Cloud Computing Fundamentals & Introduction to AWS Solution Architecture

First of all, I would like to give information about the purpose and content of this article. First, we have to start with our goal Although it was a very popular topic before, it would be more accurate to give basic information about Cloud computing. In short, let's first look for an answer to this cloud computing issue.

When cloud computing is mentioned, suddenly a new technology, a new manufacturer etc. seems to have emerged. Understandably, cloud computing is nothing more than a renaming of a technology we've been using for a long time and being talked about under the umbrella of a name. In short, Cloud Computing is the name given to a service in the field of informatics, which does not keep the infrastructure or platform in its local resources, that is, its server focus, but rather receives it from a service. provider, or rather their presentation in this way, and these are all concepts that have been in our lives since the beginning of the 2000s. Although not common, we have already used these approaches. If I use the word hosting, I think a lot of people in the industry would say "Oh!' Yes". In other words, what we have called hosting services until today, we now call the Cloud. We can say that the main reasons why Cloud Computing has been talked about as a new trend for a while are the technological developments in network infrastructures and the increasing speed. Although this approach has been in our lives for a very long time, we did not have the network infrastructures to provide fast access to these environments. While it was technically possible to keep these services in remote places when we were connected to the internet with 56K modems, it was not functional in terms of speed. In short, Cloud Computing is a form of computing service that we have been using for a long time, but we can get efficiency with fast network connections.

So another question; Basically, nothing has changed except the naming. Although we answered this question a few sentences ago because the nomenclature changed, there is a lot of infrastructural technological change.

Here, our aim in our introduction to Cloud Computing fundamentals and AWS solution architecture is to open a door to this new world for you. At the beginning and basic part of our article series, we will primarily focus on all the concepts in the field of cloud computing, where these concepts came from and what stages they passed through and took their current form.

Then we will talk about one of the most popular Cloud Computing infrastructures, AWS, Amazon Web Services and inform you about AWS Solution Architecture. In the first introductory part of our article series, which will consist of 8 chapters in total, we will get basic information about the training that will be required during the training, and then we will continue with the 2nd part. Learn all the important concepts like SAAS and Micro Services with a short historical journey and developments. Then in Chapter 3 we will enter the world of AWS and get to know AWS. In Chapter 4, we'll superficially learn about 130 AWS services one by one. In the next Chapters 5 and 6, we'll delve deeper into the world of AWS. Then, in Chapter 7, we will reflect on a real-life scenario to apply all this learning. 8. And in the final section, we'll take a look at the AWS Solution Architect Associate exam and go over what you need to know about the exam.

By the end of this series of articles, you will know all the core concepts of Cloud Computing, have in-depth knowledge of Cloud Computing Services and their structures, learn in-depth about AWS (Amazon Web Services), and the level of knowledge you can have on AWS Solution Architect Associate Certification. Friends, in this long learning process, you will undoubtedly have countless questions in your mind. You will have questions about things that are not clear enough. In such cases, you can see our contact addresses on our website where you can contact us and find answers to your questions. We will try to answer your questions as soon as possible. So we come to the end of the first chapter. Now take a deep breath first and join me in the next chapter by pouring yourself a cup of tea or coffee. The Cloud Computing Solution Architecture adventure begins now.

You are all welcome :)

What is AWS and Why Do We Need to Specialize in AWS?

In the second part, we will expand on the questions we answered in the first part and look for answers to the questions about why this adventure is important to you and where is the point you will reach at the end of this adventure. At the end of the chapter, Why is becoming a cloud computing expert important to your career? What is AWS and Why Do We Need to Specialize in AWS? What are AWS certifications? What certification does this training target? You will find answers to your questions. First of all, why is it important to be a cloud computing specialist for your career? Let's look for an answer to your question. In the first section, we mentioned that we have been using cloud computing services under different names for a long time, and then we added that this trend is spreading in the light of fast network connections and the developments we will talk about in this section. At the point we have reached, we can say that cloud computing has become indispensable, leaving its nature as a new phenomenon that needs to be examined. The benefits of cloud computing are so many that almost no organization will reject Cloud Computing. According to a McAfee survey of IT professionals from small to large companies, 93% of companies already use cloud computing services in one way or another. Almost everyone is interested in Cloud Computing in some way, albeit fundamentally. Those not included will be included shortly.

According to another study, the Cloud Computing Market will reach a size of approximately 410 billion dollars in 2020. In short, as an IT Industry employee, whether you are a Software Engineer, Database Specialist or System Engineer, you either work with these systems or you will be working with these systems one day. Therefore, mastering Cloud Computing is a must, not only for finding new business opportunities but also for maintaining your current job.

Cloud computing expertise or cloud computing engineering will continue as one of the important professions for at least the next 10 years. We now see the word "cloud" in almost every IT-related job posting. While it was an expression in the recommended section in many areas, it has now been promoted to the indispensable section. In short, to continue working in the IT sector, you need to know about this field. However, at the end of this series of articles, you will not only gain knowledge but also specialize in informatics and open a new door for yourself. In the first part, we mentioned that the main purpose of this training is to make you an expert in Cloud Computing and to get the AWS Solution Architect certificate. But we didn't talk about what AWS is. Now is the time to find the answer.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a secure cloud services platform that provides functions such as computing power, database, storage, and content delivery that help businesses scale and grow. It is Amazon's Cloud Computing infrastructure company, which was founded informally in 2002 and officially in 2006 under Amazon. AWS, like many other Cloud Computing infrastructure providers, provides services from its infrastructure and charges them on a pay-as-you-go basis. Adding new services and new services every year since 2006, AWS is the undisputed leader in this industry. AWS, which has not lost its leadership in IAAS and PAAS for 8 years in the industry research conducted by Gartner, has a larger infrastructure than Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud and other cloud service providers after it combined. AWS, which is ahead of many of its competitors with both being the industry leader and the services it offers, is, therefore, the number 1 choice of many companies when it comes to cloud computing.

Therefore, we will conduct our Cloud Computing training on AWS and eventually bring you to the level of knowledge where you can get the AWS Solution Architect Associate certification. As we mentioned in the first chapter, the main purpose of this series of articles is to teach you the basic concepts of Cloud Computing, and in addition, you will get certified by teaching you AWS services in depth. Let's take a look at what these certificates are.

As I just explained, AWS is arguably the most important platform in the industry. Almost everyone is infected with this platform in some way, and over time it becomes one of the sought-after features to specialize in this field. AWS also saw this gap and created training programs for users. Later, it implemented a certification process where people working in this field can certify their qualifications. Currently, there are a total of 10 certificates, 7 role-based and 3 custom domain certificates, which you can obtain by proving your AWS knowledge with the exam result.

In these role-based things, 3 areas of expertise were created by cascading under 3 categories.

The Cloud Practitioner certificate, which is the entry to all categories, is the optional first step. After this certification, which we can obtain with the level of knowledge we know about basic AWS services and its structure, there are 3 ways before us: Developer – SysOps and Solution Architect certification.

Developer certification, as the name suggests, is a viable avenue for software developers. Knowledge is often based on AWS' software development infrastructure. SysOps is a path for System Administrators and DevOps engineers to follow.

The goal of our article series is the Solution Architect path. Among these certificates, the solution architect is both the way that appeals to the widest level of knowledge and perhaps the most arduous. But you don't have to worry. According to other certifications, we will need to play in a wider area in the AWS system to become a Solution Architect. But it will give us a broader perspective and a chance to learn more.

Like the other two paths, this path also consists of two stages. Cloud enforcer with 3-tier but 1st level certification is not mandatory. After reaching this level of knowledge, each path we will choose has 1 Associate and 1 Professional Certification level. Solution Architect, which is the path we chose, has 2 levels of certification as Solution Architect Associate and Solution Architect Professional in this way. The purpose of this series of articles is to equip you with Solution Architect Associate level knowledge and to bring you to the level where you can get this certificate. This is the highest level you can achieve with the training. Professional certification already forces you to do 2 things. 1. You cannot take the Professional Certification exams without an Associate-level certification. This is a must. It doesn't expire once you meet this requirement and have an Associate-level certification. Because AWS Solution Architect Professional is probably one of the most comprehensive and difficult exams you can come across in the IT world. It is an exam that not only measures knowledge but also expects you to have serious experience. In other words, it is a document that it is difficult for you to pass without working for at least 1 or 2 years in this field after you receive training as an Associate. After giving the basic information, I would like to add that there is a summary section at the end of the article series where we explain all the details about the exam.

Next up are the tools and preparation requirements we need to have on hand throughout the training.

Preparation and Tools

In this short section, I would like to talk about the tools and equipment that we will need during the training. Whether you are a Windows, MAC or Linux user, the main tool we will need throughout the tutorial will be an internet browser. You can choose between Chrome, Firefox, Safari or Microsoft Edge. this should suffice as all AWS services have web-based management screens. But besides that, there are 2 more vehicles we need. If you are using MAC or Linux at this stage of our tutorial, you do not need to download and install an extra tool. We will be able to handle this process with Terminal emulators in both operating systems. Both MAC and Linux users can access the terminal application by going to the application folders or by searching the terminal using search engines.

But for this we need an application in the Windows ecosystem. The name of this application is Putty. We will download two applications from the page you can access from the link below. The first of these is Putty, which gives us the possibility of terminal emulation in the Windows environment. After downloading the Putty file and installing it by double-clicking and following the steps, we will download the Puttygen.exe file on the same page and save it in a suitable folder.

Puttygen is a file that does not require installation and works when you double-click on it. The Puttygen file will allow us to generate key files that you can later use in Putty. Now let's download these files and make them ready. We will use it frequently in the following sections of our article series. The second tool we will use throughout our series is Atom. This is a completely optional text editor that you can download and use.

Notepad in the Windows ecosystem, Text Edit in the MAC ecosystem, and Vim in the Linux ecosystem are alternative text editors that come with the systems. You can also use them if you want. The choice is entirely yours. However, we will use Atom, which you can download both MAC and Windows versions from atom.io, for the text editing processes that we will need in the later parts of our article series.

Actually, I said two tools, but the AWS command line interface is another tool that we can use frequently later in the training. I will explain step by step when it comes to installing this tool.

Thus, we have come to the end of the introduction, which is the first part of the training. If you're ready, join me in part two where we'll talk about the history and evolution of Cloud Computing as well as important concepts.

References

• https://www.mcafee.com/enterprise/en-us/assets/infographics/infographic-building-trust-cloudy-sky.pdf
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2017/10/18/cloud-computing-market-projected-to-reach-411b-by-2020/#64d5d68378f2
• https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2018/11/27/where-cloud-computing-jobs-will-be-in-2019/#7deba6126add
• https://cloud.google.com/gartner-cloud-infrastructure-as-a-service/
• https://www.puttygen.com/
• https://www.atom.io
• https://aws.amazon.com/cli
• https://www.aws.training/certification