About the course
This two-day hands-on workshop is the essential starting point for anyone new to Amazon Web Services (AWS). It provides a practical, hands-on introduction to the foundational services that power virtually every cloud application.
You will learn how to manage identity and security (IAM), deploy virtual servers (EC2), use object storage (S3), and build highly scalable, cost-effective serverless functions (Lambda). We will also cover the crucial aspects of cloud networking (VPC) and data persistence options. By the end of the course, you will have the practical skills to confidently navigate the AWS Management Console and deploy your first simple cloud application.
Instructor-led online and in-house face-to-face options are available - as part of a wider customised training programme, or as a standalone workshop, on-site at your offices or at one of many flexible meeting spaces in the UK and around the World.
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- Manage Security: Implement the principle of least privilege using IAM to create and manage users, groups, roles, and policies.
- Deploy Compute: Launch, configure, and manage virtual machines using EC2 and understand basic auto-scaling concepts.
- Store Data: Select the appropriate storage option between S3 (object storage) and EBS (block storage) and manage data lifecycle policies.
- Build Serverless: Write and deploy event-driven functions using AWS Lambda and understand its key benefits.
- Understand Networking: Configure a basic VPC to secure and isolate cloud resources.
- Choose a Database: Differentiate between relational (RDS) and NoSQL (DynamoDB) databases and know when to use each.
- Monitor and Manage: Utilize basic CloudWatch features to monitor resource health and analyze billing.
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This course is ideal for Developers, Technical Managers, System Administrators, Project Managers, and anyone beginning their journey into cloud computing who needs a practical understanding of how core AWS services work together.
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There are no prerequisites for this course. Basic familiarity with computing and IT terminology is helpful but not required.
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This AWS Fundamentals course is available for private / custom delivery for your team - as an in-house face-to-face workshop at your location of choice, or as online instructor-led training via MS Teams (or your own preferred platform).
Get in touch to find out how we can deliver tailored training which focuses on your project requirements and learning goals.
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AWS Introduction and Global Infrastructure
The structure of the cloud: Regions, Availability Zones, and Edge Locations.
Understanding core service categories: Compute, Storage, Networking, and Security.
Identity and Access Management (IAM)
IAM core concepts: Users, Groups, and Policies.
Implementing the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP).
Working with IAM Roles for service-to-service communication.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and best practices.
Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and Networking
What is a VPC and why is it essential for security?
Subnets, Routing Tables, and Internet Gateways.
Security Groups vs. Network Access Control Lists (NACLs).
Hands-on Lab: Setting up a basic VPC with public and private subnets.
Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
EC2 fundamentals: Instances, AMIs, and Instance Types.
Launching and connecting to an EC2 instance.
Understanding key pairs, security groups, and public/private IP addresses.
Introduction to pricing models: On-Demand, Reserved, and Spot.
Foundational Storage Services
Simple Storage Service (S3): Buckets, objects, and storage classes.
Managing access control and bucket policies for public/private data.
Elastic Block Store (EBS): Volumes, snapshots, and instance storage.
AWS Lambda and Serverless Compute
The serverless model: benefits and use cases.
Writing a simple event-driven Lambda function (using Python).
Understanding the Lambda execution model and cost metrics.
Introduction to API Gateway for creating REST endpoints for Lambda.
Database Services: RDS and DynamoDB
Relational Database Service (RDS): Managed relational databases (e.g., Postgres, MySQL).
DynamoDB: Introduction to NoSQL and key-value store concepts.
When to choose relational vs. NoSQL (structured vs. unstructured data).
Essential Management Tools
AWS Management Console navigation best practices.
AWS CloudWatch: Using basic dashboards to monitor resource utilization and logs.
CloudFormation/Terraform: Introduction to Infrastructure as Code (IaC) principles.
Cost Management and Billing
Understanding the AWS Free Tier and how to avoid unexpected costs.
Using Cost Explorer to visualize billing and usage.
Service limits and support options.
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Core AWS Service Documentation
These are the primary references for the services covered in the workshop:
AWS Documentation Hub The starting point for all AWS services. Great for quickly searching for specific guides or feature details. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/
AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management) The crucial documentation for managing users, roles, and policies—the security foundation of AWS. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/iam/index.html
AWS EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) The guide for deploying and managing virtual machines, covering instance types, AMIs, and networking. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ec2/index.html
AWS S3 (Simple Storage Service) Documentation for object storage, buckets, access control, and storage classes. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/s3/index.html
AWS Lambda The reference for serverless compute, covering function creation, event sources, and execution models. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/index.html
AWS VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) Essential reading on configuring subnets, routing, and security groups to build isolated networks. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/index.html
Tools and other resources
These links cover access, cost management, and general learning tools:
AWS Management Console The browser-based interface where most of the hands-on labs will take place. https://aws.amazon.com/console/
AWS CLI (Command Line Interface) Used for interacting with AWS services via the terminal, which is essential for automation and advanced management. https://aws.amazon.com/cli/
AWS Free Tier Details on the free services and usage limits available to new accounts, crucial for avoiding unexpected charges. https://aws.amazon.com/free/
AWS Cost Explorer The tool for visualizing and managing billing and usage, covered in the cost management module. https://aws.amazon.com/aws-cost-management/aws-cost-explorer/
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