PCO 446 - Cloud Operations on AWS

2.1 Continuing Education Units (CEU). This course is not for Credit(s).

This continuing education course is designed to teach systems operators, as well as those in other roles performing cloud operations functions, how to manage and operate automatable and repeatable deployments of networks and systems on AWS. Topics to be covered include: cloud operations functions, such as installing, configuring, automating, monitoring, securing, maintaining, and troubleshooting these services, networks, and systems; and specific AWS features, tools, and best practices related to these functions. This course also prepares students for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator exam.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, the students should be able to:

1. identify the AWS services that support the different phases of operational excellence,
an AWS well-architected framework pillar;
2. manage access to AWS resources using AWS accounts and organizations and AWS Identity
and Access Management (IAM);
3. manage an inventory of in-use AWS resources by using AWS services, such as AWS Systems
Manager, AWS CloudTrail, and AWS Config;
4. develop a resource deployment strategy using metadata tags, Amazon Machine Images
(AMIs), and AWS Control Tower to deploy and maintain an AWS cloud environment;
5. demonstrate the ability to automate resource deployment by using AWS services, such as
AWS CloudFormation and AWS Service Catalog;
6. use AWS services to manage AWS resources through CloudOps lifecycle processes, such as
deployments and patches;
7. demonstrate the ability to configure a highly available cloud environment that uses AWS
services, such as Amazon Route 53 and Elastic Load Balancing, to route traffic for optimal
latency and performance;
8. demonstrate the ability to configure AWS Auto Scaling and Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling to
scale out a cloud environment based on demand;
9. use Amazon CloudWatch and associated features, such as alarms, dashboards, and widgets,
to monitor a cloud environment;
10. manage permissions and track activity in a cloud environment by using AWS services,
such as AWS CloudTrail and AWS Config;
11. demonstrate the ability to deploy resources to an Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon
VPC), establish necessary connectivity to the Amazon VPC, and protect the resources from
disruptions of service;
12. state the purpose, benefits, and appropriate use cases for mountable storage in an AWS
Cloud environment;
13. explain the operational characteristics of object storage in the AWS Cloud, including
Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) and Amazon S3 Glacier; and
14. develop a comprehensive cost model to help gather, optimize, and predict cloud costs
by using services such as AWS Cost Explorer and the AWS Cost and Usage Report.