Over the years, I have developed and delivered a number of courses that help students learn how to build resilient systems in the cloud. I focused most of this work on the development and operation of resilient systems and not specifically on security topics.
The reason? Security is a critical part of resiliency and by narrowing the focus and framing to only security, the message won't be delivered to the audiences that need to hear it the most.
Mastering The Well-Architected Framework
Updated in 2021, originally published in 2019 on A Cloud Guru
The Well-Architected Framework is a fantastic set of resources from AWS that can help you get the most out of the AWS Cloud. The challenge is understanding how the five pillars of the framework – Operational Excellence, Cost Optimization, Reliability, Performance Efficiency, and Security – work together.
In this course taught by AWS Community Hero Mark Nunnikhoven, you’ll learn the key points of the framework and how to apply them to your organization. Using real-world problems to pull the framework together, this course will arm you with the knowledge you need to take your building skills to the next level.
Start learning now on A Cloud Guru.
Introduction to the AWS Marketplace
Published in 2021 on A Cloud Guru
The AWS Marketplace makes it easy to find, buy, and deploy solutions for the AWS cloud. At first glance, it doesn’t seem like there should be an entire short course dedicated to purchasing via the AWS Marketplace. However, the AWS Marketplace is a gateway to a massive number of different solutions with diverse procurement options.
The AWS Marketplace has evolved beyond just Amazon Machine Images. It now hosts SaaS subscriptions, machine learning models, desktop applications, massive datasets, and more. And billing has evolved as well: from metered billing to private offers to annual subscriptions and more, how you are paying for a solution is just as important a decision as the product or service you are acquiring.
This course covers everything you need to know as a buyer on the AWS Marketplace.
AWS Business Essentials
Published in 2019 on A Cloud Guru
What is the ‘cloud’? What is ‘cloud computing’? This course will answer these questions, and more. AWS Business Essentials is designed to help business leaders, executives, and non-technical staff understand the advantages of cloud computing and build a cloud strategy to meet your business goals.
The course will review the business and financial benefits of cloud computing and the fundamentals of AWS. In this course, you’ll also learn about the cloud adoption framework to help design a strategy to successfully deploy the AWS platform within your business.
Start learning now on A Cloud Guru.
Analyzing Text on AWS with Amazon Comprehend
Published in 2019 on Pluralsight
At the core of text analysis in the AWS Cloud is a thorough knowledge of Amazon Comprehend. In this course, Analyzing Text on AWS with Amazon Comprehend, you’ll learn how to use the service to extract insights and deep analysis about a given text. First, you’ll discover how the service is structured and common usage patterns for all of its features. Next, you’ll explore more advanced analysis concepts using an asynchronous request pattern.
Finally, you’ll see how easy it can be to conduct complex topic modeling analysis. When you’re finished with this course, you’ll have a foundational knowledge of how to use Amazon Comprehend to analyze and understand any document set that will help you as you move forward and understand how to apply machine learning to real world problems.
Take this course on Pluralsight
Introduction to Cloud Computing with Amazon Web Services
Published in 2015 on O’Reilly
In this Introduction to Cloud Computing with Amazon Web Services training course, expert author Mark Nunnikhoven will teach you about AWS and how to deploy a web application in AWS. This course is designed for the absolute beginner, meaning no experience with Amazon Web Services is required.
You will start by learning about AWS specific concepts, then jump into deploying WordPress on AWS. From there, Mark will teach you how to create a strong foundation, including configuring IAM for deployment and setting up CloudTrail. This video tutorial also covers deploying a secure networking configuration, deploying a server, and deploying a relational database. Finally, you will learn how to implement a backup strategy, such as verifying RDS backups, creating an S3 backup, and optimizing S3 costs with Amazon Glacier.
Read more about this retired course on O’Reilly.