AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials

cloud computing

on-demand delivery of IT resources over the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing

cloud deployment types

1. cloud-based deployment

2. on-premises deployment

3. hybrid deployment

benefits of cloud computing

1. trade fixed expenses for variable expenses

2. benefit from massive economies of scale

3. stop guessing capacity

4. increased speed and agility

5. stop spending money running and maintaining data centers

6. go global in minutes

high availability

making sure your applications stay accessible with minimal downtime

fault tolerance

designing a system to continue to operate even if multiple components fail (building resilience into every layer, so that no single failure brings down the whole system)

AWS regions

physical location around the world that contains multiple, isolated data centers

*built to be as close to AWS customer as possible

AWS availability zones

consists of one or more discrete data centers, each with independent power, networking, and connectivity

*there are 3 or more AZs within a region for redundancy

AWS shared responsibility model

• customer responsibility (security IN the cloud)

  • customer data

  • client-side data encryption

• customer or AWS responsibility (varies by services)

  • server-side encryption

  • network traffic protection

  • platform and application management

  • OS, network, and firewall configuration

• AWS responsibility (security OF the cloud)

  • software for compute, storage, database, and networking

  • hardware, AWS global infrastructure

multitenancy

sharing underlying hardware between virtual machines

EC2 configurations

1. windows

2. linux

3. internal business apps

4. web apps

5. databases

6. 3rd party software

EC2

flexible, cost-effective, and faster than managing on-premises servers. it offers on-demand compute capacity that can be quickly launched, scaled, and terminated, with costs based only on active usage

how EC2 works

1. launch an instance

2. connect to the instance (windows or linux)

3. use the instance (run commands, install software, add storage, organize files, etc.)

EC2 instance types

1. general purpose

2. compute optimized

3. memory optimized

4. accelerated computing

5. storage optimized

general purpose EC2 instance

balanced mix of compute, memory, and networking resources. ideal for diverse workloads and when workload performance is uncertain

compute optimized EC2 instance

ideal for compute-intensive tasks, such as gaming servers, high performance computing (HPC), machine learning, and scientific modeling

memory optimized EC2 instance

used for memory-intensive tasks like processing large datasets, data analytics, and databases. provide fast performance for memory-heavy workloads

accelerated computing EC2 instance

use hardware accelerators, like graphics processing units (GPUs), to efficiently handle tasks, such as floating-point calculations, graphics processing, and machine learning

storage optimized EC2 instance

designed for workloads that require high performance for locally stored data, such as large databases, data warehousing, and I/o-intensive applications

API

application programming interface. defines predetermined ways for you to interact with AWS services

you can access APIs through 3 primary methods

1. AWS management console

   1. good for users who prefer visual, easy-to-use interface for managing and configuring AWS services

2. AWS CLI (command line interface)

   1. good for advanced users and developers who need to automate tasks, script actions, and manage AWS resources efficiently

3. AWS SDK (software development kit)

   1. good for developers looking to integrate AWS services into their applications using language-specific APIs

amazon machine images (AMI)

pre-built virtual machine images that have the basic components for what is needed to start an instance

AMI components

• operating system

• storage setup

• architecture type

• permissions for launching

• any extra software that is already installed

3 ways to use AMIs

1. create your own

2. use available AWS AMIs

3. purchase from AWS marketplace

AMI repeatability

AMIs provide repeatability through a consistent environment for every new instance.

to launch an EC2 instance for a web server…

• configure the AMI to define the OS and software

• select the instance type of allocate CPU, memory, and storage

• set up storage options

on-demand instance pricing

pay only for the compute capacity you consume with no upfront payments or long-term commitments required

reserved instance pricing

get a savings of up to 75% by committing to a 1 or 3 yr term for predictable workloads using specific instance families and AWS regions

spot instance pricing

bid on spare compute capacity at up to 90% off the on-demand price, with the flexibility to be interrupted when AWS reclaims the instance

savings plans instance pricing

save up to 72% across a variety of instance types and services by committing to a consistent usage level for 1 or 3 yrs

dedicated hosts instance pricing

reserve an entire physical server for your exclusive use. this options offers full control and is ideal for workloads with strict security or licensing needs

dedicated instances instance pricing

pay for instances running on hardware dedicated solely to your account. this option provides isolation from other AWS customers

dedicated hosts vs dedicated instance

dedicated hosts offer exclusive use of a server with full control, whereas dedicated instances provide isolation without server control

scalability

ability of a system to handle an increased load by adding resources. focuses on long-term capacity planning to make sure that the system can grow and accommodate more users or workloads as needed

• adding more power to existing machine (scaling up)

• adding more machines (scaling out)

elasticity

ability to automatically scale resources up or down in response to real-time demand so a system can then rapidly adjust its resources. provides cost efficiency and optimal resource usage at any given moment

EC2 auto scaling

automatically adjusts the number of EC2 instances based on changes in application demand, providing better availability

• dynamic scaling: adjusts real time to fluctuations

• predictive scaling: preemptively schedules the right number of instances based on anticipated demand

elastic load balancing (ELB)

automatically distributes incoming application traffic across multiple resources (EC2 instances) to optimize performance and reliability

*a load balancer serves as the single point of contact for all incoming web traffic to an auto scaling group

main benefits of ELB

1. efficient traffic distribution: evenly distribute traffic across EC2 instances

2. automatic scaling: adjusts to changes in demand for seamless operation

3. simplified management: ELB decouples front-end and backend tiers and reduces manual synchronization

ELB routing methods

• round robin: distributes traffic evenly across all available servers in a cyclic manner

• least connections: routes traffic to te server with the fewest active connection

• IP hash: uses client’s IP address to consistently route traffic to the same server

• least response time: directs traffic to the server with the fastest response time, minimizing latency

monolithic applications

consists of multiple components that work together to transmit data, fulfill requests, and keep the application running smoothly

*if one component fails, it can cause the failure of other components

microservices architecture

application components are loosely couples, meaning that is one component fails, the others continue to function normally

EventBridge

serverless service that helps connect different parts of an application using events, helping to build scalable, event-driven systems

*simplifies the process of receiving, filtering, transforming, and delivering events, so you can quickly build reliable applications

Amazon SQS

message queuing service that facilitates reliable communication between software components. it can send, store, and receive messages at any scale, making sure messages are not lost and that other services don’t need to be available for processing

Amazon SNS

a publish-subscribe service that publishers use to send messages to subscribers through SNS topics

serverless computing

you cannot see or access the underlying infrastructure

unmanaged compute services

takes care of the underlying physical infrastructure, but you’re responsible for setting up, securing, and maintaining the OS, network configs, and applications on your instances

- ex. EC2

managed compute services

reduce the amount of infrastructure you need to manage. while AWS handles much of the operational overhead, you might still need to perform some provisioning or configuration depending on the service

fully managed services (serverless services)

eliminate the need to provision or manage any servers at all

lambda

serverless compute service that runs code in response to events without the need to provision or manage servers

*ideal for building responsive, event-driven applications across a wide range of industries

how lambda works

1. upload code to lambda

2. set code to trigger from an event source

3. run code when triggered

4. pay only for the compute time used

main components of AWS lambda

• function

• triggers

• runtimes

container

packages your application with everything it needs to run, so it works the same on any computer

*faster and lighter than VMs because they share the host computer’s OS

*keep the application’s environment consistent everywhere, making deployments smoother and assisting troubleshooting

scaling containers with orchestration

they automate deployment, scaling, and management to keep everything running smoothly

Amazon ECS (elastic container service)

scalable container orchestration service for running and managing containers on AWS

Amazon EKS (elastic kubernetes service)

fully managed service for running kubernetes on AWS. it simplifies deploying, managing, and scaling containerized applications using open source kubernetes, with ongoing support and updates from the broader community

Amazon ECR (elastic container registry)

store, manage, and deploy container images. it supports container images that follow the open container initiative (OCI) standards

Fargate

serverless compute engine for containers. works with both ECS and EKS

*container hosting platform

*manages your server infrastructure for you, so no need to provision or manage servers

elastic beanstalk

fully manages service that streamlines the deployment, management, and scaling of web applications

AWS batch

fully managed service that you can use to run batch computing workloads on AWS. it automatically schedules, manages, and scales compute resources for batch jobs, optimizing resource allocation based on job requirements

Amazon lightsail

clous service offering virtual private servers (VPSs), storage, databases, and networking at a predictable monthly price

AWS outposts

fully managed hybrid cloud solution that extends AWS infrastructure and services to on-premises data centers

AWS edge locations

cache items like images, videos, and other resources, so that users can access the content they need with lower latency

key considerations when choosing AWS regions

1. compliance

2. proximity

3. feature availability

4. pricing

agility

the ability to quickly adapt to changing requirements or market conditions

cloudformation

service that helps you model and set up your AWS resources so that you can spend less time managing those resources and more time focusing on your applications that run in AWS