Do you know what Is AWS Shield? What are its services? Benefits? Drawbacks? Who should use it? If you don’t, then read this Amazon web services article to know everything about it.
Web applications have advanced the 21st century’s progress at a rapid pace. The technology we currently have used to be a wild dream a few decades ago.
We are now more connected with the world than we have ever been. We believe services like AWS Shield have played a big role in this development.
What Is AWS Shield – Explained
AWS Shield is one of the application protection services offered by AWS. Amazon web services provide various application protection services like AWS WAF, etc. Each has its specific niche.
Protection against DDOS is the shield’s specialized niche, and if you utilize this service for your application, it keeps you protected from DDOS-specific attacks.
What are DDOS Attacks?
DDOS abbreviation stands (for Distributed Denial of Service). In this attack, the attackers send a lot of spam traffic toward your application, which floods its handling capacity.
By doing this, the attacker prevents your actual user from using your application, causing your application and your brand great reputational and financial harm.
What Are The Consequence of DDOS Attack
The following are the consequences a business can suffer from if its application is successfully penetrated by a DDOS attack.
| Suffer Financial Losses |
| Suffer Reputational Losses |
| Have To Pay a Significant Remediation Price |
| Effect on Market Share |
| Brand Reputation Damaged |
How To Keep Your Application Protected From These Attacks?
The easiest way to keep your web application protected from such attacks is to employ services like AWS Shield.
They are designed to protect your business’s application against these attacks. So, we believe you should use them and keep your business protected from crippling consequences.
What is Amazon Web Services Shield Standard?
The standard version of the Amazon shield service is the free tier version.
They come integrated with your AWS account and are used to provide your application-specific layers of protection from DDOS attacks. They are just a taste of what the complete service can serve.
What is Amazon Web Services Shield Advanced?
The advanced version of the Amazon shield service is the premium tier version. They can provide your application with end-to-end protection from all DDOS attacks.
They can even offer you various customization capabilities to combat advanced attacks.
When to Use Which AWS Shield Service?
| Shield Standard | Shield Advanced |
| Used For Specific Layer Protection | Used For All Forms of Web Applications, DNS Protection Services |
| When You Are Looking For A Free Protection Service | When You Want The Best Service |
Benefits This AWS Service Serve Your Application
If you are still unsure if this is the service for you, the following are the benefits you gain when you use this service.
Go through them, and we are sure you will realize that they are the best service you can utilize for DDOS attacks.
1. Flawless Deployment & Integration
You can use the Amazon shield standard service free of charge on your AWS account. You can set and deploy this service with a few clicks.
They are also very easily integrated with any other AWS service if you use them to develop or manage your web application.
2. Customize What, Where & When You Want To Protect
Another benefit you gain when you use this service is the ability to customize the type/scenario of protection you want.
If you wish to protect your application from a specific niche of a DDOS attack, this service allows you to customize your actions and prevent that attack.
3. Optimize Your Protection Capability With Live Statistics Insight
The best benefit of why we believe you should use the shield service for your application protection is the live insight it can provide you.
If you use this service, then with the help of stats, you can know what and which types of roadblocks traffic attackers are sending your way.
You can also know where they are sending it from and where it is causing a bottleneck.
This ability allows you to develop and deploy an action plan to take care of these specific problems. Using the shield service, you can optimize where, when, and why you want protection from DDOS attacks.
4. Free of Cost At Basic & Budget-Friendly At Advanced Level
Protection services are essential for your application; after all, they are the ones who keep your product safe. Yet, the biggest hurdle businesses face when choosing them is their cost.
However, this isn’t the case with the Amazon shield, as it is free of cost in its standard version, which can provide you with excellent protection. And in their paid/advanced version, they are unrivaled in the industry.
5. Easy To Learn, Adapt & Monitor
The final benefit you gain when you use this service to protect your application is that they are easy to learn, adapt and monitor.
You don’t need extensive knowledge about AWS or other protection services to deploy them properly and keep your business protected.
The downside of AWS Shield Service
The shield is one of the leading application protection services offered by AWS. But it also has its fair share of downsides, the following are the most grave of them:
1. Expensive Subscription Fees
Although Amazon shield is free in its standard version, if you want to get the best service, you need to upgrade to its advanced version.
Which has a registration fee of $3,000. This isn’t counting the additional bill you’ll also have to pay.
Hence, the more you wish to get the use out of them, the more expensive they start to become, and employing them for a startup or smaller businesses could be a problem.
2. Minimum 1-Year Commitment For Advanced Plan
Another downside of using the shield service for your application is that if you want to use their higher-end features, you need to make at least a year-long commitment with them.
3. Top End Features are Only Available with The Paid Tier
The final downside of shield services is that their standard version only gives you a taste of the level of protection they can provide you.
If you wish to secure your application from DDOS attacks completely, you need to pay to access their top-end features.
What are the major differences between shield standard & shield advanced?
The following are the major differences between shield standard & shield advanced service.
| Shield Standard Services | Shield Advanced Services |
| Shield Standard Is A Free Tier Service | Shield Advanced Is A Paid Service |
| Shield Standard Does Not Provide Real-Time Stats | Shield Advanced Provides Real-Time Stats |
| Shield Standard Provides Limited DDOS Protection | Shield Advanced Provides End To End Protection |
Companies That Use AWS Shield
The following are the primary businesses that use Amazon shield services to benefit their application and business.
| Netflix |
| Rovio |
| Pearson |
| Payplug |
| Asurion |
FAQs On What Is AWS Shield
The following are FAQs of Shield service.
Q: What Is The Essential Job Of AWS Shield?
The essential job of shield service is to protect your application from all kinds of Distributed Denial of Service attacks.
Q: How Is Shield Better Than Other AWS Application Protection Services?
The shield is better than other AWS application protection services because it offers you various tiers of services to choose from.
If you want a basic overview, you can achieve that with a free account. However, if you wish for expert protection, they have covered you there.
Q: Is Amazon Shield Free Or A Paid Service?
Amazon shield is available on both platforms of service, free and paid. Depending on your service needs, you can choose as you please.
Q: How To Utilize Shield Service From Amazon Best?
You can get the best use of the shield service from AWS by signing up for the shield advanced version.
We believe you should do this because the premium version offers you facilities like access to the support team 24/7, real-time stats, and much more.
Q: Minimum Commitment Required To Subscribe To Shield Advanced Service?
The minimum commitment required to subscribe to advanced service is one year.
Q: What Is The Registration Fee For Shield Advanced?
$3,000 is the base registration fee for shield advanced service.
Q: Is The Registration Fee The Only Charge, Or Do You Have To Pay Other Fees For Shield Advance?
No, the premium version of the shield service has a registration fee of $3,000. After that, you have to pay for what you use.
Q: Which Service Should I Acquire, Shield Standard Or Advanced?
Both shield service tiers are competent services. The answer to which one you should acquire depends upon your use of the service.
Q: How To Use The Shield Service?
You can get started on the Amazon shield service by creating your AWS account.
You may also like to explore below AWS Blogs.
Final Thoughts On What IS AWS Shield
AWS Shield is an application protection service from Amazon Web Services that helps you ward off DDOS attacks. It allows your application to remain healthy and accessible.
We have explained shields in great detail in this article and are now interested in knowing your opinion about them. So let us know in the comment section what you think about them.
Happy Clouding!!
I am an Amazon Web Services Professional, having more than 11 years of experience in AWS and other technologies. Extensively working in various AWS tools like S3, Lambda, API, Kinesis, Load Balancers, EKS, ECS, and many more. Working as a Solution Architect and Technology Lead for Architecting and implementing the same for different clients. He provides expert solutions around the world and especially in countries like the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Check out the complete profile on About us.
