---
# System prepended metadata

title: AWS Fundamentals

---

---
title: AWS Cloud Computing Fundamentals
---

AWS Cloud Computing
===


:::warning
[toc]
:::


---
### Introduction and General AWS Concepts
---

#### [What is cloud computing?](https://aws.amazon.com/what-is-cloud-computing/)
:::info
Cloud computing is the on-demand delivery of IT resources over the Internet with pay-as-you-go pricing. Instead of buying, owning, and maintaining physical data centers and servers, you can access technology services, such as computing power, storage, and databases, on an as-needed basis from a cloud provider like Amazon Web Services (AWS).
:::

#### Benefits of Cloud computing
:::info
- Cost
- Pay as you go
- Elasticity
- Faster and easier Scability
- Agility
- Reduced Liability and support
- Reliability
- High Availability
- Automation
- Better and easier Compliance [PCI-DSS/SOC/FISMA/HIPAA]
:::


#### Cloud Deployment Models:
:::success
- Public cloud - AWS, Azure, GCP etc.
- Private cloud - Self service cloud within an organisation
- Hybrid cloud - combination of On-prem and public cloud
- multi cloud - AWS + Azure, AWS + OCI, AWS + GCP + OCI
:::


#### Cloud Service / Delivery Models:
:::info
- IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service | EC2, EBS
- PaaS - Platform as a Service | Elastic Beanstalk, EKS
- SaaS - Software as a Service | S3, SQS, SNS, 
- XaaS - FaaS, CaaS, DBaaS etc.
:::

#### AWS can be accessed through multiple interfaces depending on your use case:
:::success
- AWS Management Console – Graphical user interface (GUI)
- AWS CLI – Command-line access
- AWS SDKs (e.g., boto3) – Programmatic access
:::

#### AWS Services can be:
:::info
- Managed Services: AWS takes care of infrastructure, patching, scaling, and availability so you can focus on your application and data.
    **Examples**: S3 and RDS
- Unmanaged Services: You are responsible for installing, configuring, patching, scaling, and maintaining everything on the infrastructure.
    **Examples**: EC2, EBS
:::
#### AWS Service scope can be:
:::success
- Global - IAM, Route53
- Regional - S3, DynamoDB
- AZ-Sepcific - EC2, EBS 
:::

#### [AWS Global Infrastructure](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/)

![aws_global-infrastructure-map_2022](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rJQQyjVXbg.jpg)

:::info
- Regions
- Availability Zones
- Edge Locations | CDN | CloudFront
- AWS Backbone Network | High speed, low latency fibre-optic cables 
- AWS Outposts | Latency, Data regulation
:::


##### Considerations while choosing a region
:::success
- Compliance Data Regulations
- Latency
- Service availability
- Cost
:::


#### Hands-on Activity: Enable AWS Free Tier Usage Alerts
:::info
##### Objective

Enable AWS Free Tier usage alerts to receive notifications when your account approaches or exceeds Free Tier limits.

##### Instructions

1. Sign in to the AWS Management Console  
2. Open **Billing and Cost Management** from the top-right menu  
3. Select **Billing Preferences** from the left navigation pane  
4. Scroll to **Alert Preferences**  
5. Enable **AWS Free Tier usage alerts**  
6. Ensure your email address is selected for notifications  
7. Save your changes  

##### Expected Outcome

AWS Free Tier usage alerts are enabled and email notifications will be sent when usage nears Free Tier limits.
:::

---
### [Access management on AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/iam/)
---

:::success
- IAM (Identity and Access Management)
    - Users
    - Groups
    - Policies
    - Roles
        - Temporary elevated privileges
:::

---
### [Compute on AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/products/compute/)
---
#### Compute options on AWS
:::info
- Virtual Machines
    - EC2
- Containers
    - ECS
    - EKS
- Serverless
    - Lambda
    - Fargate
:::

#### EC2 Introduction
---
***Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) is an AWS service that provides resizable virtual servers in the cloud, allowing you to run applications with full control over compute resources on a pay-as-you-go basis.***

---


#### [EC2 Features and components](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/EC2_GetStarted.html)


:::success
- Image / Amazon Machine Images (AMIs)
- Instance type
- A key pair
- Security group(s)
- Amazon EBS volume(s)
:::


![Screenshot 2025-12-20 at 12.48.53](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/HkaIjGEm-e.png)


#### EC2 Nomenclature
:::info
**m5.xlarge**
m       --> Instance family
5       --> Generation
xlarge  --> Size (vCPU / Memory / network bandwidth)
:::

![instance-types-naming-convention](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ryQHJsN7bg.png)

---
#### Hands-on Activities - EC2
---
:bulb: *Please switch to the **us-east-1** region before performing the activities below.*

:::danger

1. Complete both the **Linux** and **Windows EC2** modules in the following workshop:  
   - Compute – Amazon EC2  
     https://catalog.workshops.aws/general-immersionday/en-US/basic-modules/10-ec2  

2. Complete the **Getting Started with Amazon EC2** activity from the AWS documentation:  
   - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/EC2_GetStarted.html
:::

---
### [Storage on AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/storage/)
---

:::success
- Object Storage
    - S3 | internet accessible unlimited object storage
        - Bucket policies
        - Versioning
        - S3 Storage Classes
        - Lifecycle policies
        - Replication
            - SRR
            - CRR
- Block Storage
    - EBS | SAN
        - SSD Based
            - Provisioned IOPS
            - General Purpose
        - HDD Based
            - Throughput Optimized
            - Cold HDD
    - Instance Store | DAS
- File / Network Storage | NAS
    - EFS | Linux workloads | NFS 4.0 and 4.1
    - FSx | Windows workloads | SMB, CIFS, NTFS
:::

---
#### [What is S3?](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/)
---
***A highly durable, scalable object storage service used to store and retrieve any amount of data from anywhere.***

---
![Screenshot 2025-12-20 at 13.56.41](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rJN2omVQZx.png)

---
#### [S3 Storage Classes](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/storage-classes-infographic/)
---

***Different cost and access tiers in Amazon S3 designed to optimize storage costs based on how frequently data is accessed and how quickly it must be retrieved.***

---
![Screenshot 2025-12-20 at 13.57.18](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/B1ZRomNQWe.png)



---

#### [Amazon EBS Volumes](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/ebs/latest/userguide/ebs-volume-types.html)
---
***A block storage service that provides persistent storage volumes for use with Amazon EC2 instances.***

---
![EBS-SSD](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/H11e_74Q-e.png)

![EBS-HDD](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/SyOMd7NXZx.png)

---


#### Hands-on Activities - Amazon S3 and Amazon EBS
:::danger
1. Complete the **Getting Started with Amazon S3** activity from the AWS documentation:  
   - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/GetStartedWithS3.html  

2. Complete the **Getting Started with Amazon EBS** activity from the AWS documentation:  
   - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSEC2/latest/UserGuide/ebs-getting-started.html  
:::

---
### [Databases on AWS](https://aws.amazon.com/products/databases/)
---
#### Relational [SQL]
:::info
- RDS
    - RDS Engines
        - MySQL
        - PostgreSQL
        - Oracle
        - MariaDB
        - SQL Server
        - Amazon Aurora
        - IBM Db2
    - RDS Features
        - Multi-AZ Deployement
        - Read Replicas
        - Backups
            - manual
            - Automated
:::

**RDS Supported Engines**
![rds-engines](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/Sk7nbi4mWl.png)

**RDS Multi-AZ Deployments**

![rds-multi-AZ](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/r1woWi4m-x.png)



#### Hands-on activities - Amazon RDS and Amazon DynamoDB
:::danger
1. **Amazon RDS – Getting Started**
   - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonRDS/latest/UserGuide/CHAP_GettingStarted.CreatingConnecting.MySQL.html

2. **Amazon DynamoDB – Getting Started**
   - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb/latest/developerguide/GettingStarted.html  
:::

---
### AWS Networking Fundamentals
---

#### **VPC (Virtual Private Cloud)**:
*A logically isolated virtual network in AWS where you launch and manage your cloud resources.*

**VPC Components**
- **Subnet**:
*A subdivision of a VPC that defines a range of IP addresses for resources in a specific Availability Zone.*

![vpc-with-subnets-simple](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/H1yfT4HmZg.png)

- **Route Table**:
*A set of rules that determines how network traffic is directed within a VPC and to external networks.*
- **Internet Gateway (IGW)**:
*A gateway that allows resources in a VPC to communicate with the internet.*
![vpc-with-internet-gateway](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/rJPVTESXWg.png)

- **NAT Gateway**:
*A managed service that enables resources in a private subnet to access the internet without being directly reachable from it.*
![vpc-with-public-nat-gateway](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ByQHaVBXZx.png)


**A full VPC with Subnets, IGW, NAT Gateway and Route tables**
![vpc-with-subnets-basic](https://hackmd.io/_uploads/ry_IaNSmZe.png)



:::danger
- Complete the following **Networking section** in the AWS Workshop:
  - https://catalog.workshops.aws/general-immersionday/en-US/basic-modules/20-vpc

:::


### References and Links
:::warning
- https://www.simplilearn.com/free-kali-linux-course-skillup
- https://www.simplilearn.com/learn-python-basics-free-course-skillup
- https://termius.com/
- https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/global-infrastructure/
- https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/programs/
- https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/nitro/
- https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/getting-started-account-iam.html?icmpid=docs_iam_console#tutorial-billing-step1
- https://www.submarinecablemap.com/
- https://docs.aws.amazon.com/pdfs/whitepapers/latest/tagging-best-practices/tagging-best-practices.pdf
- https://catalog.workshops.aws/general-immersionday/en-US/basic-modules/10-ec2
:::


### Books and reading recommendations
:::warning
- https://devtodevops.com/blog/best-devops-books/
- https://sre.google/books/
- https://microservices.io/
- https://martinfowler.com/
- https://workshops.aws/
- https://docs.aws.amazon.com/prescriptive-guidance/latest/patterns/devops-pattern-list.html
:::


### Assignments and Additional exercises

:::warning


:::
 







