AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations from Coursera

A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the course.

In this course, you'll gain a strong foundation in AWS core services like EC2, S3, IAM, and RDS, empowering you to manage and deploy cloud solutions effectively.

The journey begins with an exploration of Identity and Access Management (IAM), where you’ll learn how to manage user roles, security policies, and permissions within AWS. You'll then dive into Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) for provisioning and managing scalable virtual servers, including configuring storage and launching a web server. You’ll also gain skills in using the AWS CLI for automating cloud tasks.

As you move through the course, you'll learn about Amazon S3, its fundamental concepts, and how to manage secure storage and access. The course also includes practical projects like hosting a static website on S3 and setting up CloudFront distributions to optimize load times. Finally, you'll explore Relational Database Service (RDS) and Elasticache, which are key components for scalable database management and caching solutions.

By the end, you'll have hands-on experience with key AWS services and a thorough understanding of how to integrate them to create scalable, secure cloud applications.

This course is ideal for cloud enthusiasts looking to start their journey with AWS. It is suitable for learners aiming to gain foundational knowledge in AWS core services, with no prior experience required.

What's inside

Syllabus

Identity and Access Management (IAM)

In this module, we will explore AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) to help you manage access to AWS resources securely. Topics include setting up users, groups, and roles, as well as creating and customizing security policies. By the end of this section, you'll have a comprehensive understanding of IAM’s role in cloud security.

Career center

Learners who complete AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers:

Cloud Engineer

A Cloud Engineer designs, deploys, and maintains cloud-based solutions, focusing on scalability, security, and efficiency. This professional builds the infrastructure applications run on. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course provides a fundamental understanding of AWS services like EC2 for compute, S3 for storage, and RDS for databases, which are core building blocks for cloud solutions. Learning about IAM for security policies and integrating services like CloudFront for performance directly supports a Cloud Engineer's work. This course helps learners gain hands-on experience integrating these services to create scalable, secure cloud applications.

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Technical Specialist AWS

A Technical Specialist AWS acts as a subject matter expert for specific AWS services, providing in-depth guidance and support to internal teams or clients. This role requires a deep understanding of how various AWS components function and integrate. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course is tailor-made for an aspiring Technical Specialist AWS, offering thorough understanding and hands-on experience with fundamental AWS services like EC2, S3, IAM, and RDS. Delving into security policies, storage concepts, database management, and performance optimization with CloudFront provides detailed knowledge. This course helps build the expertise to articulate and implement solutions using core AWS offerings.

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Cloud Administrator

A Cloud Administrator manages, maintains, and monitors an organization's cloud infrastructure daily. This includes provisioning resources, ensuring security, and optimizing performance. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course offers practical experience in managing EC2 instances, configuring storage with S3, and leveraging IAM for secure access, which are essential duties for a Cloud Administrator. Learning about RDS for database management and using the AWS CLI for task automation also directly aligns with the technical demands of this role. This course helps build the operational skills necessary to effectively manage AWS environments.

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Infrastructure Engineer Cloud

An Infrastructure Engineer Cloud specializes in designing, implementing, and managing underlying cloud infrastructure that supports applications and services. This role focuses on the compute, storage, networking, and security layers. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course helps build a foundation for an Infrastructure Engineer Cloud, covering core AWS services like EC2 for compute, S3 for storage, and IAM for identity and access management. The course also explores the AWS CLI for automating infrastructure tasks, a key skill for this role. Learning to integrate these services to create scalable and secure cloud applications is central to this position.

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Database Administrator Cloud

A Database Administrator Cloud manages, maintains, and optimizes databases deployed in cloud environments. This includes provisioning, configuration, backup, recovery, and performance tuning. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course specifically focuses on Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS), covering its capabilities for simplifying relational database management. Topics like RDS setup, Multi-AZ deployments for high availability, and integrating ElastiCache for faster data access are directly applicable to a Database Administrator Cloud's work. This course helps learners gain hands-on experience managing RDS databases efficiently, providing a crucial skillset for this specialized role.

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System Administrator Cloud

A System Administrator Cloud manages and maintains operating systems, servers, and infrastructure within cloud environments. This role ensures the smooth operation and optimal performance of cloud-hosted systems. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course is highly relevant for a System Administrator Cloud, teaching how to provision and manage scalable virtual servers with EC2, configure storage with S3, and use the AWS CLI for automating cloud tasks. Understanding IAM for managing user roles and permissions is also crucial for system security. This course provides hands-on experience with key AWS services and a thorough understanding of how to integrate them, essential for modern cloud-focused system administration.

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Cloud Support Engineer

A Cloud Support Engineer provides technical assistance and guidance to users encountering issues with cloud services. The role involves troubleshooting, diagnosing problems, and offering solutions related to cloud infrastructure. This course, "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations," helps build a foundation in AWS core services like EC2, S3, IAM, and RDS, which are central to cloud operations. Understanding these services allows a Cloud Support Engineer to efficiently identify and resolve common issues. The hands-on experience with managing virtual servers, storage, databases, and access control can be particularly helpful for diagnosing and addressing customer inquiries, making this course beneficial for aspiring professionals in this field.

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Solutions Architect Associate

A Solutions Architect Associate designs well-architected cloud solutions, translating business requirements into technical designs leveraging cloud services. This role demands understanding cloud components and their integration. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course provides foundational knowledge of key AWS services: EC2, S3, IAM, and RDS. Its focus on integrating these components to create scalable, secure cloud applications is crucial for a Solutions Architect Associate. The course also explores CloudFront for optimization and ElastiCache for performance, further supporting robust architecture design. This course aids in building a comprehensive understanding of AWS service integration. This position typically requires an advanced degree or significant experience.

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Cloud Security Engineer

A Cloud Security Engineer focuses on protecting cloud environments, ensuring data integrity, confidentiality, and availability. This role involves implementing security controls, monitoring for threats, and managing access. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course emphasizes Identity and Access Management (IAM), covering user roles, security policies, and permissions within AWS. This module is directly relevant to a Cloud Security Engineer's responsibilities. Understanding secure storage with S3 and managing secure access is foundational. This course helps build a comprehensive understanding of IAM’s role in cloud security and securing core AWS services, which is essential for this position.

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Web Operations Engineer

A Web Operations Engineer ensures the continuous availability, performance, and scalability of web applications and their underlying infrastructure. This role involves managing web servers, content delivery, and related services. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course offers highly relevant skills. It covers provisioning and managing scalable virtual servers with EC2, including launching a web server, and delves into Amazon S3 for hosting static websites. Furthermore, the course teaches how to set up CloudFront distributions to optimize load times, critical for web performance. This course provides hands-on experience with key AWS services directly supporting robust web operations.

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DevOps Engineer

A DevOps Engineer bridges development and operations, automating software delivery and infrastructure management, emphasizing continuous integration and continuous delivery within cloud environments. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course, with its focus on AWS CLI for automating cloud tasks and managing services like EC2, S3, and RDS, provides foundational knowledge for a DevOps Engineer. Understanding how to provision and manage scalable virtual servers and deploy cloud solutions aligns with infrastructure-as-code principles. This course helps build technical skills needed to automate cloud deployments and manage infrastructure efficiently.

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Site Reliability Engineer

A Site Reliability Engineer applies software engineering principles to infrastructure and operations problems, focusing on system reliability, availability, and performance. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course may be useful for an aspiring Site Reliability Engineer by helping them build a foundation in AWS core services such as EC2 for compute, S3 for storage, and RDS for database management. Understanding Multi-AZ deployments in RDS and optimizing load times with CloudFront, as covered, directly relates to ensuring system reliability and performance. The course helps build foundational knowledge for managing scalable cloud applications, crucial for SRE responsibilities.

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Data Engineer, Cloud

A Data Engineer Cloud designs, builds, and maintains robust data pipelines and infrastructure within cloud environments for data collection, storage, processing, and analysis. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course may be useful for an aspiring Data Engineer Cloud by providing a foundational understanding of key AWS services. Amazon S3 for secure storage is a cornerstone for data lakes. Relational Database Service (RDS) is also often used for structured data warehousing. Understanding these core data services helps a Data Engineer Cloud design efficient and scalable data solutions. The course may help build a basic understanding of cloud storage and database management critical for this role.

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Cloud Consultant

A Cloud Consultant advises organizations on migrating and optimizing cloud operations, translating business needs into technical strategies. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course may be useful for an aspiring Cloud Consultant by providing foundational understanding of AWS core services: EC2, S3, IAM, and RDS. While consulting requires broader business acumen, a grasp of fundamental cloud technologies and their integration for scalable, secure applications, as taught, is essential for advising clients. This course helps build the technical bedrock for client discussions. This role typically requires an advanced degree or significant experience.

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Backend Developer Cloud

A Backend Developer Cloud builds and maintains server-side logic and databases that power web applications, leveraging cloud services for deployment and scalability. While primarily focused on coding, understanding the underlying infrastructure is critical. The "AWS Core Services and Cloud Foundations" course may be useful for a Backend Developer Cloud by helping them grasp how applications interact with foundational cloud services. Knowledge of EC2 for deploying applications, S3 for storage, and RDS for database management helps design efficient, scalable backend systems. Understanding IAM also aids in securing application access. This course provides insights into integrating services to create scalable cloud applications.

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