My AWS Rocks!

Useful AWS Training Resources

Change in technology is like a river, it never stops flowing, and at times can feel like a flood. These resources should help you keep ahead of the game.

One thing I think is important in technology is to never stop learning. For me change in technology is like a river, it never stops flowing, and at times such as re:invent it can feel like a flood. Things are changing so rapidly if you don't keep up to date you will drown in all the announcements and changes. Hopefully you have all heard about the skillbuilder.aws website that has over two and a half thousand digital courses in 16 languages. What you may not know is that there is a raft of other training material out there either direct from AWS or others that can help with your learning journey.

How to Well-Architect network connectivity to AWS services.

With multiple ways to access AWS Services which is the best? I look at 3 common access patterns and see if they hold up to the Well-Architected Framework.

With so many possible paths which do you take? So a few weeks ago I was asked what my strategy was for accessing internal AWS resources such as S3, DynamoDB etc. where it is possible to access over VPC endpoints as well as the internet. My first point of reference for them was the great map by Corey Quinn, Chief Cloud Economist at The Duckbill Group which looks at the costs for moving data around AWS.

Setting up your AWS account

What to do once you've signed up to AWS.

So you want to get your own AWS account and get started with hands on deployments. What should you do? Firstly take a look at the AWS Getting Started Guide. In particular follow at least the first 3 steps of the setting up your environment. This will go through account creation, securing your root account and creating an admin account for you to use on a daily basis. How to Setup Your Development Environment for AWS | IntroductionLearn how to setup your development environment for AWS. This tutorial includes setting up and securing your account, installing the AWS CLI, and getting started with Cloud9.Amazon Web Services, Inc.The are a few addition items I would recommend doing in addition to the steps provided by AWS.

AWS Community Builders

So I've become an AWS Community Builder. Why I applied and why I'm excited for the next 12 months.

Over the summer I saw a few of my connections on LinkedIn announce that they were selected by AWS as a Community Builder. It was one of a few programs I have heard about from AWS that focus on building content and knowledge within the AWS community. As you can guess by this blog, one of the things I'm keen on is sharing knowledge. I believe that we all benefit when people share knowledge. Looking into the program interested me for two reasons.

4x or 1x Certified - Does it matter?

What is more important to showcase?

I often see in peoples LinkedIn headline is stats around how many certifications they hold such as 6x AWS | 4x AZURE | 2x GCP . The question is what does this actually show? Does someone with 7 certificates have more knowledge than someone with 4? What about those without any certifications? Numbers don't always add up.The problem with just comparing the numbers mathematically is that not all certifications are equal. 4x does not always equal 4x!