In the past year, I've shared a lot of knowledge on AWS and Cloud.

For the people that recently started following me, I've revisited my timeline and cherry-picked 4 threads for you so you can start your journey in the Cloud.

Enjoy and good luck 🧵

1. Advice for beginners who start in the Cloud
https://twitter.com/dannysteenman/status/1357329463730720772

2. Python tips for compact code
https://twitter.com/dannysteenman/status/1314930561220313088

3. Why you should pursue AWS Certifications
https://twitter.com/dannysteenman/status/1366632613310582785

4. More learning resources for Cloud Engineers with a focus on AWS.
https://twitter.com/dannysteenman/status/1333661017549778944

This is the end! I'll share another collection of threads next week. 

If you don't want to miss out, then follow me (if you haven't done so already)

I write in more detail on my blog, so check it out and subscribe to the newsletter while you're at it 👇

https://dannys.cloud

How to start your AWS Cloud journey

I opened an open-source repository on GitHub back in March that contains useful Bash & Python scripts that automate repetitive tasks in AWS.

Since then over 290 people starred it 🌟

If you want to use it or share your scripts, check the link in the next tweet 👇

Here it is!

https://github.com/dannysteenman/aws-toolbox

AWS Toolbox

Kickstart your journey in the Cloud with these 6 Free AWS learning resources!

Start here:

1. What is Cloud computing?

https://aws.amazon.com/what-is-cloud-computing

2. Course: Core concepts of the Cloud

https://aws.amazon.com/getting-started/fundamentals-core-concepts/?e=gs2020&p=gsrc

3. Getting Started with the AWS Cloud Essentials

https://www.aws.training/Details/Video?id=49639

4. AWS Well-Architected Framework whitepaper

https://wa.aws.amazon.com/index.en.html

5. Course: Securing your AWS cloud

https://www.aws.training/learningobject/video?id=49712

6. Hands-on lab: introduction to IAM

https://amazon.qwiklabs.com/catalog_lab/3667

This thread is based on the following blog post that I wrote down below, read it if you want to get the full details:

https://dannys.cloud/10-best-free-aws-learning-resources-for-beginners

If you liked this thread, then retweet the first tweet to share and inspire others!

6 Free AWS learning resources

Here are 10 VS Code extensions to help you make better use of Python:

1. Python by Microsoft
2. Pylance
3. Visual Studio IntelliCode
4. Sort lines
5. Indenticator
6. Indent rainbow
7. Bracket Pair Colorizer 2
8. Sourcery
9. Python Docstring Generator
10. Dash

Want to become AWS Certified, but you don't know where to start? 

Then continue reading 👇

Getting started 

If you're new to Cloud technology go for the easiest certification: 
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner

If you already have some experience with AWS, then go with: 
- AWS Certified Developer associate.

Must-read resources to bookmark

AWS Well-Architected Framework: 

docs.aws.amazon.com/wellarchitected/latest/framework/welcome.html

If you're ready to prepare for the exam then have a look at these series I wrote on AWS Certifications

dannys.cloud/series/aws-certification

It contains 7 exam tips and 2 full guides on the AWS practitioner and AWS Solutions Architect exams.

Good luck with your preparation!

If you enjoyed this, please:

1. Retweet the first tweet
2. Follow me @dannysteenman for more tweets on AWS

How to get AWS Certified, explained step by step

I’ve been working as a Cloud Engineer for 6+ years. Focused a lot on migrating workloads to the Cloud and transforming them to become Cloud Native. 

In the meantime I got 7x AWS Certified

Ask Me Anything (AMA) on the Cloud and I’ll try to do my best to answer your questions 😄

If the sftp server is running on linux you can create a script which makes use of the aws cli so you can use the s3 cp command: https://awscli.amazonaws.com/v2/documentation/api/latest/reference/s3/cp.html

Then create a cron job to schedule it every week. https://twitter.com/killpueino_goni/status/1359588776645918722

Get familiar with the most popular services e.g. for AWS that’s ec2, vpc, rds, lambda etc. Know the benefits of the Cloud, this might help https://dannys.cloud/aws-cloud-practitioner-exam-guide

AWS Certs are not compulsary, it does help for the first impression and working for a company that’s part of an APN. https://twitter.com/a_t_e_i_i_/status/1359589303001747458

Unfortunately I’m not experienced with Kubernetes but my best guess would be to go with EKS if you plan to host it on AWS.

Maybe check this tutorial: https://aws.amazon.com/getting-started/hands-on/deploy-kubernetes-app-amazon-eks/ https://twitter.com/inioIuwa/status/1359590462127013889

Nope, I never did and I ended up just fine 🙂 https://twitter.com/edore_u/status/1359590613407137797

The easiest way is by using Infrastructure as Code. Some great tools that allow you to easily replicate environments:

- CloudFormation
- Terraform
- CDK https://twitter.com/rmcomplexity/status/1359592331922583554

Best is a little subjective in this case. I started off with CloudFormation and it’s pretty easy to read because of the yaml format. If you’re more comfortable with programming, I would really recommend to go with AWS CDK. https://twitter.com/TheAngryTech/status/1359590868370395137

For public activities:
- Technical blog posts
- Open source contributions
- Certifications

Stuff that I build for my clients are mostly under NDA (can’t be shared publicly), but during a tech interview you can explain the concepts of what you applied to show your experience. https://twitter.com/a_t_e_i_i_/status/1359594154297327618

If there is enough demand in your area for only serverless, then go serverless! 

Ops will eventually get obsolete, so if you don’t have to work on it then you can skip it. But the truth is that most companies are still migrating to the cloud, so don’t expect all in on serverless https://twitter.com/MoeBrueC/status/1359595427675447296

Nope. https://twitter.com/MrLogan56932097/status/1359594949679849472

- VPC &amp; EC2, the company I worked for found a client who wanted to migrate “as is” to AWS. I learned a lot on what not to do 😂
- Lambda because of its versatility / CDK because I love to build infra using code.
- Yes, Azure a little bit and GCP a tiny bit https://twitter.com/johanrin/status/1359595921017868288

Not as important as Cloud Certifications. Currently there is huge demand for Cloud Skills and one way of filtering the right people for the job is by having a cloud certificate. Nevertheless it’s a great benefit if you also have linux skills. https://twitter.com/maxbuijsman/status/1359594512260231169

I wrote a thread about it, have a look:
https://twitter.com/dannysteenman/status/1357329463730720772?s=21 https://twitter.com/MalequeRafi/status/1359600440724377600

Good question, long answer:
https://dannys.cloud/break-out-comfort-zone-engineer

tldr; When I did my thesis I got immediately hooked by the capabilities that the Cloud offered back then (AS, HA, Elasticity etc..) 

Plus I got sick of maintaining stateful servers like pets and building them more like cattle. https://twitter.com/madebygps/status/1359604820555026441

- CloudWatch
- Depends on requirements, most common scenario: CDN + ALB + ASG + Elastic Cache + Multi-AZ
- Find out what your workload can handle (do load-tests) and monitor your environment to discover the thresholds and setup metrics for that to handle the autoscaling https://twitter.com/mindofcreator/status/1359605544546234368

The Cloud is just “someone else’s computer”.  Joke 😂

Some characteristics:
- Pay per use
- Scalability
- Elasticity
- High Availability https://twitter.com/UbahTheBuilder/status/1359590188557729797

Yes, automation is super important in the Cloud. Therefore it’s important to get familiar with programming. https://twitter.com/OpeyemummyofGod/status/1359600091401773058

1. I’m not so sure it that’s necessarily better. Consider it just a role name, officially I’m a consultant because I work at a consultancy company with many clients. But I get my hands “dirty” by building stuff so I call myself Cloud Engineer.

2. Nope https://t.co/jFYcfyOnLx

Depending on the use case and scope, customer with small budget and timeline with a DTAP environment - Test against real infra on DTA.

Customer with big budget and timeline (enterprise) mock and unit tests integrated in pipelines. https://twitter.com/loujaybee/status/1359614122820780033

For networking this book covers the AWS networking part and is highly detailed https://www.amazon.com/Certified-Advanced-Networking-Official-Study/dp/1119439833

For IAM I would suggest to start with the official AWS docs, it covers almost everything https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/introduction.html https://twitter.com/Abhilas93160506/status/1359763631295004682

I can only speculate on this, but I see more services transitioning to a managed counterpart. This means regular OPS becomes obsolete over time since you can deploy services without having to manage the underlying infra. We will see more of this in the future. https://twitter.com/Rich1nEs/status/1359720629562392577

Wait until the certification almost expires and then schedule a new exam. My strategy is to have some space in between the exams so they don’t all expire on the same time. 

You see some people getting 5+ certificates in 6 months. This means you’ll get busy when they expire 😂 https://twitter.com/rajaseelan/status/1359652304950079491

AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional https://twitter.com/Go_Movie_Mango/status/1359726480125616135

Low-code https://twitter.com/InfiniteWavesAI/status/1359668344253796355

I would assume you mean full stack on-prem. Get familiar with the Cloud native counterparts:

- Network: VPC (peering), ACL’s, Subnets, Direct Connect, TGW, CGW, AZ’s, RT, NatGW etc.
- Security: SG, IAM, KMS, CloudTrail, GuardDuty, Inspector, WAF, Shield.
- Storage: EBS, EFS, S3 https://twitter.com/Scott_TAMC/status/1359750025077813254

The answer depends heavily on the size of your data and how fast you want to transfer it to AWS (this is unknown for me). But two common scenarios:

- Snowball edge (80TB Storage) when you’re limited in bandwidth
- Direct Connect (max: 10Gbps per connection) when not limited. https://twitter.com/MC_MiguelRios/status/1359696380864811009

There isn’t really a “best” tool for security. Best way to start learning cloud security is to check out the AWS Certified Security - Specialty page https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-security-specialty/

This contains links to relevant white-papers and trainings. https://twitter.com/Khizarrajpoot1/status/1359767013195997187

Terraform: https://github.com/hashicorp/terraform
CDK: https://github.com/aws/aws-cdk
Chalice: https://github.com/aws/chalice
Serverless Framework: https://github.com/serverless/serverless https://twitter.com/sumyrules/status/1359821659285250051

There isn’t really a “best” career path. If you’re already a data engineer, you can apply the same skillset but the underlying platform changes. This means you need to focus on getting familiar with Cloud Concepts. https://twitter.com/crypProphet/status/1359764690583306246

Certifications are primarily effective for the first impression, meaning you get invited to a Tech interview faster. However… you need to prove yourself during that process and that’s where practical experience plays a major role. https://twitter.com/batajoonp/status/1359903399278354440

Forever! I’m still learning new things every day! 

You need to keep learning in order to stay up to date with all the latest innovations. https://twitter.com/drealmekah/status/1359889901651718145

I wrote a thread about it 👇

https://twitter.com/dannysteenman/status/1357329463730720772?s=21 https://twitter.com/driscollis/status/1359942253050023939

Yes on average you have around 3 minutes per question and the questions are pretty long. So you in order to pass you need to make fast decisions.

I wrote a blog on exam tips that might help

https://dannys.cloud/aws-certification-preparation https://twitter.com/mikeydread23/status/1359687016460529667

Backups are a must have! But even more important is to have a working disaster recovery strategy. Give AWS Backup a try. https://twitter.com/asvignesh/status/1359771188415787009

I think this picture says enough 😄 https://twitter.com/Vidit_210/status/1359592722944962567 

If the established environment was set up manually, you can generate CloudFormation templates with this tool created by @iann0036 https://github.com/iann0036/former2 https://twitter.com/IanOnyango/status/1359702210230239235

Time to wrap it up! I think this is my biggest thread 🧵 of all time! 

Thanks for all the great questions that you posted! Hopefully you enjoyed reading my take on it 😄

If you’re as enthusiastic about Cloud like me and want to know more about it, consider following me!

Typefully

Typefully

How to start your AWS Cloud journey

AWS Toolbox

6 Free AWS learning resources

How to get AWS Certified, explained step by step

AWS Cloud Engineer AMA