AWS: Core

Choose, and say what decided it

Most cloud learning is a catalogue: this service is for queues, that one is for notifications. Catalogues date, and they settle nothing. This is the other way round — take the workload, find the published rule or quota that prunes the shortlist, and do the arithmetic that says which is actually cheaper.

Start this project See the modules

Modules: 5
Drills: 9
Build steps: 5
Time: ~3h

Walk out able to

Look at a workload and a shortlist you have never seen, say which candidate is wrong, and name the rule, quota or stated behaviour that rules it out.

What you drill

Place any service

Five questions, and what one lost zone costs.

Where the work runs

Functions, containers, machines — and the quota that rules.

Storage classes, in cents

Minimum durations, retrieval fees, the break-even.

Databases and copies

The right store, and what a standby refuses to do.

What you get

Skills that stick

Every project mixes short lessons, focused drills and real build steps, so you finish with working code and the judgement behind it.

You will practise

Who operates it, and what a lost zone costs
Functions, containers or machines
Storage classes, minimums and break-evens
The right data store, standby against replica

Afterwards you can

Place a service you have never seen
Name the quota that rules a design out
Work out which storage class is cheaper
Say what a failover standby will not do

Modules

Step by step

Each module builds on the last. Read a short lesson, drill it until it's second nature, then put it to work.

1
Read the service map
~33 min
Place a service you have never seen, and say what one lost zone costs you.
- LessonWhy a catalogue will not help5 min
- LessonPlace a service on five questions10 min
- DrillSay who does this job9 min
- DrillSay what survives the zone9 min
2
Pick the compute
~23 min
Choose from the shape of the work, then check the choice against the quota sheet.
- DrillPick the compute for the workload12 min
- DrillFind the quota that rules it out11 min
3
Store it, and pay for it
~36 min
Choose the class the requirement allows, then work out what it actually bills.
- DrillChoose the class the rules allow11 min
- DrillBill the minimum storage duration12 min
- DrillFind the cheaper class in cents13 min
4
Put the data somewhere
~23 min
Choose the store the access pattern needs, and say what a second copy is actually for.
- DrillChoose the store for the pattern12 min
- DrillTell a standby from a replica11 min
5
Decide it cold
~45 min
Write a selection record of your own, then decide five things nobody walked you through.
- Build stepPick a system, and set the page up5 min
- Build stepEntry one: where the work runs5 min
- Build stepEntry two: where the bytes live5 min
- Build stepEntry three: where the data lives4 min
- Build stepEntry four: what a lost zone costs6 min
- LessonChoose for five workloads cold20 min