Week 5 - Day 1: Cloud Basics | DevOps Curriculum

📚 Learning Objectives

Understand what cloud computing is and its benefits
Differentiate between IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS
Get introduced to AWS and its global infrastructure
Create and configure an AWS account
Navigate the AWS Management Console

📖 Core Concepts (2 Hours)

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing delivers computing services—servers, storage, databases, networking, software—over the internet ("the cloud") with pay-as-you-go pricing.

On-Demand: Resources available when you need them
Scalable: Scale up or down based on demand
Cost-Effective: Pay only for what you use
Global: Deploy worldwide in minutes
Reliable: Built-in redundancy and backup

Cloud Service Models

                    
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                   YOU MANAGE                            │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  On-Premises │    IaaS     │    PaaS     │    SaaS     │
├──────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤
│ Applications │ Applications│ Applications│             │
│ Data         │ Data        │ Data        │             │
│ Runtime      │ Runtime     │             │             │
│ Middleware   │ Middleware  │             │             │
│ O/S          │ O/S         │             │             │
├──────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────┤
│              │  PROVIDER   │  PROVIDER   │  PROVIDER   │
│ Virtualization│Virtualization│ Runtime    │ Everything  │
│ Servers      │ Servers     │ Middleware  │             │
│ Storage      │ Storage     │ O/S         │             │
│ Networking   │ Networking  │ + below     │             │
└──────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────┘

Examples:
• IaaS: AWS EC2, Azure VMs, Google Compute Engine
• PaaS: AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Heroku, Google App Engine
• SaaS: Gmail, Salesforce, Microsoft 365
                    
                

AWS Global Infrastructure

                    
AWS Infrastructure Hierarchy:

Regions (30+):
├── Geographic areas (us-east-1, eu-west-1, ap-south-1)
├── Multiple Availability Zones per region
└── Data sovereignty and compliance

Availability Zones (AZs):
├── Isolated data centers within a region
├── Connected via low-latency links
└── Design for high availability

Edge Locations (400+):
├── Content delivery (CloudFront CDN)
├── Reduced latency for end users
└── Global reach
                    
                

Core AWS Services Overview

                    
Compute:          EC2, Lambda, ECS, EKS
Storage:          S3, EBS, EFS, Glacier
Database:         RDS, DynamoDB, Aurora, ElastiCache
Networking:       VPC, Route 53, CloudFront, ELB
Security:         IAM, KMS, WAF, Shield
Management:       CloudWatch, CloudTrail, Config
Developer Tools:  CodePipeline, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy
                    
                

🔬 Hands-on Lab (2.5 Hours)

Lab 1: Create AWS Account

Go to aws.amazon.com and click "Create an AWS Account"
Provide email, password, and account name
Enter contact and billing information
Verify phone number
Select Support Plan (Free tier available)

                    
# AWS Account Best Practices:
Use a unique email for root account
Enable MFA on root account immediately
Don't use root for daily tasks
Create IAM users for regular work
Set up billing alerts
                    
                

Lab 2: Set Up AWS CLI

Install AWS CLI v2
Configure credentials
Test connection

                    
# Install AWS CLI (Linux)
curl "https://awscli.amazonaws.com/awscli-exe-linux-x86_64.zip" -o "awscliv2.zip"
unzip awscliv2.zip
sudo ./aws/install

# Verify installation
aws --version

# Configure AWS CLI
aws configure
# Enter:
# AWS Access Key ID: your-access-key
# AWS Secret Access Key: your-secret-key
# Default region name: us-east-1
# Default output format: json

# Test connection
aws sts get-caller-identity
                    
                

Lab 3: Explore AWS Console

Navigate to different services
Understand the region selector
Set up billing alerts

                    
# Console Navigation Tips:
1. Use search bar (Alt+S) to find services
2. Pin frequently used services to toolbar
3. Check region in top-right corner
4. Use CloudShell for CLI without local setup

# Set up billing alert via CLI
aws cloudwatch put-metric-alarm \
  --alarm-name "BillingAlert10USD" \
  --metric-name EstimatedCharges \
  --namespace AWS/Billing \
  --statistic Maximum \
  --period 21600 \
  --threshold 10 \
  --comparison-operator GreaterThanThreshold \
  --dimensions Name=Currency,Value=USD \
  --evaluation-periods 1 \
  --alarm-actions arn:aws:sns:us-east-1:account-id:billing-alerts

# List available regions
aws ec2 describe-regions --output table
                    
                

Lab 4: Free Tier Awareness

Review AWS Free Tier offerings
Understand free tier limits
Set up cost monitoring

                    
# AWS Free Tier Highlights (12 months):
- EC2: 750 hours/month t2.micro or t3.micro
- S3: 5 GB storage, 20,000 GET, 2,000 PUT
- RDS: 750 hours/month db.t2.micro
- Lambda: 1 million requests/month (always free)
- CloudWatch: 10 custom metrics, 10 alarms

# Check your current usage
aws ce get-cost-and-usage \
  --time-period Start=2024-01-01,End=2024-01-31 \
  --granularity MONTHLY \
  --metrics "BlendedCost" "UnblendedCost"
                    
                

✅ Day 1 Checklist

Understand cloud computing and its benefits
Know the difference between IaaS, PaaS, SaaS
AWS account created and secured
AWS CLI installed and configured
Can navigate AWS Console
Billing alerts configured