AWS Essentials & Solutions Architect Assoc: The Total Course

Have you heard the term "cloud" and wondered just what it means in relation to computers and applications? If so, this episode will give you the low down on cloud computing and what it's all about.

What does the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud have to offer? In this episode, you'll learn about the key services offered by AWS and how Amazon makes these services available all over the world.

Where do I start? It's the most common question when first getting into Amazon Web Services (AWS). In this episode, you'll begin by creating a free AWS account that you can use to explore and learn all about this amazing cloud service.

Learning a new interface can be challenging. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has much to offer, which can make the console hard to understand at first; however, in this episode, you'll gain an understanding for the console and its components so that you can navigate the interface with ease.

The Simple Storage Service (S3) gives you storage in the cloud at any scale and with varying costs. This episode introduces the creation of S3 buckets (containers for your storage in the cloud).

What if you could run a server in the cloud and fully manage it the way you want? You can do exactly that with Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances and this episode shows you how.

You've probably used dozens or hundreds of databases in your life - even if you didn't know you were. It's a place to put your data. Amazon Web Services (AWS) has a rich database solution that you'll explore in this episode.

In addition to storage, compute, and database services, Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers scalability and monitoring. In this episode, you'll learn about the services that offer this in the cloud.

When you start using Amazon Web Services (AWS), you'll begin with a single account. Eventually, you'll need many more accounts as you grow. Identity and Access Management (IAM) services give you what you need to manage these accounts and you'll discover the basic concepts in this episode.

You want to spend as little as possible to get the services you need. In this episode, you'll explore cost options within Amazon Web Services (AWS) and how you can keep those costs down.

In this course, you've started down the path to learning about Amazon Web Services (AWS); however, you may need more help and information as you go. AWS documentation is just what the doctor ordered and this episode will show you how to use it.

At this point, you're probably wondering what certification might look like in relation to Amazon Web Services (AWS). AWS certifications are hot right now and you'll understand the various certifications available, and their differences, in this episode.

What exactly is cloud computing? In this episode, you will learn the answer to this important question and discover some examples of cloud computing service providers.

Why move to the cloud? This episode provides an overview of the benefits of cloud computing. You can save money, time and headaches when moving to the cloud.

You may be wondering how you can use the cloud. Do you have to move everything to the cloud or just some solutions? What do the buzzwords like IaaS, Paas, and SaaS mean? You will find out in this episode.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been around for more than a decade. To understand where we are, it is often helpful to see from where we've come. This episode takes you on a historic tour of AWS.

Throughout this course, you will hear about compute services, storage services, database services, and networking services. The Amazon Web Services (AWS) platform provides all of these and this platform is explored in this episode.

In this first part of two episodes, you will begin exploring the Amazon Web Services (AWS) offerings. By browsing through the services list in the AWS console, we can explore everything AWS has to offer.

This episode continues the Amazon Web Services (AWS) offerings tour finishing up where we left off in the last episode. By the end of this episode, you will have a birds-eye view of the AWS services.

Have you wondered how you can secure the solutions you run in Amazon Web Services (AWS)? This is a valid concern and you will begin to learn the answer to this important question in this episode.

Where is Amazon Web Services (AWS)? The answer is: everywhere. AWS is deployed in various regions around the globe with datacenters in these regions. Additionally, many regions have multiple Availability Zones (AZs). This episode explains the terminology of regions and AZs.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) offers many storage functions. Many cloud services offer storage alone, but AWS offers advanced storage services and many compute services as will. This episode introduces the array of storage services offered.

S3 is the primary file or object storage service in Amazon Web Services (AWS). What can you do with S3? This episode explains the basic concepts of S3 storage and management.

Like any technology, S3 has unique terminology associated with it. If you hope to understand and implement S3 well, you must understand this terminology and this episode will provide you with definitions of key S3 terms.

Can you do more than simply store files in S3 buckets? You definitely can and this episode explores some of the more advanced features of S3.

Would you like to see S3 in action? This episode demonstrates the process of creating S3 buckets and then using those buckets for object (file) storage.

Each S3 bucket has a collection or properties associated with it. These properties are explored in this episode.

After you have objects (files) in an S3 bucket, you have to manage these objects. Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides several management functions for the objects in S3 buckets and they are explored in this episode.

What if you want to store data for a very long time and you do not need to access that data immediately when it is needed? Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides a less expensive storage solution for this kind of data. It is called Glacier and it is introduced in this episode.

Now that you understand Glacier as a concept, it's time to explore the process of creating Glacier storage. This storage is called a vault with archives. This episode demonstrates their creation and use.

While S3 and Glacier can be used to store files, what do you do when you need storage for a virtual machine (an instance) in Amazon Web Services (AWS)? The answer is found in the AWS Elastic Block Store (EBS) service. This episdoe introduces the concepts of EBS.

After understanding the EBS concepts, you can begin creating and using EBS volumes. This demonstration will show you how.

Do you need to store data in your Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud that can be accessed by multiple AWS virtual machines (instances)? If so, you need something like a Storage Area Network (SAN) in the cloud. The Elastic File System (EFS) provides this service and this episode introduces the EFS service and features.

Now that you know what the Elastic File System (EFS) offers, you can begin working with it in Amazon Web Services (AWS). This episode demonstrates the creation of an EFS share.

Have you considered how you might integrate storage at your location with Amazon Web Services (AWS) storage? This episode introduces the AWS features that allow you to integrate storage in this way.

It's one thing to create storage solutions in Amazon Web Services (AWS). It's another thing to ensure their security. In this episode, you will explore the storage security features of AWS, including the console and CLI.

In the final episode of this chapter, you will explore the important topic of performance related to storage. It's not enough to have the storage space you require. You must also be able to access at the speed you desire. The key is in selecting the proper volume type (for EBS) or storage class (for S3) and this episode gives you the information required to make this decision.

An organization can run their own cloud solutions internally and this is called a private cloud. AWS provides the same concept in their cloud and they call it the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC). This episode introduces the VPC concept.

With an understanding of the AWS Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), you can begin creating them. This episode shows you how to create and use a VPC.

You can configure some DHCP options for the devices that participate in your VPC. This episode shows you how to configure these options.

With default configurations, AWS instances use private IP addresses that are not routable on the Internet. What do you do if you need a public address that works directly on the Internet without a NAT device? This episod answers the question by introducing Elastic IP addresses.

Virtual serviers need virtual network interfaces. In AWS these interfaces are called Elastic Network Interfaces (ENIs). This episode introduces the concept and use of ENIs.

What if you want services to access other services indirectly? You can use endpoints. Unlike the traditional use of the term in networking, AWS uses the term endpoint to refer to something different. This episode explains how AWS uses the term.

When you have more than one VPC, you may want thm connected to one another so instances in one can talk to instances in another and vice versa. This episode explains how this is done with VPC peering.

After gaining an understanding of the VPC peering concept, you can explore the process of creating a VPC peer. This episode provides an overview of th VPC peer creation process.

If you have worked around networking for just a little while, you've probably heard of groups or security groups. AWS offers security groups, but they are different from the traditional concept and this episode explains how.

When you want devices with a private IP address to communicate across the Internet, you will need a Network Address Translation device or server. This episode introduces the concept of NAT in AWS.

Do you want to connect your local network into AWS in a seemingly permanent way that is also secure? If so, you need to understand VPGs and CGWs, the topic of this episode.

Cloud computing is all the buzz today, but what is the service in AWS that allows for this? The answer is EC2 and this episode introduces the concepts around the EC2 service.

When you launch an EC2 instance, you must consider more than just the Amazon Machine Image (AMI) to use. You must also determine the instance type or class to use so that you can achieve optimum performance. For this reason, it is important to undersand the contents of this episode.

Pricing for EC2 instances varies greatly within AWS. The most impacting factors in EC2 pricing are instance types/classes in use and the pricing category chosen as discussed in this episode.

Elastic Block Store is your "hard drive" in the cloud. This episode introduces the use of an EBS volume in AWS.

Want to know how to create a Linux-based EC2 instance in AWS? This is the episode for you. You'll see the process from start-to-finish.

After implementing the Linux instance, you'll need to know a bit about configuring. This episode takes you through some important instance configuration tasks.

How about a Windows instance running in AWS? This episode provides a demonstration of the processes used to instantiate a Windows instance in AWS.

You may have heard the phrase "shared instance," but what does it mean? You'll understand after watching this episide. Grasp the concept and the way it's implement in AWS here.

In addition to shares instances, AWS offered dedicated hosts and dedicated instances. In this episode and the next, dedicated hosts and instances are explored.

Dedicated instances are the final "special" kind of AWS EC2 instance. This episode explains their operation.

After launching and configuring a few EC2 instances from AMIs, you're probably beginning to wonder about the datails of these instance images. In this episode, you will explore the details of AMIs and how they can be created as well.

In the preceding chapter, you explored the basics of creating and configuring EC2 instances. In this first episode of Chapter 6, you will begin to explore the ongoing management of EC2 instances.

In addition to managing the instance properties in AWS itself, you will need to know how to remotely connect to the instance guest operating system to manage it. This episode explains how to make these remote connections.

You might wonder how you can control who has access to the EC2 instances you implement. One method is with the use of security groups and this episode introduces the concept.

To assist you in understanding security groups, this episode will demonstrate their creation and use.

At times, you might want to run some code in AWS without having to launch, configure, upgrade, and manage entire EC2 instances. You may be able to do this with the Elastic Container Service and this episode explains how.

If you would like to have an expert AWS administrator available to you at any time, consider the Elastic beanstalk service. It's not a real administrator, but it's as close as it gets within AWS and it can launch and mage EC2 instances for you.

How do you control who or what has access to your AWS account and the services running in it? The answer is Identity and Access Management (IAM) and this episode introduces the fundamental concepts of IAM.

With any identity and access management solution, it is essential to understand the principals that can be managed, such as users and groups. This episode introduces you to the principals you will manage in AWS.

In operating systems it is common to have a root or admin user. In AWS a root users exists as well. You must understand this root user account and the implications it introduces to management and use of AWS.

AWS provides two primary authentication methods (though more can be implemented) and these are covered in this episode. Additionally, you will learn the basics of authentication.

Once authenticated, the user will have full capabilities or limited capabilities based on permissions within AWS. A primary method of permission management is authorization policy, which is covered here.

What if you don't trust a single authentication method, such as a username and password pair? Then you can use multi-factor authentication, which is presented in this episode.

When using an access key and secret access key it is important to rotate them periodically. Key rotation principles are covered in this episode including the processes involved.

To understand practical permissions you must understand multiple permissions. Permissions can come from multiple sources and they aggregate to form practical or applied permissions. In this episode, you will explore multiple permissions.

AWS implements templates and recommended architectures that comply with various regulatory constraints under the AWS compliance program. This episode introduces the compliance program and reveals where you can get detailed information about regulations with which you must comply.

The final topic of this chapter is the shared responsibility model. AWS does not have full responsibility for the security of your cloud deployment. However, neither do you. Instead a shared responsibility model is used and it is covered here.

As we move forward with a foundational understanding of IAM from chapter 7, we will begin exploring practical application in this chapter. Here in episode one, we will discuss best practices and tasks involved in user account creation and management.

With your user accounts, you will want to have strong passwords. AWS can help you with this through the implementation of password policies and you will learn how to use them in this episode.

An additional factor is credential rotation. You will learn about this process and how to configure password rotation policies in this episode.

One of the biggest and most common mistakes made in security management is granting too many permissions to a user. The principle of least privilege can assist in preventing this and it is covered in this episode.