Operating AWS Workloads

What you will be able to do

• You will be able to use the AWS Well-Architected Framework as an operating lens, running a review across its six pillars to surface the real risks in a workload that is already running.
• You will be able to instrument a workload with CloudWatch metrics, logs, and dashboards so its health is visible at a glance instead of reconstructed after an outage.
• You will be able to turn signals into action with CloudWatch alarms, sensible thresholds, and notifications that page a human only when something genuinely needs attention.
• You will be able to enforce least privilege with IAM, using roles, scoped policies, and temporary credentials instead of shared long-lived keys.
• You will be able to protect data with AWS KMS, managing keys, rotation, and access so encryption is enforced by default rather than merely switched on.
• You will be able to keep a service available under load with Elastic Load Balancing, health checks, and a multi-AZ layout that routes around failure.
• You will be able to configure Auto Scaling and self-healing so capacity tracks demand and unhealthy instances are replaced without manual intervention.
• You will be able to attribute and control cloud spend using tagging, Cost Explorer, budgets, rightsizing, and commitment and spot purchasing.

What is inside

4 modules, 8 lessons. Each module ends in a graded quiz and most carry an assignment.

1. 01

   Well-Architected Foundations and Observability

   This module gives you the two instruments every AWS Cloud Engineer operates with: the Well-Architected Framework as the standard you judge a workload against, and CloudWatch as the way you watch it run. You move from the six pillars and a structured review to the metrics, logs, dashboards, and alarms that flag drift before your users feel it. By the end you can read a workload through a shared lens and prove, from live signal, whether it is healthy.

   2 lessons · 5 quiz questions

2. 02

   Securing Workloads with IAM and KMS

   Security in production is a set of daily engineering decisions, not a one-time setup. This module builds the two controls a cloud engineer touches most: identity, where IAM roles and scoped policies enforce least privilege with temporary credentials, and encryption, where KMS keys, rotation, and key policies protect data by default.

   2 lessons · 5 quiz questions · assignment

3. 03

   Reliability and Performance: Load Balancing and Auto Scaling

   A workload that cannot absorb a traffic spike or survive a lost instance is not really in production. This module makes a service both elastic and self-healing using Elastic Load Balancing and EC2 Auto Scaling. You will design health checks, choose scaling policies, and lay out multi-AZ architectures so the system holds its shape under load and recovers on its own when something fails.

   2 lessons · 5 quiz questions

4. 04

   Cost Management and Optimization

   Cloud pays off only when spend tracks the value you get, and on AWS the monthly bill is an engineering signal you are expected to read. This module makes cost visible and attributable first, using tagging, Cost Explorer, and budgets, then turns that visibility into a lower bill through rightsizing, smart purchasing, and FinOps guardrails. You will close the loop the Well-Architected Cost Optimization pillar asks for: measure, attribute, optimize, and keep it that way.

   2 lessons · 5 quiz questions · assignment