Week 3 Worklog

Week 3 Objectives:

  • Understand comprehensive knowledge of virtual server (Compute VM) services on AWS.
  • Focus on the core service Amazon EC2, including configuration selection (Instance Types), storage types (EBS, Instance Store), and automation (User data, Auto Scaling).
  • Learn about related services such as Amazon Lightsail (low-cost service), shared file storage solutions (EFS for Linux and FSx for Windows/Linux), and the AWS MGN application migration service to migrate servers to AWS or build Disaster Recovery.

Tasks to be carried out this week:

DayTaskStart DateCompletion DateReference Material
2Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)
- Learn about the architecture of Amazon EC2, a flexible virtual server service with fast boot capabilities and powerful resource scaling.
- Understand the technique of selecting server configurations through EC2 Instance Types, which determine factors like CPU, Memory, Network, and Storage.
- Learn how to use AMI (Amazon Machine Image) to provision one or more EC2 Instances and use Key Pairs (public and private key) to encrypt login information.
- Understand the EBS (Elastic Block Store) block storage technique, which operates independently, replicates data (3x) to ensure high availability, and connects to EC2 over the network.
- Differentiate EBS from Instance Store, which is an extremely high-speed NVME disk area but whose data is completely erased when the EC2 instance is stopped.
- Learn about the User Data automation technique, a script (bash shell or powershell) that runs once when an EC2 instance is launched.
- Understand Meta Data, information related to the EC2 instance (like IP, Hostname) that can be accessed from the server itself, often used for automation.
- Understand the EC2 Auto Scaling technique to automatically increase (scale-out) or decrease (scale-in) the number of EC2 Instances based on conditions (scaling policy).
- Learn about EC2 Pricing Options (On-demand, Reserved Instance, Saving Plans, Spot Instance) to optimize costs.		22/09/202522/09/2025Module 03
3Amazon Lightsail
- Learn about the Amazon Lightsail service, a low-cost virtual server solution (starting at $3.5/month) suitable for light workloads, test/dev environments.
- Understand the technique for connecting Lightsail (located in a special VPC) with a regular VPC via VPC Peering (with just 1 click).

Amazon EFS/FSx
- Learn about EFS (Elastic File System), a network file storage service (NFSv4) that allows multiple EC2 Instances (Linux only) to mount simultaneously, charging based on storage used.
- Learn about Amazon FSx, a service that allows creating NTFS volumes (SMB protocol) to attach to multiple EC2 Instances (supports Windows and Linux).
- Understand the deduplication technique of FSx, which helps reduce data duplication and lower storage costs.

AWS Application Migration Service (MGN)
- Learn about the AWS MGN service used to migrate and replicate servers (physical or virtual) from on-premise to the AWS environment.
- Understand the replication technique of MGN used for building a Disaster Recovery Site at a low cost (using low-configuration staging machines).		23/09/202523/09/2025Module 03
4Lab: 000004 - Basic EC2 Operations.
- Create an EC2 Instance
- Take an EC2 Instance snapshot
- Install an application on EC2

Lab: 000027 - Resource Management with Tags and Resource Groups
- Use Tags
- Use Resource Groups		24/09/202524/09/2025Module 03
5Lab: 000008 - Resource Management with Amazon CloudWatch
- CloudWatch Agent
- Create CloudWatch Dashboard

Lab: 000006 - Deploying an Autoscaling Group
- Create Launch Template
- Create Target Group
- Create Load Balancer
- Create Auto Scaling Group
- Verify the results.		25/09/202525/09/2025Module 03
6Lab: 000045 - Getting Started with Amazon Lightsail

- Preparation
- Test the application on Lightsail
- Use Lightsail Load Balancer
- Use RDS
- Migrate to EC2.

[Supplemental Research] - Microsoft Workloads on AWS

- A series of supplemental labs for running Microsoft servers and applications on AWS
- Supplement knowledge about operating systems
- Supplement knowledge about the Linux operating system such as LBI1, LBI2
- Supplement knowledge about the Windows operating system, learn more about the Bundo management system. Refer to the lab series		26/09/202526/09/2025Module 03
Research Link

Week 3 Achievements:

  • EC2 Service: Clearly understand that EC2 is the core virtual server service of AWS.
  • EC2 Configuration Techniques: Know how to select Instance Type (CPU, RAM, Network configuration) and use AMI to provision the operating system for the server.
  • EC2 Security Techniques: Understand how to use Key Pair (public/private key) to encrypt login information, instead of using passwords.
  • Storage Service (Storage): Clearly differentiate the 2 main disk storage types for EC2:
    • EBS (Elastic Block Store): Is a network drive, operates independently, data is replicated 3x within 1 AZ (99.999% availability), can be backed up using snapshots.
    • Instance Store: Is a physical drive (NVME) with extremely high speed, but the data is temporary (will be erased when EC2 is stopped), often used for cache/buffer or swap.
  • Automation Techniques (Automation):
    • Know how to use User Data to run a script once when the server boots up (e.g., install a web server).
    • Understand what Meta Data is and how to use it to retrieve information (IP, hostname) about the server from within itself, used for automation scripts.
  • Scaling Techniques (Scaling): Master the concept of EC2 Auto Scaling to automatically increase (scale-out) or decrease (scale-in) the number of servers based on load (e.g., when ActiveConnectionCount is high or low).
  • Cost Optimization Techniques (Pricing): Recognize the 4 EC2 pricing models: On-demand (per hour/second, most expensive), Reserved Instance (1-3 year commitment), Saving Plans (1-3 year commitment, more flexible), and Spot Instance (low price, utilizes surplus resources but can be reclaimed).
  • Lightsail Service: Understand Amazon Lightsail is a low-cost, simplified VM service, suitable for light workloads, and know how to peer it with a VPC.
  • File Storage Service (File Storage): Differentiate between the 2 shared file storage services for multiple servers:
    • EFS (Elastic File System): Used for Linux (NFSv4 protocol), charges based on storage used.
    • FSx: Used for Windows/Linux (SMB protocol), supports deduplication feature to reduce costs.
  • Migration Service (Migration): Understand AWS MGN is a service to migrate servers from on-premise to AWS or to build a low-cost Disaster Recovery (DR) system via a staging area.
  • Hands-on: Understand the basic hands-on steps with EC2 (create, snapshot), deploy a complete Auto Scaling Group (with Load Balancer), and get familiar with Lightsail.