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AWS Cloud Get Started

What to Learn in AWS (Complete Beginner Roadmap)

Learning AWS (Amazon Web Services) can feel overwhelming at first because there are many services. But if you follow the right learning order, AWS becomes simple and logical.

Goal of This Lesson

By the end of this article, you will understand:
  • Which AWS services to learn first
  • The correct learning sequence
  • Why each service matters in real-world applications
Learning Path

You do not need to learn all AWS services. Focus on core services that are widely used in the industry.

1. AWS Basics (Foundation)

Before using any AWS service, you must understand the fundamentals.

What you should learn

  • What is Cloud Computing?
  • What is AWS?
  • AWS Global Infrastructure
  • Regions
  • Availability Zones
  • Edge Locations
  • Shared Responsibility Model
Pro Tip

A strong foundation makes advanced AWS concepts much easier to understand.

2. IAM (Identity and Access Management)

IAM is the most critical AWS service for security.

Why IAM matters

IAM controls:
  • Who can access AWS
  • What actions they can perform
  • Overall account security

Key IAM concepts

  • Users
  • Groups
  • Roles
  • Policies
  • Permissions
Caution

Never use the root account for daily work. Always create IAM users with limited permissions.

3. Compute Services (EC2)

Compute services allow you to run applications in AWS.

Core service

  • EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)

Topics to cover

  • EC2 instances
  • Instance types
  • Key pairs
  • Security groups
  • Launching an EC2 instance
  • Connecting via SSH
Real World Scenario

Most backend servers and APIs in AWS run on EC2 instances.

4. Storage Services (S3)

Storage services are used to store files and data.

Must-learn service

  • S3 (Simple Storage Service)

Key concepts

  • Buckets
  • Objects
  • Access control
  • Versioning
  • Static website hosting
python
# Example: Uploading a file to S3 using boto3
import boto3

s3 = boto3.client('s3')
s3.upload_file('file.txt', 'my-bucket-name', 'file.txt')
Goal Achieved

After learning S3, you can store images, videos, backups, and application data.

5. Networking Basics (VPC)

Networking defines how resources communicate.

Topics to learn

  • VPC (Virtual Private Cloud)
  • Public and Private Subnets
  • Internet Gateway
  • Route Tables
  • Security Groups vs NACLs
Important

Focus on understanding basic traffic flow, not advanced networking initially.

6. Databases in AWS

Every application needs a database.

Core database services

  • RDS (Relational Database Service)
  • DynamoDB (NoSQL Database)

Concepts to learn

  • Managed databases
  • Backups
  • Multi-AZ deployment
  • Read replicas
Real World Scenario

Applications commonly use RDS for structured data and DynamoDB for high-speed access.

7. Monitoring and Logging

Monitoring helps maintain application health.

Key service

  • CloudWatch

Learn about

  • Metrics
  • Logs
  • Alarms
  • Dashboards
Pro Tip

Monitoring helps you detect and fix issues before users notice them.

8. Automation and Scaling

Once basics are clear, move to automation.

Services to learn next

  • Elastic Load Balancer (ELB)
  • Auto Scaling
  • CloudFormation
  • CI/CD basics
Stop

Do not jump to advanced services without mastering the fundamentals.

Final Learning Order

  1. AWS Basics
  2. IAM
  3. EC2
  4. S3
  5. VPC Basics
  6. Databases (RDS, DynamoDB)
  7. CloudWatch
  8. Automation and Scaling

Exercise

  • Create a free AWS account
  • Explore IAM, EC2, and S3 dashboards
  • Create one S3 bucket and upload a file