Introduction
Amazon Web Services is the leading Cloud Service provider provider. They also offer training and certification for Cloud-related careers. This blog post will explore some free AWS courses that can help start a career or improve your skills. These courses are relatively short but they will offer you foundational (as well as mid-level skill in specific Solutions) Generally, a cloud-based career typically describes a job where you deploy, manage, design, implement, and optimize any cloud-based solutions for organizations.
Why Choose AWS for Your Cloud Career?
Amazon Web Services is the largest Cloud Services Platform. It has a market share of 33 percent and as such makes it a very popular choice for organizations. If you are considering a cloud career, the following are reasons why choosing AWS might be the right choice for you.
- Clear Market Leader – As mentioned above, AWS is the largest Cloud Service Platform, this easily translates to more job availability that will specifically require skills in AWS products and Solutions.
- Wide Range of Products and Services – This gives you a lot of solutions to choose from and as such exposes you to more opportunities.
- AWS Certification – AWS certifications are among the best-regarded Certs by Hiring managers for Cloud career roles.
- Global Reach – AWS is a globally recognizable brand, so it makes it easier to work remotely and across geographical barriers
- Large Online Community – AWS has a large online community where you can interact and learn from others
- Transferable skill – The knowledge and skills gained in learning about AWS solutions can be easily transferred to other Cloud Platforms when you decide to make a switch
- Security and Compliance – AWS places a lot of emphasis on Security and Compliance. Working with AWS gives you some depth in cybersecurity (Cloud Security) which is a much-needed skill in an organization
- Training Resource – AWS provides a lot of study resources to aid your understanding of the concepts they promote.
AWS thus offers you one of the best platforms and opportunities to acquire useful skills for your Cloud Careers.
List of Free AWS Courses For Your Cloud Career
1. AWS Cloud Technical Essentials
This course is designed to teach the fundamentals of AWS Products and Services. It is an Introductory class for those who are just starting out in learning about AWS and Cloud computing in general. No prior knowledge is required to take the course. It will teach you to understand some basic concepts such as Networking, Storage, and Database in relation to Cloud computing/platforms. Some of the highlights of the course include
- Getting Started with AWS Cloud
- Identity and Access Management (IAM) on AWS
- AWS Compute and Networking
- Storage and Databases on AWS
- Optimization and Serverless Service
The AWS Cloud Technical Essentials course can help you gain some insights into how AWS products can be used to address a business need. It can also give you the prerequisite knowledge to take higher AWS courses such as the Associate level courses (AWS Solution Architect, DevOps, and SysOps). The course is self-paced and you can complete it in about 4 weeks. You can register for the course at the link below;
2. AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials
The AWS Cloud Practitioner Essential is a beginner course for gaining some insights into the AWS platforms, This course teaches the essential topics that are covered in the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification (CLF C01). It serves to build foundational knowledge to take the Associate level Certification (and subsequently higher certifications). The knowledge gained may be enough to gain some AWS-related job roles where there is not much emphasis on practical hands-on implementation. e.g., for Sales roles. Some of the concepts covered include
- Introduction to AWS – Cloud deployments, benefits
- Compute in the Cloud- Amazon Elastic Compute (EC2), Amazon Simple Notification (SNS), Amazon Queue Service (SQS)
- AWS Global Infrastructure and Reliability – Availability zones, Cloudfront and Edge Locations
- Networking – Basics of Networking, VPN, Direct Connect and Hybrid Deployments
- Storage and Databases – Block Storage (EBS), Simple Storage (S3 buckets), File System(EFS), Relational Databases RDS
- Security – Fundamental Security policies
- Pricing and Costs – AWS pricing models
The course duration is 4 weeks (The course should be completed within 4 weeks from the date of registration for it to remain free). The course is available at this link https://bit.ly/3uFxf0b. Register to gain access. You may want to go for the Cloud Practitioner Certification upon completion to certify the knowledge gained. This upgrade is optional and will incur some cost.
3. AWS Certified Solutions Architect (Associate) Course
The AWS Solution Architect course is one of the most popular courses from AWS. It is a step above the beginner’s level (Associate level). This exposes you to more AWS product offerings, treated to greater depths. It builds on the foundation laid by the Cloud Practitioner course or the foundational Cloud Computing course. Like the Cloud Practitioner course, it is a certification course that is in demand from many Hiring Managers. It comes with a lot of hands-on practicals to prepare you for the real world. It is a good addition to someone who aspires to become a Cloud Architect, and useful for Cloud Engineers also.
This is a 10-hour free video course with a downloadable PDF file to accompany it. Each chapter has its own sets of hands-on practical lab demos to help you master the concepts taught and prepare for the Solution Architect exam (if you choose to take the exam). It is being taught by Mike Gibbs of GoCloud Careers– a leading career development platform. You can download the PDF FREE AWS SOLUTION ARCHITECT ASSOCIATE COURSE
Some of the concepts covered in this course are as follows
- Introduction to Cloud Computing
- Storage option on the AWS platform
- Computing on the AWS platform
- Introduction to Databases
- The AWS Virtual Private Cloud
- Network Performance Optimization
- Security
- AWS Applications and Services
4. Introduction To AWS Data Analytics
This is a beginner’s course in AWS Data Analytics, it teaches the introductory aspects of data analytics. AWS Data Analytics describes the process of using AWS cloud computing resources to process, analyze, manage, and extract useful insights from large data volumes. It describes analytical tools that organizations can use to harness the power of their data effectively. There are no prerequisites and the course is open for 1 week upon registration to learn the skills. Some of the concepts covered by the course include
- Basic Introduction to Data Analytics in the Cloud Environment
- Treatment of different types of Data Analysis
- Aspects of data analytics like Ingestion, processing, visualization
- Visualizations in AWS QuickSight
The Introduction to AWS Data Analytics course is available at https://bit.ly/3UQDPvJ
5. Amazon DynamoDB: Building NoSQL Database-Driven Applications
This is designed for persons with background knowledge of Amazon DynamoDB. it will fill some knowledge gaps such as how NoSQL databases differ from relational databases, the uses of NoSQL databases, and how to provision, interact with, and secure the DyanamoDB database. partition keys. And how you can use the AWS Dynamo-DB to build scalable applications. Some of the concepts covered by the course include
- Relational Databases and NoSQL
- SDK exploration, Recovery, Monitoring and Partitioning
- Dynamo-DB Security
- DynamoDB APIs, Query Optimization
The link to the course is available at https://bit.ly/3iIK3Af
6. Building Modern Python Applications on AWS
This is to teach you how to build a greenfield, serverless backend on AWS, API-driven application (Amazon Cognito) using the Amazon API Gateway, AWS Lambda. Duration is 6 weeks. It is not a beginner’s course, the prerequisite will be having satisfactory knowledge of the AWS Solution Architect course. It teaches skills to build an API-driven application, using the Amazon API Gateway for serverless API hosting. You will integrate Python programming language into creating these solutions. Course details and enrollment is available
7. AWS VPC Transit Gateway – Hands-On Learning!
This is a short hands-on practical course on the implementation of Transit Gateway using three scenarios. You will find it helpful if you already have some foundation knowledge on the subject of Transit Gateways.
The Amazon Free Tier For Practicals Hands-on
It is important when learning about Cloud technology to practice with practical examples and build projects. AWS does offer a free Tier account (with some limits) to help you practice with their different products and solutions without incurring costs. You can check the limits of the free tier and the list of eligible products and services on the sign-up page. You could sign up for the free-tier account to help you build some practical applications at no cost.
Conclusions
Cloud-based career opportunities abound, it is an ever-growing and constantly evolving niche. Amazon Web Service offers some of the best cloud services and training courses. Getting started with a free course or advancing your cloud career is an excellent way to learn the technology and prepare to be gainfully employed in a cloud role. It is important to focus on hands-on practicals as it is the best way to learn the various solutions provided by the free courses. You can always certify the knowledge you have gained with the appropriate AWS Certifications.
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