I've gathered 10 free AWS learning resources which are focused entirely on beginners.
This list is divided into four sections. We start off with resources that contain the basic Cloud fundamentals. The second section goes deeper into Cloud security. The third section contains hands-on resources which help you get practical experience. The last section is reserved for AWS Certification preparation.
List of 10 best free AWS learning resources for beginners
What is Cloud Computing?
AWS Fundamentals course
AWS Foundations: Getting Started with the AWS Cloud Essentials
AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials
AWS Well-Architected Framework
Securing your AWS Cloud
Qwiklabs
Hands-on Tutorials on your own AWS Account
AWS Cloud Practitioner exam
AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam
1 - What is Cloud Computing?
Are you really new to the Cloud? Then start off here and get yourself familiarized with Cloud Computing by reading these two resources:
These web pages answer some basic questions on What Cloud Computing is and what problems it can solve.
2 - AWS Fundamentals course
The AWS Fundamentals course helps you to learn the core concepts of AWS Cloud.
Its structure is based on the AWS Well-Architected Framework whitepaper . Basically, this teaches the best practices in the design, delivery, and maintenance of AWS environments. This is fundamental knowledge that everybody should know.
The course is divided into five modules, each module represents a pillar of the AWS Well-Architected Framework:
- Operational Excellence
2.Security
3.Reliability
4.Performance Efficiency
5.Cost Optimization
In each pillar, some key concepts will be covered which are important to learn and they will also provide additional links and resources to dive deeper into the material.
3 - AWS Foundations: Getting Started with the AWS Cloud Essentials
This is an official course that is provided by AWS from their digital training platform. It contains a 1-hour video where you learn about the foundations of getting started in the AWS Cloud.
This course helps you gain an overall understanding of the AWS Cloud, key terminology, and help advance your AWS Cloud skills.
Some topics that are covered in this video:
Overview of the Global infrastructure of the cloud
The Shared Responsibility model
AWS pricing
Compute, Storage, Database, Networking, and Security categories
4 - AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials
The previous course was a warm-up to get your head in the cloud. The AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials goes way deeper on getting an overall understanding of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud.
This course is 6 hours and includes videos, demonstrations, links to resources, and knowledge checks. In this course, you will learn about:
Differences between on-premises, hybrid-cloud, and all-in cloud
Basics of Cloud migration
Global AWS infrastructure
The core AWS services e.g. EC2, networking, databases, and storage
Billing and account management
Shared responsibility model
AWS Well-Architected Framework
5 - AWS Well-Architected Framework
You need to read the AWS Well-Architect Framework whitepaper cover to cover. It will help you understand how to build systems on AWS in a "best practices" way. Even experienced engineers use this framework to measure their architectures against best practices and identify areas for improvement.
6 - Securing your AWS Cloud
Security is very important in the Cloud and the responsibility lies with you in making sure the infrastructure and the data are secured properly. The Securing Your AWS Cloud course covers the different security design principles that will help you to plan your security approach in the AWS Cloud.
Some of the topics that are covered:
Auditing
Authentication
Authorization
Encryption
Monitoring
7 - Qwiklabs
There is no better preparation than hands-on experience. That's exactly what Qwiklabs provides. They give you temporary credentials to AWS, so you can learn the cloud using the real thing – no simulations. From 30-minute individual labs to multi-day courses.
They offer a range of labs on different AWS Services, most of which are paid. But there is an exception on a couple of fundamental labs. These labs are perfect for beginners, so let me share a couple of labs that are worth doing:
Introduction to AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
Introduction to Amazon DynamoDB
Introduction to Amazon S3
Introduction to Amazon CloudFront
Introduction to AWS Lambda
8 - Hands-on Tutorials on your own AWS Account
With Qwiklabs you're limited to a sandboxed environment and can't experiment beyond the given labs. But if you have access to your own AWS account, then it becomes possible to experiment with more AWS services by doing the official hands-on tutorials
There are more than 100 tutorials available, ranging from "Launching a Virtual Machine" to "Creating a Deeplens project". If you plan to do this on your own AWS account and spend as little as possible, then look for the tutorials that contain "Free tier" in the header.
9 - AWS Cloud Practitioner exam
After learning the fundamentals and getting some hands-on experience it's time to focus on the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam. Doing the exam is part of the learning path if you plan on getting certified. Exams are a good way to test your cloud skills and knowledge that you've built up during the time that you went through all the material that I provided.
Becoming certified not only validates your cloud expertise but also might give you an edge on your professional resume.
For beginners, I would recommend going for the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam.
10 - AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam
If you feel confident enough or you already passed the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam. Then I would recommend going for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam.