledge to real-world scenarios.

Why Do Interviewers Ask AWS Basic Interview Questions Questions?

Interviewers ask AWS basic interview questions questions to:

• Evaluate Foundational Knowledge: To ensure you have a solid grasp of AWS fundamentals.

• Assess Practical Understanding: To determine if you can apply your knowledge to practical situations.

• Gauge Problem-Solving Skills: To see how you approach and solve common cloud-related challenges.

• Determine Fit for the Role: To assess if your AWS skills align with the requirements of the job.

• Understand Your Learning Agility: To see how quickly you can learn and adapt to new AWS services and features.

Here's a preview of the 30 AWS basic interview questions we'll cover:

1. What is AWS?

2. What are the three main types of cloud computing models?

3. What is EC2?

4. Explain Amazon S3.

5. Describe IAM in AWS.

6. What is CloudWatch?

7. Explain Availability Zones and Regions in AWS.

8. Define Elastic Load Balancer (ELB).

9. Explain Key-Pairs in AWS EC2 Instances: How do they work? What purpose do they serve?

10. What are Security Groups?

11. What is AWS Lambda?

12. Explain Amazon VPC.

13. What is Amazon RDS?

14. Describe DynamoDB.

15. What is AWS CloudFormation?

16. Explain the benefits of using AWS.

17. What is the AWS Management Console?

18. What is the AWS CLI?

19. Explain the difference between scaling up and scaling out.

20. What are the different storage classes in S3?

21. What is the purpose of an Elastic IP address?

22. What is the difference between EBS and Instance Store?

23. Explain AWS Auto Scaling.

24. What is the purpose of AWS Route 53?

25. What is AWS CloudTrail?

26. Describe the AWS Shared Responsibility Model.

27. What are AWS Tags?

28. What is the use of AWS KMS?

29. What is AWS Trusted Advisor?

30. Explain the concept of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in AWS.

30 AWS Basic Interview Questions Interview Questions

1. What is AWS?

Why you might get asked this: This question assesses your fundamental understanding of what AWS is and its purpose. It's a basic question to gauge your familiarity with the platform.

How to answer:

• Provide a concise definition of AWS.

• Mention its key features and benefits.

• Highlight that it is a comprehensive cloud computing platform.

Example answer:

"Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a comprehensive cloud computing platform offering a wide range of services, including computing power, storage, databases, analytics, and more. It allows individuals, businesses, and governments to run applications and store data in the cloud on a pay-as-you-go basis."

2. What are the three main types of cloud computing models?

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your knowledge of the different cloud service models and your understanding of their respective responsibilities.

How to answer:

• Clearly identify and define each of the three models.

• Explain the differences between them.

• Provide examples of services that fall under each model.

Example answer:

"The three main types of cloud computing models are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). IaaS provides access to fundamental computing resources like virtual machines and storage. PaaS provides a platform for developing and deploying applications, while SaaS delivers software applications over the internet."

3. What is EC2?

Why you might get asked this: This question evaluates your understanding of EC2, a core AWS service for virtual computing.

How to answer:

• Define EC2 and its purpose.

• Explain its key features, such as resizable compute capacity.

• Mention use cases for EC2.

Example answer:

"EC2, or Elastic Compute Cloud, is a web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It allows users to rent virtual machines on which to run their applications. EC2 is ideal for workloads that require control over the operating system and infrastructure."

4. Explain Amazon S3.

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your knowledge of S3, AWS's primary object storage service.

How to answer:

• Define S3 and its purpose.

• Explain its key features, such as scalability and durability.

• Mention different storage classes.

Example answer:

"Amazon S3, or Simple Storage Service, is an object storage service offering scalability, data availability, security, and performance. It is used to store and retrieve any amount of data at any time, from anywhere. S3 offers different storage classes optimized for various use cases, such as frequent access, infrequent access, and archival."

5. Describe IAM in AWS.

Why you might get asked this: This question assesses your understanding of IAM, a critical service for managing access to AWS resources.

How to answer:

• Define IAM and its purpose.

• Explain its key features, such as users, groups, roles, and policies.

• Highlight the importance of security best practices.

Example answer:

"IAM, or Identity and Access Management, enables you to manage access to AWS services and resources securely. With IAM, you can create and manage AWS users and groups, and use permissions to allow and deny their access to AWS resources. It's a fundamental service for implementing security best practices in AWS."

6. What is CloudWatch?

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your knowledge of CloudWatch, AWS's monitoring and observability service.

How to answer:

• Define CloudWatch and its purpose.

• Explain its key features, such as metrics, logs, and alarms.

• Mention use cases for monitoring and troubleshooting.

Example answer:

"CloudWatch is a monitoring and observability service that provides data and actionable insights to monitor your applications, respond to system-wide performance changes, optimize resource utilization, and gain a unified view of operational health. It collects metrics, logs, and events, and allows you to set alarms to automatically react to changes in your AWS environment."

7. Explain Availability Zones and Regions in AWS.

Why you might get asked this: This question evaluates your understanding of AWS's global infrastructure and high availability concepts.

How to answer:

• Define Regions and Availability Zones (AZs).

• Explain their relationship and how they provide redundancy.

• Highlight the importance of deploying applications across multiple AZs.

Example answer:

"A Region is a geographical area containing multiple Availability Zones. An Availability Zone (AZ) is an isolated location within a Region. Each Region consists of multiple, isolated, and physically separate AZs, which are connected with low-latency, high-bandwidth, and redundant networking. Deploying applications across multiple AZs provides high availability and fault tolerance."

8. Define Elastic Load Balancer (ELB).

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your knowledge of ELB, a service for distributing traffic across multiple targets.

How to answer:

• Define ELB and its purpose.

• Explain the different types of ELBs.

• Mention benefits like improved availability and scalability.

Example answer:

"Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) automatically distributes incoming application traffic across multiple targets, such as EC2 instances, containers, and IP addresses. ELB supports different types of load balancers, including Application Load Balancers, Network Load Balancers, and Classic Load Balancers. It improves application availability, scalability, and security."

9. Explain Key-Pairs in AWS EC2 Instances: How do they work? What purpose do they serve?

Why you might get asked this: This question assesses your understanding of secure access to EC2 instances.

How to answer:

• Explain what key pairs are.

• Describe how they are used for authentication.

• Highlight their importance in securing EC2 instances.

Example answer:

"Key pairs are sets of security credentials that you use to prove your identity when connecting to an EC2 instance. A key pair consists of a public key, which AWS stores, and a private key, which you keep. When you connect to your instance, you must specify the private key. AWS uses the public key to verify that you have the correct private key, allowing you to connect securely."

10. What are Security Groups?

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your knowledge of network security in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define Security Groups and their purpose.

• Explain how they act as virtual firewalls.

• Describe how to configure inbound and outbound rules.

Example answer:

"Security Groups act as virtual firewalls for your EC2 instances, controlling inbound and outbound traffic. You can define rules to specify which traffic is allowed to reach your instances. Security Groups operate at the instance level and allow you to define rules based on IP addresses, protocols, and port numbers."

11. What is AWS Lambda?

Why you might get asked this: This question assesses your understanding of serverless computing in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define AWS Lambda and its purpose.

• Explain the concept of serverless computing.

• Mention use cases for Lambda functions.

Example answer:

"AWS Lambda is a serverless compute service that lets you run code without provisioning or managing servers. You can upload your code as a "Lambda function," and AWS Lambda runs your code only when needed and scales automatically. It's ideal for event-driven applications, data processing, and backend services."

12. Explain Amazon VPC.

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your knowledge of networking in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define Amazon VPC and its purpose.

• Explain its key features, such as subnets and route tables.

• Mention use cases for creating isolated networks.

Example answer:

"Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) enables you to launch AWS resources into a logically isolated virtual network that you define. You have complete control over your virtual networking environment, including the selection of your own IP address range, creation of subnets, and configuration of route tables and network gateways. It allows you to create a private and secure network within AWS."

13. What is Amazon RDS?

Why you might get asked this: This question evaluates your understanding of managed database services in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define Amazon RDS and its purpose.

• Explain the different database engines supported.

• Mention benefits like simplified database administration.

Example answer:

"Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It supports various database engines, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, and MariaDB. RDS automates many database administration tasks, such as patching, backup, and recovery."

14. Describe DynamoDB.

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your knowledge of NoSQL databases in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define DynamoDB and its purpose.

• Explain its key features, such as scalability and low latency.

• Mention use cases for NoSQL databases.

Example answer:

"DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL database service that provides fast and predictable performance with seamless scalability. It's a key-value and document database that delivers single-digit millisecond performance at any scale. DynamoDB is ideal for applications that require low-latency data access and can handle large volumes of data."

15. What is AWS CloudFormation?

Why you might get asked this: This question assesses your understanding of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define AWS CloudFormation and its purpose.

• Explain how it automates infrastructure provisioning.

• Mention benefits like consistency and repeatability.

Example answer:

"AWS CloudFormation is a service that helps you model and set up your AWS resources so you can spend less time managing those resources and more time focusing on your applications. You create a template that describes all the AWS resources that you want (for example, EC2 instances, RDS databases, and load balancers), and CloudFormation takes care of provisioning and configuring those resources in an automated and repeatable way."

16. Explain the benefits of using AWS.

Why you might get asked this: This question evaluates your overall understanding of the advantages of cloud computing with AWS.

How to answer:

• Mention key benefits like cost savings, scalability, and flexibility.

• Explain how AWS can help businesses innovate and grow.

• Highlight improved reliability and security.

Example answer:

"The benefits of using AWS include cost savings through pay-as-you-go pricing, scalability to handle varying workloads, increased agility and flexibility, improved reliability and availability, and enhanced security. AWS allows businesses to focus on innovation and growth by offloading infrastructure management to AWS."

17. What is the AWS Management Console?

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your familiarity with the AWS user interface.

How to answer:

• Define the AWS Management Console and its purpose.

• Explain how it provides a web-based interface for managing AWS resources.

• Mention its ease of use for beginners.

Example answer:

"The AWS Management Console is a web-based interface for accessing and managing AWS services and resources. It provides a user-friendly way to interact with AWS, allowing you to create, configure, and monitor your AWS resources through a graphical interface. It's particularly useful for beginners who are new to AWS."

18. What is the AWS CLI?

Why you might get asked this: This question assesses your knowledge of command-line tools for managing AWS resources.

How to answer:

• Define the AWS CLI and its purpose.

• Explain how it provides a command-line interface for interacting with AWS services.

• Mention its usefulness for automation and scripting.

Example answer:

"The AWS Command Line Interface (CLI) is a unified tool to manage your AWS services. With just one tool, you can control multiple AWS services from the command line and automate them through scripts. It allows you to interact with AWS resources programmatically, making it ideal for automation and scripting tasks."

19. Explain the difference between scaling up and scaling out.

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your understanding of scalability strategies.

How to answer:

• Define scaling up and scaling out.

• Explain the differences between them.

• Mention the advantages and disadvantages of each approach.

Example answer:

"Scaling up, also known as vertical scaling, involves increasing the resources of a single instance, such as upgrading its CPU, memory, or storage. Scaling out, also known as horizontal scaling, involves adding more instances to your system. Scaling up is simpler to implement initially but has limitations in terms of maximum capacity, while scaling out provides greater scalability and fault tolerance but can be more complex to manage."

20. What are the different storage classes in S3?

Why you might get asked this: This question evaluates your knowledge of S3 storage options and their use cases.

How to answer:

• List and define the different S3 storage classes.

• Explain their respective use cases.

• Mention factors like cost, access frequency, and data retrieval times.

Example answer:

"S3 offers several storage classes, including S3 Standard for frequently accessed data, S3 Intelligent-Tiering for data with changing access patterns, S3 Standard-IA for infrequently accessed data, S3 One Zone-IA for lower-cost storage of infrequently accessed data, S3 Glacier for archival data, and S3 Glacier Deep Archive for long-term data retention. Each storage class offers different levels of cost, availability, and retrieval times, allowing you to optimize storage costs based on your data access patterns."

21. What is the purpose of an Elastic IP address?

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your understanding of networking and IP addressing in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define Elastic IP addresses and their purpose.

• Explain how they provide a static IP address for EC2 instances.

• Mention their usefulness in maintaining consistent connectivity.

Example answer:

"An Elastic IP address is a static, public IPv4 address designed for dynamic cloud computing. It allows you to mask the failure of an instance or software by rapidly remapping the address to another instance in your account. Unlike regular public IP addresses, an Elastic IP address remains associated with your AWS account until you explicitly release it, providing a persistent IP address for your EC2 instances."

22. What is the difference between EBS and Instance Store?

Why you might get asked this: This question evaluates your knowledge of storage options for EC2 instances.

How to answer:

• Define EBS and Instance Store.

• Explain the differences between them.

• Mention their respective advantages and disadvantages.

Example answer:

"EBS (Elastic Block Storage) provides persistent block storage volumes for use with EC2 instances. EBS volumes are network-attached and can be detached and reattached to different instances. Instance Store, also known as ephemeral storage, provides temporary block storage that is physically attached to the host computer. Instance Store volumes are lost when the instance is stopped or terminated, while EBS volumes persist independently of the instance."

23. Explain AWS Auto Scaling.

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your understanding of automated scaling in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define AWS Auto Scaling and its purpose.

• Explain how it automatically adjusts the number of EC2 instances based on demand.

• Mention its benefits in terms of cost optimization and performance.

Example answer:

"AWS Auto Scaling automatically adjusts the number of EC2 instances in your Auto Scaling group based on demand. It helps you maintain application availability and allows you to scale your Amazon EC2 capacity up or down automatically according to conditions you define. Auto Scaling can be configured to scale based on metrics like CPU utilization, network traffic, or custom metrics, helping you optimize costs and maintain consistent performance."

24. What is the purpose of AWS Route 53?

Why you might get asked this: This question assesses your knowledge of DNS services in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define AWS Route 53 and its purpose.

• Explain how it provides a scalable and reliable DNS service.

• Mention its features like domain registration and health checks.

Example answer:

"AWS Route 53 is a highly available and scalable Domain Name System (DNS) web service. It is designed to give developers and businesses an extremely reliable and cost-effective way to route end users to Internet applications by translating names like www.example.com into the numeric IP addresses that computers use to connect to each other. Route 53 also offers domain registration services and health checks to monitor the health of your applications."

25. What is AWS CloudTrail?

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your understanding of auditing and compliance in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define AWS CloudTrail and its purpose.

• Explain how it logs API calls made to AWS services.

• Mention its usefulness for auditing and security analysis.

Example answer:

"AWS CloudTrail is a service that enables governance, compliance, operational auditing, and risk auditing of your AWS account. CloudTrail logs API calls made to AWS services, allowing you to track user activity and changes to your AWS resources. It provides a detailed record of actions taken in your AWS account, which can be used for security analysis, resource tracking, and compliance purposes."

26. Describe the AWS Shared Responsibility Model.

Why you might get asked this: This question evaluates your understanding of security responsibilities in AWS.

How to answer:

• Explain the AWS Shared Responsibility Model.

• Describe the responsibilities of AWS and the customer.

• Highlight the importance of securing the operating system, applications, and data.

Example answer:

"The AWS Shared Responsibility Model defines the security responsibilities between AWS and the customer. AWS is responsible for the security of the cloud, including the infrastructure, hardware, and global network. The customer is responsible for the security in the cloud, including the operating system, applications, data, and identity and access management. Customers are responsible for patching the operating system, managing access control, and protecting their data."

27. What are AWS Tags?

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your knowledge of resource management in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define AWS Tags and their purpose.

• Explain how they are used to organize and identify AWS resources.

• Mention their usefulness for cost allocation and automation.

Example answer:

"AWS Tags are key-value pairs that you can assign to AWS resources. They are used to organize, identify, and categorize your AWS resources. Tags can be used for cost allocation, automation, security, and compliance. By tagging your resources, you can easily track costs, manage access control, and automate tasks based on specific tag values."

28. What is the use of AWS KMS?

Why you might get asked this: This question assesses your understanding of encryption and key management in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define AWS KMS and its purpose.

• Explain how it provides a managed service for creating and controlling encryption keys.

• Mention its usefulness for securing data at rest and in transit.

Example answer:

"AWS Key Management Service (KMS) is a managed service that makes it easy for you to create and control the encryption keys used to encrypt your data. KMS provides a secure and resilient key management infrastructure, allowing you to encrypt data at rest and in transit. It integrates with other AWS services, making it easy to encrypt data stored in S3, EBS, and other services."

29. What is AWS Trusted Advisor?

Why you might get asked this: This question tests your knowledge of optimization and best practices in AWS.

How to answer:

• Define AWS Trusted Advisor and its purpose.

• Explain how it provides recommendations for optimizing your AWS environment.

• Mention the different categories of checks, such as cost optimization, security, and performance.

Example answer:

"AWS Trusted Advisor is a service that provides real-time guidance to help you provision your resources following AWS best practices. Trusted Advisor checks your AWS environment and makes recommendations for cost optimization, security, fault tolerance, and performance improvement. It helps you identify opportunities to reduce costs, improve security, and enhance the performance and reliability of your AWS infrastructure."

30. Explain the concept of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) in AWS.

Why you might get asked this: This question assesses your understanding of modern infrastructure management practices.

How to answer:

• Define Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and its purpose.

• Explain how it involves managing infrastructure through code.

• Mention tools like AWS CloudFormation and Terraform.

• Highlight benefits like automation, repeatability, and version control.

Example answer:

"Infrastructure as Code (IaC) is the practice of managing and provisioning infrastructure through code, rather than through manual processes. With IaC, you define your infrastructure in code, such as AWS CloudFormation templates or Terraform configurations, and then use automation tools to provision and manage your resources. This approach enables automation, repeatability, version control, and consistency in your infrastructure deployments, making it easier to manage complex environments and reduce errors."

Other Tips to Prepare for an AWS Basic Interview Questions Interview

• Hands-On Experience: Gain practical experience by working with AWS services.

• Study AWS Documentation: Familiarize yourself with the official AWS documentation.

• Practice Common Scenarios: Prepare for common architectural scenarios and solutions.

• Stay Updated: Keep up-to-date with the latest AWS services and features.

• Review AWS Whitepapers: Study AWS whitepapers for in-depth knowledge.

• Consider Certifications: Pursue AWS certifications to validate your skills.

• Practice Answering Questions Out Loud: Simulate the interview experience by practicing your answers.

• Research the Company: Understand the company's use of AWS and tailor your answers accordingly.

• Prepare Questions to Ask: Show your interest by preparing thoughtful questions for the interviewer.

• Be Confident and Enthusiastic: Demonstrate your passion for cloud computing and AWS.

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FAQ

Q: What is the most important thing to focus on when preparing for an AWS basic interview questions interview?

A: Focus on understanding the core AWS services, such as EC2, S3, IAM, and VPC, and how they are used in common architectural patterns.

Q: How much hands-on experience is necessary to pass an AWS basic interview questions interview?

A: While it varies, having at least a few months of hands-on experience can significantly improve your chances. Try working on personal projects or labs to gain practical skills.

Q: Are AWS certifications necessary to get a job in AWS?

A: While not always required, AWS certifications demonstrate your knowledge and can make you a more attractive candidate. Consider pursuing certifications like AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner or AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate.

Q: What are some common mistakes to avoid during an AWS basic interview questions interview?

A: Common mistakes include not understanding the basic concepts, lacking hands-on experience, and not being able to articulate your knowledge clearly. Practice explaining complex topics in a simple and concise manner.