DevOps & Cloud Certifications
☁️ Cloud & Infrastructure Adventures
Welcome to my journey through the clouds - where I discovered that “infrastructure as code” isn’t just a buzzword, it’s a completely different way of thinking about how systems should work.
🚀 AWS: Where It All Started
AWS Cloud Practitioner
The cloud awakening: My first real introduction to thinking about infrastructure as something you provision, not something you rack and stack. Changed everything about how I approach system design.
Foundation concepts: Cloud economics, core services, shared responsibility model, global infrastructure
AWS Introduction
Baby steps into the giant: AWS felt overwhelming at first - so many services, so many acronyms. This course helped me understand the logical patterns behind the seeming chaos.
Service navigation: Core AWS services, console mastery, basic architecture patterns
📚 CompTIA Cloud+: The Academic Approach
Sometimes you need the theoretical foundation to understand the practical magic…
Cloud Computing Foundations
Understanding the "why": Before diving deep into any specific cloud, I needed to understand cloud computing as a paradigm. This gave me the vendor-neutral foundation to think clearly about cloud architecture.
Core principles: Virtualization concepts, service models, deployment strategies, business value
Cloud Architecture & Design
Learning to think architecturally about the cloud
Deployment Strategies
From planning to production reality
Operations & Support
Keeping the cloud running smoothly
Cloud Security
Security in shared responsibility environments
Troubleshooting
When clouds get stormy
🌐 Google Cloud Platform: The Google Way
After AWS, I was curious about how Google approaches the same problems differently…
GCP Introduction
Different cloud, different philosophy: Google's approach to cloud services felt distinctly different from AWS. More opinionated in some ways, more elegant in others. This introduction helped me appreciate the diversity in cloud thinking.
Google perspective: GCP core services, Google's cloud philosophy, resource hierarchy
GCP Cloud Essentials
Hands-on with Google: Moving from theory to practice with GCP. Learned that while the concepts are similar across clouds, the implementation details matter enormously.
Practical skills: Compute Engine, Cloud Storage, networking basics, project management
Professional-Level Certifications
Associate Cloud Engineer
First real GCP credential - proving I can actually use this stuff
Professional Cloud Architect
Learning to design systems that scale and don't break
Professional Data Engineer
Where cloud meets big data - mind officially blown
Professional Cloud Security Engineer
Security at cloud scale - different challenges entirely
Specialized Deep Dives
IAM Deep Dive
Identity and access management - harder than it looks
AI Services Deep Dive
Machine learning as a service - the future is here
Cost Control
Learning that cloud bills can get scary fast
Database & VM Migration
Moving legacy systems to the cloud without breaking everything
🐳 Container & Orchestration Mastery
Kubernetes Essentials
Container orchestration enlightenment: Kubernetes felt like black magic at first. This course helped me understand that it's really just a very sophisticated way to manage distributed systems at scale.
K8s fundamentals: Pods, services, deployments, ConfigMaps, the control plane architecture
GKE Beginner to Pro
Managed Kubernetes mastery: Learning the difference between running Kubernetes yourself and letting Google manage it for you. Spoiler: let Google do it.
GKE expertise: Cluster management, auto-scaling, monitoring, security policies, CI/CD integration
🔒 Security & Compliance Focus
Cloud Security Fundamentals
Security paradigm shift: Realized that cloud security isn't just traditional security "in the cloud" - it's a fundamentally different approach to thinking about risk and responsibility.
Security thinking: Shared responsibility models, identity-first security, zero trust principles
CISSP Preparation
Enterprise security thinking: This wasn't just about technical security - it was about understanding security as a business function and learning to think like a security executive.
Strategic security: Risk management, governance, business continuity, legal and regulatory compliance
🌐 Networking & Infrastructure
Network Routing Fundamentals
How data actually gets from here to there
Professional Cloud Network Engineer
Networking at cloud scale - different rules apply
Linux Overview
The foundation that runs most of the cloud
The Cloud Transformation 🌟
Looking back at this collection, I can see my evolution from someone who thought “the cloud” was just marketing speak to someone who genuinely understands why cloud-native architecture is fundamentally different.
Each certification taught me that cloud isn’t just about moving servers to someone else’s data center - it’s about rethinking how we design, deploy, and manage systems. From the economics of auto-scaling to the security implications of shared responsibility models, every concept challenged assumptions I didn’t even know I had.
The professional-level certifications pushed me to think architecturally about trade-offs, while the deep-dive courses showed me the implementation details that make theory work in practice. And the networking and security focus reminded me that infrastructure and security aren’t separate concerns - they’re two sides of the same coin.