AWS Technical Resources
Let’s begin this chapter with a tour of the many technical resources that are available for you when it comes to AWS. As mentioned earlier, many of these incredible resources are available completely free of charge.
Documentation, Whitepapers, and Blogs
The AWS documentation is very good. It is an excellent mix of theory and practical step-by-step guides. You can find the AWS documentation at https://docs.aws.amazon.com. Figure 21-1 shows the AWS documentation home page.
Figure 21-1 The AWS Online Documentation
To say that the body of documentation is massive would be an understatement. Keep in mind that there are typically many different sections under each category and topic in the documentation. For example, if you select Amazon EC2 under the Featured Content area, you reach the Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud Documentation home page shown in Figure 21-2.
Figure 21-2 The EC2 Documentation Home Page
This page leads you to the breakdown of the EC2 documentation, which currently (at this writing) consists of the following:
User Guide for Linux Instances
User Guide for Windows Instances
Amazon EC2 Instance Types
User Guide for AWS Nitro Enclaves
API Reference
EC2 Section for the AWS CLI Reference
EC2 Instance Connect API Reference
EC2 Auto Scaling User Guide
Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling Section of the AWS CLI Reference
EC2 Auto Scaling API Reference
VM Import/Export User Guide
Amazon Linux 2 User Guide
Amazon Linux 2 Release Notes
Amazon Linux 2023
User Guide for Microsoft SQL Server on Amazon EC2
Architecture Center: Compute and HPC Best Practices
Another excellent resource that Amazon makes available as part of its documentation is the AWS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), located at https://aws.amazon.com/faqs. These documents are also categorized and broken down by topic (for example, the EC2 FAQ).
Figure 21-3 shows the EC2 FAQ. Notice the many subcategories found in this Amazon EC2 area.
Figure 21-3 The FAQ Home Page
Reading FAQs is a fun way to learn very relevant aspects of the technologies and how they operate. In addition, AWS certification exam authors love to draw question material from the AWS FAQs.
Figure 21-4 shows another excellent free resource: the AWS Whitepapers & Guides documentation.
Figure 21-4 The AWS Whitepapers & Guides Documentation
This resource is a comprehensive collection of documents that offer in-depth insights, best practices, and detailed information on various aspects of cloud computing. These resources cover a wide range of topics, including architecture, security, compliance, and implementation strategies. Aimed at developers, architects, and IT professionals, the whitepapers and guides serve as valuable references to help users understand AWS services, optimize their infrastructure, and navigate complex technical challenges.
Finally, there is also a feature called AWS Blogs. This is a dynamic platform that delivers a constant stream of articles, updates, and insights related to cloud computing, covering a diverse range of topics, including new service announcements, best practices, case studies, and in-depth technical content.