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Course · 05

AWS

Run the real aws CLI against a simulated account in your browser. One app, the Monster Market, goes from a static site to a load-balanced, monitored, locked-down estate with a database, DNS and a CDN. Every chapter ends in a challenge, and the bill keeps running.

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Not affiliated with or endorsed by Amazon Web Services. The account, the bill and every service are simulated.

15
chapters
45
lessons & labs
Pro
every chapter, from day one
SAA-C03
exam-aligned

Who it's for

Engineers who have read about AWS and want to have done it.

  • Engineers who ship to AWS and want to stop guessing at the console
  • Developers and sysadmins preparing for the Solutions Architect Associate exam
  • Linux Essentials graduates moving into cloud and platform roles

What you'll be able to do

Build, secure, operate and repair a real-shaped AWS estate.

  • Operate an AWS account from the CLI and read what it costs
  • Design IAM users, groups, roles and policies that grant exactly what is needed
  • Store and publish data with S3, versioning, lifecycle, encryption and replication
  • Build VPCs with public and private subnets, routing, NAT, security groups and NACLs
  • Launch, bootstrap, connect to and right-size EC2 instances
  • Put a load balancer and Auto Scaling in front of an app that survives an AZ failure
  • Run RDS and DynamoDB, with backups, replicas and failover
  • Route traffic with Route 53 and serve it from the edge with CloudFront over HTTPS
  • Build event-driven pipelines with Lambda, SQS, SNS, EventBridge and API Gateway
  • Watch, alarm on, audit and budget a running estate
  • Encrypt with KMS, keep secrets out of code, and harden an account
  • Describe infrastructure as CloudFormation and roll it out safely
  • Plan and rehearse disaster recovery across regions
  • Reason through Solutions Architect exam scenarios

The path

15 chapters, from your first bucket to an estate you can run.

Each lesson is short and ends in a quiz, then a lab on a simulated AWS account in your browser, with a running bill. The whole course is part of Pro.

  1. 01

    Your First Deployment

    The account, the CLI, a bucket, and the Monster Market live on a public URL

    1. 1What AWS Is4 min
    2. 2Look AroundLab4 min
    3. 3The Account4 min
    4. 4Who Am ILab4 min
    5. 5The AWS CLI5 min
    6. 6Read the ConfigurationLab5 min
    7. 7Reading CLI Output5 min
    8. 8Ask Precise QuestionsLab5 min
    9. 9Buckets and Objects5 min
    10. 10Upload the SiteLab6 min
    11. 11A Public Website on S36 min
    12. 12Go LiveLab8 min
    13. 13The Bill5 min
    14. 14Read the Bill, Set a BudgetLab6 min
    15. 15Challenge: Launch the Landing PageLab15 min
  2. 02

    Identity and Access

    Users, groups, policies, roles and the rules IAM uses to decide

    1. 1Users and Groups5 min
    2. 2A Second IdentityLab6 min
    3. 3Policy Documents6 min
    4. 4Write Dana's First PolicyLab7 min
    5. 5Managed and Inline Policies5 min
    6. 6Grant Through the GroupLab6 min
    7. 7How Policies Are Evaluated6 min
    8. 8Three DenialsLab8 min
    9. 9Policy Conditions5 min
    10. 10Stay in the Home RegionLab7 min
    11. 11Roles and Trust6 min
    12. 12Borrow a RoleLab8 min
    13. 13Least Privilege in Practice5 min
    14. 14Audit the CredentialsLab8 min
    15. 15Challenge: Fix the PermissionsLab20 min
  3. 03

    Compute with EC2

    Launch an instance, open a port, connect without SSH keys, bootstrap it

    1. 1What an Instance Is4 min
    2. 2An Empty FleetLab4 min
    3. 3Images and Sizes5 min
    4. 4Pick an Image and a SizeLab5 min
    5. 5Launch an Instance5 min
    6. 6Your First InstanceLab6 min
    7. 7Security Groups5 min
    8. 8Open Exactly One PortLab7 min
    9. 9Connect with Session Manager6 min
    10. 10Get a Shell Without a KeyLab9 min
    11. 11User Data5 min
    12. 12A Server That Sets Itself UpLab8 min
    13. 13Instance Lifecycle5 min
    14. 14Stop, Start, Pin and ProtectLab8 min
    15. 15Challenge: Serve the Market from EC2Lab20 min
  4. 04

    Networking with VPC

    Your own network: subnets, routes, gateways, firewalls and endpoints

    Soon
  5. 05

    Storage

    S3 in depth, then block and file storage for instances

    Soon
  6. 06

    Load Balancing and Auto Scaling

    Spread traffic, replace failures, scale with load

    Soon
  7. 07

    Databases

    RDS with Multi-AZ, replicas and backups, then DynamoDB

    Soon
  8. 08

    DNS and the Edge

    Route 53 records and routing, CloudFront and certificates

    Soon
  9. 09

    Serverless, Messaging and Containers

    Lambda, queues, topics, events, an HTTP API and containers on AWS

    Soon
  10. 10

    Monitoring, Governance and Cost

    Metrics, alarms, logs, the audit trail, compliance and the bill

    Soon
  11. 11

    Security and Encryption

    Keys, secrets, organisations, boundaries and the perimeter

    Soon
  12. 12

    Infrastructure as Code

    CloudFormation templates, parameters, functions, change sets and drift

    Soon
  13. 13

    Resilience and Recovery

    HA, backups, DR strategies and a multi-region failover drill

    Soon
  14. 14

    Final Build

    The Monster Market, lifted into a fresh account and broken everywhere: survey, restore, repair, reconnect, ship

    Soon
  15. 15

    Exam Practice

    Scenario questions by domain, weighted like the exam

    Soon
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