DevOps Sessions - Week 7 - Cloud Computing

Welcome to Week 7 of our “Becoming a DevOps Engineer” series! This week, we will delve into cloud computing, a cornerstone of modern DevOps practices. Cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS) offer a range of services that facilitate scalable, reliable, and cost-effective infrastructure management. In this session, we will explore key AWS services across various categories: Compute, Database, Identity and Access Management, Network & Content Delivery, and Storage. Let’s get started!

Session Overview

1. Introduction to Cloud Computing

• What is Cloud Computing?
• Benefits of Cloud Computing in DevOps

2. Compute

• Amazon EC2
• AWS Lambda
• Amazon ECS and EKS

3. Database

• Amazon RDS
• Amazon DynamoDB
• Amazon Redshift

4. Identity and Access Management

• AWS IAM
• Best Practices for IAM

5. Network & Content Delivery

• Amazon VPC
• Amazon Route 53
• Amazon CloudFront

6. Storage

• Amazon S3
• Amazon EBS
• Amazon Glacier

1. Introduction to Cloud Computing

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing provides on-demand delivery of IT resources over the internet with pay-as-you-go pricing. Instead of owning and maintaining physical data centers and servers, organizations can access technology services, such as computing power, storage, and databases, from cloud providers like AWS.

Benefits of Cloud Computing in DevOps

• Scalability: Easily scale resources up or down based on demand.
• Cost Efficiency: Pay only for the resources you use.
• Reliability: High availability and redundancy.
• Speed and Agility: Quickly deploy and iterate on applications.
• Global Reach: Deploy applications in multiple regions worldwide.

2. Compute

Amazon EC2

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) provides scalable computing capacity in the cloud. It allows you to launch virtual servers (instances) with various configurations to suit your needs.

• Use Case: Hosting web servers, application servers, databases.
• Features: Auto Scaling, Load Balancing, diverse instance types.

AWS Lambda

AWS Lambda is a serverless compute service that lets you run code without provisioning or managing servers. You only pay for the compute time you consume.

• Use Case: Event-driven applications, real-time file processing.
• Features: Auto-scaling, built-in fault tolerance, supports multiple programming languages.

Amazon ECS and EKS

• Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS): A fully managed container orchestration service.
• Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS): A managed service for running Kubernetes on AWS.
• Use Case: Deploying and managing containerized applications.
• Features: Integration with AWS services, scalability, security.

3. Database

Amazon RDS

Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale a relational database in the cloud. It supports multiple database engines, including MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and SQL Server.

• Use Case: Web applications, enterprise applications.
• Features: Automated backups, scaling, multi-AZ deployment.

Amazon DynamoDB

Amazon DynamoDB is a fast and flexible NoSQL database service for single-digit millisecond performance at any scale.

• Use Case: Mobile apps, gaming, IoT.
• Features: Fully managed, auto-scaling, built-in security.

Amazon Redshift

Amazon Redshift is a fast, scalable data warehouse that makes it simple and cost-effective to analyze all your data across your data warehouse and data lake.

• Use Case: Big data analytics, business intelligence.
• Features: Columnar storage, parallel query execution, integration with AWS data lake services.

4. Identity and Access Management

AWS IAM

AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) enables you to manage access to AWS services and resources securely. Using IAM, you can create and manage AWS users and groups and use permissions to allow and deny their access to AWS resources.

• Use Case: Controlling access to AWS resources.
• Features: Fine-grained access control, multi-factor authentication, centralized management.

Best Practices for IAM

• Least Privilege Principle: Grant only the permissions required to perform a task.
• Use Roles for Applications: Assign roles to EC2 instances or AWS Lambda functions instead of embedding access keys.
• Enable MFA: Add an extra layer of security.
• Regular Audits: Review and update IAM policies regularly.

5. Network & Content Delivery

Amazon VPC

Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) allows you to provision a logically isolated section of the AWS cloud where you can launch AWS resources in a virtual network that you define.

• Use Case: Hosting web applications, databases, and other services securely.
• Features: Subnets, security groups, network ACLs, VPC Peering.

Amazon Route 53

Amazon Route 53 is a scalable and highly available Domain Name System (DNS) web service. It translates domain names into IP addresses to direct users to your applications.

• Use Case: Managing domain names, routing traffic.
• Features: Traffic flow, DNS failover, health checks.

Amazon CloudFront

Amazon CloudFront is a fast content delivery network (CDN) service that securely delivers data, videos, applications, and APIs to customers globally with low latency and high transfer speeds.

• Use Case: Delivering websites, streaming media.
• Features: Edge locations worldwide, integration with AWS Shield for DDoS protection, customizable content delivery.

6. Storage

Amazon S3

Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) offers scalable, high-speed, web-based cloud storage.

• Use Case: Backup and restore, data archiving, application hosting.
• Features: Durability, scalability, security, versioning.

Amazon EBS

Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) provides block-level storage volumes for use with EC2 instances.

• Use Case: Databases, enterprise applications, file systems.
• Features: Persistent storage, snapshot capability, encryption.

Amazon Glacier

Amazon Glacier is a secure, durable, and extremely low-cost cloud storage service for data archiving and long-term backup.

• Use Case: Data archiving, long-term backup.
• Features: Cost-effective, secure, retrieval options.

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By mastering these AWS services, you are well-prepared to leverage cloud computing for scalable, reliable, and cost-effective infrastructure management. Stay tuned for next week’s session, where we will explore continuous integration and deployment practices. Happy learning!