Cloud Architecture Training Course

Module 1: Cloud Computing Fundamentals and Models

• Definition of Cloud Computing and its characteristics
• Understanding Service Models: IaaS, PaaS, SaaS
• Understanding Deployment Models: Public, Private, Hybrid
• Key benefits and challenges of cloud adoption
• Introduction to major cloud service providers (Hyperscalers)
• Practical session: Analyzing three different business scenarios and mapping them to the most suitable cloud deployment and service models

Module 2: Core Infrastructure Services (Compute and Network)

• Virtual Machines (VMs) and instance types selection
• Fundamental Cloud Networking: VPCs, Subnets, and Gateways
• Load Balancing, Auto Scaling, and Elasticity concepts
• Network Access Control Lists (NACLs) and Security Groups/Firewalls
• Understanding IP addressing and routing in a cloud environment
• Practical session: Configuring a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) with public and private subnets and deploying a secured virtual server

Module 3: Cloud Storage and Database Architectures

• Object Storage vs. Block Storage vs. File Storage
• Database options: Relational (RDBMS) vs. Non-Relational (NoSQL)
• Managed Database Services (DBaaS) and their benefits
• Caching layers and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) for performance
• Strategies for data archival and backup
• Practical session: Comparing the architectural trade-offs between using a managed SQL database and a NoSQL document store for a customer profile application

Module 4: Identity, Access Management, and Governance

• Principles of Identity and Access Management (IAM)
• Users, Groups, Roles, and Policies
• Implementing Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP)
• Federated Identity and Single Sign-On (SSO) integration
• Cloud Governance: Resource tagging, quotas, and organizational units
• Practical session: Creating and applying an IAM policy that grants a specific role read-only access to a single storage bucket

Module 5: Cost Management and Optimization

• Understanding Cloud Pricing Models (On-Demand, Reserved Instances, Spot Instances)
• Key pillars of Financial Operations (FinOps)
• Tools and best practices for monitoring cloud spend
• Right-sizing compute resources and storage tiers
• Strategies for resource lifecycle management and automated shutdown
• Practical session: Performing a mock cost analysis on a workload and identifying three concrete optimization opportunities

Module 6: Cloud Networking and Connectivity

• Connecting on-premises networks to the cloud (VPN vs. Dedicated Line)
• Advanced VPC design and cross-region peering
• DNS Management and Traffic Routing Policies
• API Gateways and their role in modern architectures
• Network monitoring and traffic inspection
• Practical session: Simulating the configuration required to peer two VPCs in different regions for cross-region communication

Module 7: Designing for High Availability and Disaster Recovery

• Concepts of Availability Zones (AZs) and Regions
• RTO (Recovery Time Objective) and RPO (Recovery Point Objective)
• Implementing Active-Active vs. Active-Passive resilience patterns
• Backup and Restore strategies versus multi-site deployment
• Automated failover mechanisms and health checks
• Practical session: Drawing a disaster recovery architecture for a critical three-tier application with an RPO of less than one hour

Module 8: Security Architecture and Compliance

• Shared Responsibility Model in detail
• Encryption in transit (TLS) and at rest (KMS)
• Vulnerability Management and Patching Strategy
• Introduction to regulatory compliance standards (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS)
• Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) integration
• Practical session: Analyzing a compliance requirement (e.g., PII data encryption) and outlining the cloud services needed to meet it

Module 9: Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and Automation

• Benefits and principles of Infrastructure as Code
• Introduction to popular IaC tools (e.g., Terraform, CloudFormation)
• Creating reusable, modular IaC templates
• State management and version control for infrastructure
• Integrating IaC into Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines
• Practical session: Writing a basic Terraform configuration to provision a simple VM and a network component

Module 10: The Well-Architected Framework

• Overview of the key pillars of the Well-Architected Framework (e.g., Operational Excellence, Security)
• Applying the framework to solution design review
• Identifying trade-offs between the five pillars
• Continuous improvement and assessment practices
• Defining metrics for operational health and efficiency
• Practical session: Conducting a preliminary Well-Architected review on a provided sample architecture and documenting risks

Module 11: Decoupling and Microservices Architecture

• Principles of service decomposition and bounded contexts
• Communication patterns: synchronous vs. asynchronous
• Implementing API Gateways for Microservices
• Service discovery and load balancing within a microservices ecosystem
• Dealing with eventual consistency in distributed transactions
• Practical session: Designing the communication flow and data separation for migrating a monolith to three distinct microservices

Module 12: Containerization and Orchestration (Docker/Kubernetes)

• Introduction to Docker and container image management
• Benefits of Kubernetes for container orchestration
• Core Kubernetes concepts: Pods, Deployments, Services
• Managed Kubernetes services (EKS, AKS, GKE)
• Networking and service mesh concepts in Kubernetes
• Practical session: Deploying a simple multi-container application to a managed Kubernetes service

Module 13: Serverless and Event-Driven Architectures

• Understanding Function as a Service (FaaS) and serverless computing benefits
• Designing event-driven patterns with message buses and queues
• Serverless database and storage considerations
• Cold starts, costs, and performance in serverless functions
• Orchestrating complex workflows using serverless services
• Practical session: Architecting a data processing pipeline using FaaS (Lambda, Cloud Functions) triggered by a storage event

Module 14: Messaging, Queuing, and Streaming Services

• Using message queues for task distribution (SQS, etc.)
• Publish/Subscribe patterns for service communication (SNS, Pub/Sub)
• Introduction to real-time data streaming (Kafka, Kinesis)
• Designing event schemas and versioning
• Comparing different messaging services based on latency and scale
• Practical session: Designing a solution to ingest 1 million events per hour using a streaming service, including producers and consumers

Module 15: Monitoring, Logging, and Observability Tools

• The three pillars of Observability: Logs, Metrics, and Traces
• Centralized logging services and best practices (CloudWatch, Stackdriver)
• Setting up effective alerting and notification systems
• Application Performance Monitoring (APM) tools integration
• Defining key performance indicators (KPIs) and Service Level Objectives (SLOs)
• Practical session: Configuring synthetic monitoring and setting up an alert based on a performance metric (e.g., latency threshold)

Module 16: Data Migration Strategies and Planning

• The 6 Rs of Cloud Migration (Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, Repurchase, Retain, Retire)
• Assessing application readiness for migration
• Planning and executing database migration strategies (homogenous and heterogeneous)
• Minimizing downtime during large-scale data transfers
• Post-migration validation and optimization
• Practical session: Selecting the optimal "R" strategy for three different types of legacy applications

Module 17: Hybrid Cloud and Multi-Cloud Design Patterns

• Definition and use cases for Hybrid and Multi-Cloud environments
• Challenges of multi-cloud management (consistency, tooling)
• Networking solutions for extending data centers to the cloud
• Data synchronization and replication strategies for hybrid setups
• Using abstraction layers to manage multi-cloud deployments
• Practical session: Outlining the governance and tooling required to deploy the same containerized application across two different cloud providers

Module 18: Advanced Architectural Case Studies

• Deep dive into a high-scale e-commerce reference architecture
• Analyzing a machine learning pipeline architecture
• Reviewing a serverless application architecture for a modern SaaS platform
• Understanding compliance architectures in highly regulated industries
• Designing fault-tolerant, stateful applications in the cloud
• Practical session: Participating in a group challenge to design the optimal cloud architecture for a fictional global company's new product launch

Requirements:

·       Participants should be reasonably proficient in English.

·       Applicants must live up to Armstrong Global Institute admission criteria.

Terms and Conditions

1. Discounts: Organizations sponsoring Four Participants will have the 5th attend Free

2. What is catered for by the Course Fees: Fees cater for all requirements for the training – Learning materials, Lunches, Teas, Snacks and Certification. All participants will additionally cater for their travel and accommodation expenses, visa application, insurance, and other personal expenses.

3. Certificate Awarded: Participants are awarded Certificates of Participation at the end of the training.

4. The program content shown here is for guidance purposes only. Our continuous course improvement process may lead to changes in topics and course structure.

5. Approval of Course: Our Programs are NITA Approved. Participating organizations can therefore claim reimbursement on fees paid in accordance with NITA Rules.

Booking for Training

Simply send an email to the Training Officer on training@armstrongglobalinstitute.com and we will send you a registration form. We advise you to book early to avoid missing a seat to this training.

Or call us on +254720272325 / +254725012095 / +254724452588

Payment Options

We provide 3 payment options, choose one for your convenience, and kindly make payments at least 5 days before the Training start date to reserve your seat:

1. Groups of 5 People and Above – Cheque Payments to: Armstrong Global Training & Development Center Limited should be paid in advance, 5 days to the training.

2. Invoice: We can send a bill directly to you or your company.

3. Deposit directly into Bank Account (Account details provided upon request)

Cancellation Policy

1. Payment for all courses includes a registration fee, which is non-refundable, and equals 15% of the total sum of the course fee.

2. Participants may cancel attendance 14 days or more prior to the training commencement date.

3. No refunds will be made 14 days or less before the training commencement date. However, participants who are unable to attend may opt to attend a similar training course at a later date or send a substitute participant provided the participation criteria have been met.

Tailor Made Courses

This training course can also be customized for your institution upon request for a minimum of 5 participants. You can have it conducted at our Training Centre or at a convenient location. For further inquiries, please contact us on Tel: +254720272325 / +254725012095 / +254724452588 or Email training@armstrongglobalinstitute.com

Accommodation and Airport Transfer

Accommodation and Airport Transfer is arranged upon request and at extra cost. For reservations contact the Training Officer on Email: training@armstrongglobalinstitute.com or on Tel: +254720272325 / +254725012095 / +254724452588