AWS — FAQ¶
I am a fresher / college graduate with no AWS experience. Can I follow this?¶
Yes — that is the primary audience. Modules start with a real-world problem and a simple analogy before AWS jargon. You should know basic Linux terminal use and what an IP address roughly is (Linux, Networking). You do not need prior cloud jobs.
Do I need a paid AWS account?¶
A Free Tier-eligible account is enough for most labs. Modules that touch Budgets, EC2, S3, DynamoDB, Lambda, CodeBuild, and CloudWatch stay cheap if you destroy resources the same day. Avoid NAT Gateways, always-on ALBs, and RDS unless you accept the cost.
Will labs create real billable resources?¶
Yes — by design. Interview-ready practice means create → prove → (break/fix) → delete. Module 1 creates a budget/alarm first so surprises are visible. Always run each module’s Cleanup section.
Can I use LocalStack instead of AWS?¶
LocalStack helps for some API drills (STS, basic IAM/S3). VPC reachability, public curl to EC2, and several managed services need a real account (or LocalStack Pro features we do not assume). Prefer a sandbox AWS account for this course.
What Region should I use?¶
Pick one home Region (for example eu-west-2 or us-east-1) and export AWS_REGION for every lab. Billing metrics and some global quirks still involve us-east-1 — Module 1 explains when.
How does this map to certifications?¶
| Goal | Course emphasis |
|---|---|
| Cloud Practitioner | Modules 1–2, 13, shared responsibility |
| Solutions Architect – Associate | Modules 3–8, 14, Well-Architected themes |
| SysOps / DevOps | Modules 9–12, 16, IAM + automation |
| Security Specialty themes | Modules 2, 10, 15 |
See Certification mapping.
I am stuck on AccessDenied — what first?¶
aws sts get-caller-identity- Confirm Region
- Decide: IAM deny vs network timeout (different symptoms)
- Use Module 16 and the IAM/VPC triage lab
Do I need Terraform and Kubernetes first?¶
Helpful, not blocking. Module 7 uses Docker + ECR (not a full EKS cluster). Module 11 uses CloudFormation in-lab and discusses Terraform/CDK. Take the Terraform and Kubernetes courses in parallel if you can.
How should I revise for interviews?¶
For each module: redraw the Architecture diagram from memory, re-run or narrate the lab evidence, then answer all Interview Questions without looking. Keep a one-page cheat sheet of deny/allow and packet-path stories.