Learning Pathway (AWS)

Introduction to the learning pathway and topics covered

The course that I chose to do was Amazon Web Services (AWS) Practitioner Essentials which provide an overall understanding of AWS cloud concepts, AWS services, security, architecture, pricing and support to build AWS cloud knowledge. Some of the key modules covered in this course were as follows:

Compute in the cloud

I found this module really helpful as it helped me to understand how the virtual computers were provided to the users. I learned that Amazon EC2 is the part that connects users to the virtual server. Simply, a user needs to request Amazon EC2 instances they want and then it will launch and boot up, ready to be used within a few minutes. It can be terminated whenever user wants and only pay for what they use. I also found that the selecting a right Amazon EC2 instances types are also important to run the business as efficiently as possible.

Global Infrastructure and Reliability

I found AWS global infrastructure quite interesting. The way they have designed and built the data centres in many regions in-case of any disaster and storing cached copies of content closer to customer for quick delivery using Amazon CloudFront with edge location was very fascinating.

Networking

I found AWS networking quite unique. It provides a virtual private cloud (Amazon VPC) where user can organise their resources into subnets. It consists of virtual private gateway which only allows the protected internet traffic to enter VPC. Therefore, there will be more reliable, higher security and higher speed connections.

Storage and Database

This module provided a good understanding about storage and database services available in AWS. I learned about various type of storage and databases and their importance which helps the users to choose the right database for their task and right storage for the data types.

Security

I must say AWS has one of the best security systems. The only possible way the attackers can breach the data is through the carelessness of the customer as AWS has shared responsibility model. AWS is responsible for the security of cloud and their customers are responsible for the security in the cloud.

Storyboard

Figure 1. How Amazon EC2 works

First the user launches an instance by selecting a template with basic configuration for instance, instance types and specifying security setting to control the network traffic. Next, user connects to the instance which can be done by logging in and accessing the computer desktop. After the connection, the user can run commands to install software, add storage, copy and organize files, etc.

Figure 2. Availability Zones

Data centres within a region known as availability zone. They are located tens of miles apart from each other. So, in-case if any disaster occurs in a part of region, they are far enough to reduce the possibility of multiple availability zone get affected.

Figure 3. Edge Location

Let’s say, a customer from USA wants some data and the company’s data is stored in UK. To get that requested data, a company can cache a copy locally at the edge location that is close to the customer and as the customer sends the request, Amazon CloudFront will retrieve the file from the cache in the edge location and delivers it to the customer.

Figure 4. Virtual Private Cloud

VPN creates a secure connection to other networks over the internet. A virtual private gateway only allows traffic coming from approved network.

Figure 5. AWS Direct Connect

A dedicated private connection between a corporate data cetre and VPC helps to reduce network cost and increase the amount of bandwidth that travel through the network.

Figure 6. Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS)

Amazon EBS provides block-level storage volumes that can be used with Amazon EC2 instances. All the data remains available even after the user terminate Amazon EC2 instances.

Figure 7. Amazon EBS Snapshots

All data is backup at first, then on the next day, only the blocks that have changed since the recent snapshot are saved.

Figure 8. Shared Responsibility Model

Customers are responsible for the security in cloud and AWS are responsible for the security of the cloud.

Progress

Acknowledgement:

I acknowledge all copyrights associated with the materials provided by AWS, and content presented here has been compiled as part of an academic activity. I am thankful for AWS for providing free learning resources for the student community.

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