I Need to Discuss AWS Cloud Quest with You
Do you already know AWS Skill Builder?
If you have been following or reading my previous posts, you may already know that I am currently on my upskilling journey to ensure that I don’t become an outdated Data Scientist or fall behind in the rapidly changing field of IT. As we all know, staying up-to-date can be quite challenging.
So, in this leg of my journey, I have decided to become a Cloud Practitioner, starting with AWS. If you are already a Cloud Practitioner or someone who wants to dive deeper into the world of cloud computing, particularly AWS, have you heard ofAWS Skill Builder (ASB)? I wish I had known about this platform six years ago; it would have completely transformed my life. ASB serves as the official hub for AWS training, offering an extensive range of knowledge and resources.
The AWS Skill Builder (ASB) platform provides both free and paid content. If you are serious about learning AWS, I highly recommend investing in the paid AWS official training, which costs $29 per month or $299 annually. By subscribing, you gain access to a multitude of benefits, as shown in the image below.
Even in the free version, you have access to several on-demand training sessions, which can help you decide whether or not to subscribe. However, what ultimately convinced me to get the subscription was the AWS Cloud Quest: Cloud Practitioner.
The Cloud Quest offers a comprehensive learning path and interactive challenges specifically designed for Cloud Practitioners. It provides hands-on experience and allows you to apply your knowledge in real-world scenarios. This unique feature made the subscription well worth it for me.
My return to ASB
Before discovering AWS Cloud Quest, I had already made the decision to pursue the Cloud Practitioner certification. I was in the midst of studying for the exam when Cloud Quest came across my radar. What intrigued me about Cloud Quest was the opportunity to put theory into practice through the 12 challenging labs it offered. In essence, AWS Cloud Quest is a gamified platform that facilitates learning.
However, AWS Skill Builder (ASB) offers much more than just Cloud Quest. As you can see in the image above, ASB provides resources to better prepare for certification exams and allows you to explore other Cloud Quest roles. I plan to delve into the Machine Learning and Data Analytics roles soon.
My first encounter with ASB was earlier this year when I completed the Cloud Essentials training, which was available for free. This course provided over 12 hours of valuable information about AWS, including its fundamental services and how everything functions within the platform.
At that time, I realized that I needed to deepen my AWS knowledge, but I didn’t pay enough attention to the signs life was giving me. So, in May of this year, I decided to take the AWS Knowledge: Cloud Essentials test. Although it is not an official certification, it attests to one’s familiarity with AWS.
AWS Cloud Quest: Cloud Practitioner
Recently, about three months ago, I made the decision to embrace the challenge of becoming an AWS Cloud Practitioner. So, I thought, why not take on the Cloud Quest for Cloud Practitioner? And that’s exactly what I did.
In this free version of Cloud Quest, you have the ability to customize your avatar, making it resemble yourself. You are then presented with 12 challenges that cover different AWS services. What I particularly appreciate about the Cloud Quest approach is that it presents real-world problems, allowing you to assume a role and implement solutions based on client requirements.
For each challenge, you must accept and understand the client’s requirements. Once you accept the challenge, there are four phases to complete: Learn, Plan, Practice, and DIY.
Learn
The most interesting aspect of this phase is the ability to access videos that provide detailed explanations of the services required to solve the problem. As shown below, the problem statement is presented on the left side, along with instructional videos that cover key concepts and the proposed architecture for the solution.
Plan
In the Plan phase, you will find a concise summary of what needs to be deployed in your AWS Lab account, which will be generated specifically for solving the problem. Additionally, take note of the DIY sub-session, which signifies the final phase.
Practice
The third phase is the hands-on phase, where you will find a button to generate an AWS Lab account that enables you to deploy the solution. In addition, there are helpful screenshots and step-by-step descriptions on the left side, guiding you through the deployment process. Each step is accompanied by an explanation of why it is necessary.
DIY
The final part typically involves an additional task that you need to complete after deploying the solution. This task allows you to create a new possibility or reinforce what you have learned. The concept behind it is quite simple: Cloud Quest wants you to take action and apply your knowledge on your own.
The Challenges
As I mentioned earlier, there are twelve distinct challenges that involve various applications of AWS services. Below, you will find a summary of each challenge along with the associated services used.
- Episode — Cloud Computing Essentials:
— Host a static website in S3 bucket.
— Services used in AWS: S3 Buckets. - Episode — Cloud First Steps:
— Launch 2 EC2 instances in different Availability Zones (AZ), using a configured VPC with 2 different subnets to attend the request for 2 AZ.
— Services used in AWS: EC2, VPC. - Episode — Computing Solutions:
— Upgrade an EC2 instance to deal with a higher compute workload.
— Services used in AWS: EC2. - Episode — Networking Concepts:
— Solve a problem with VPC, table routes, and security group inbound and outbound rules.
— Services used in AWS: EC2, VPC, Router, Internet Gateway. - Episode — Connecting VPCs:
— Configure VPC peering between the Marketing and Finance networks.
— Services used in AWS: EC2, VPC, Router, Peering Connection. - Episode — Databases in Practice:
— Create an Amazon RDS for MySQL instance, enables backups to your database, enable multiple AZs for your Amazon RDS deployment, create a read replica for the customers.
— Services used in AWS: Amazon RDS. - Episode — First NoSQL Database:
— Create an AWS DynamoDB with record metadata attributes, add records and query the table.
— Services used in AWS: Amazon DynamoDB. - Episode — Cloud Economics:
— Create an estimate using AWS Pricing Calculator, calculating the cost of EC2 instances with varying costs and share the estimate.
— Services used in AWS: AWS Pricing Calculator. - Episode — File System in the Cloud:
— Set up Amazon EFS, create a mount target for the pet client photos repository.
— Services used in AWS: Amazon EFS, EC2. - Episode — Core Security Concepts:
— Create an IAM group for support engineers, attach a managed EC2 read-only access policy to IAM group, create and attach a user to the group membership.
— Services used in AWS: IAM. - Episode — Auto-Healing and Scaling Applications:
— Create an Auto Scaling with launch configurations, Configure scheduled scaling.
— Services used in AWS: Auto Scaling Group, EC2 Instance. - Episode — Highly Available Web Applications:
— Create an Auto Scaling group across multiple AZs, Create a loud balancer, Attach an Auto Scaling group to a load balancer, Create a load balancer health check for EC2 instances.
— Services used in AWS: Auto Scaling Group, EC2 instance, Load Balancer.
Conclusion
After completing all twelve challenges, you will be eligible to receive a Badge, which can be accessed through the Credly Platform. This platform will showcase all the badges you have earned from AWS.
Personally, I have thoroughly enjoyed using the Cloud Quest platform. However, it is not just Cloud Quest that has been beneficial to my journey. The ASB platform has also played a crucial role in helping me achieve my goal of becoming an AWS Practitioner. I have subscribed to the platform and I look forward to sharing my future adventures in the Machine Learning and Data Analytics roles through future blog posts.
