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Hey cloud friends!
We’re another month down in 2021—where does the time go? This means we’re back again recapping the most important cloud news, this time for June.
So let’s get into it…
There are many factors to consider when choosing an AWS region: latency to end-users, cost, data residency laws, inter-region latency, etc. Which makes it hard to unequivocally say which AWS region best for each unique scenario.
To give you a head start, here is a list of major countries/cities in alphabetical order, with an AWS region(s) that’s optimal, based on cost and latency.
The data for these regions is taken from another article: Which AWS Region Is Cheapest? A Costing Report, and locations have been assessed using methods described in: How To Find Which AWS Region Is Closest To You?.
I’ve heard lots of anecdotal over the years about which AWS regions are the cheapest, with both Ireland, and North Virginia coming up frequently. But whilst researching the cheapest AWS region I was amazed to see there was no data about which AWS region is the cheapest—so I crunched my own data.
Which AWS region is the cheapest? The US Regions Ohio, North Virginia and Oregon are the cheapest (based on S3, EC2, RDS and Lambda), followed by EU regions (e.g. Stockholm, Ireland and London), then the Asia Pacific AWS regions (e.g. Tokyo and Seoul), and finally South America (e.g. Sao Paulo) which is the most expensive.
You can’t do anything in AWS without picking a region. You can’t navigate the console, launch a server, or even use the SDK. AWS resources have to exist in some physical location. So where should you pick? And based on what?
Many first-time AWS users pick the region closest to them. This is okay to get started, but you should also understand the implications (such as cost, latency, resilience, and regulations) when choosing an AWS region.
Do you have 100 tabs open, reading about Linux, DevOps, CISCO, AWS, Azure, and wondering what it all means and where to start?
I spend a lot of time talking to people getting into the cloud industry, so I know how overwhelming it can be. This very article started life as a LinkedIn question, which became a discussion on Twitter, and now it’s this post!
Looking to get into cloud ☁️ and have no idea where to start? 🤔 🤔 🤔 After spending the last months (years!) immersing myself in the get-into-cloud space, here’s a summary of where to start… 👇 pic.twitter.com/tcdJ7uWc5N
— Open Up The Cloud (@openupthecloud) June 9, 2021
What’s the antidote to the feeling stuck like a “rabbit in the headlights”? Roll up your sleeves and get started. That’s what we’ll focus on today.
Where to start with cloud computing? Learn a cloud provider (e.g. AWS), infrastructure as code tool (e.g. Terraform), continuous integration (e.g. Github Actions), and a programming language (e.g. Python). Do a hands-on project, e.g. the Cloud Resume Challenge. Take a certificate, e.g. AWS Cloud Practitioner, and join online cloud communities.
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Well hello, cloud engineering friend! This months newsletter comes to you a little later than usual (I like to ship the newsletter shipped close to the start of the month) but since I was off for the long weekend in the UK it’s ! ☀️
Last month I mentioned I was switching domains, from thedevcoach.co.uk to openupthecloud.com This month, the migration’s done! 🚀 I must admit I wasn’t looking forward to the domain swap process… but it’s now done!
But that’s enough small-talk, let’s get to what you are here for: the cloud updates.
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Well hello, cloud engineering friend!
First up, if you’re wondering about the name change to “Open Up The Cloud” then I know you aren’t following me on social media 😉 so let’s fix that: Instagram, Twitter!
I’m currently undergoing a re-brand, moving from The Dev Coach to Open Up The Cloud, and I’m super excited about the change 🚀.
The only thing remaining now is the website domain (I’m not looking forward to that one 🤮). But more on the topic of re-branding at the end of the newsletter ⬇️.
First, let’s get to the cloud news and updates!
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Well hello!
Welcome back to this month’s edition of the cloud software engineering newsletter! The newsletter is finding you a little later in the month than usual, but that’s because of the bank holiday over in the UK. Nevertheless, let’s start taking a look at this month’s goings-on in the cloud world…
If you’re in the space of learning AWS, it takes (roughly 😉) 0.3 seconds before someone recommends you get a certificate, right? But is that AWS certification alone enough to land you a job? And if not, what should you do as well?
If this is what you’ve been pondering recently, you’re in the right place. Today, we’ll go through and answer whether or not an AWS certification is in fact enough to land you a job (spoiler: it’s not) and go through the 4 steps you should be taking to ensure you land a job with your AWS certification.
Is an AWS Certification enough to get you a job? No. On its own, an AWS certification is not a guarantee of a job. Job hunters in the cloud industry will need to have demonstratable hard-skills e.g. programming as well as relevant experience and soft-skills such as communication and teamwork.
When it comes to looking for jobs or just improving your career in the cloud industry, you only need 2-3 seconds (roughly 😉) on the internet before it’ll be recommended to you to get certified. I’m guessing that happened to you, because you’re now in the market for an AWS certification—did I guess right?
Well, now comes that first question: where do you start? And if that is your question, you’re in the right place, because today we’ll be talking through the AWS certification that’s right for a beginner.
Which AWS Certification is best for a beginner? The best certificate for a beginner is the AWS cloud practitioner, the foundational AWS certificate, followed by an associate certificate, e.g. the solutions architect associate.