Cloud Pro: AWS Databases: Choose, Compare and Launch

What's inside

1. Level 1: Every AWS Database Service on One PageFree
   Sort every AWS managed database service into seven groups: relational, distributed SQL, key-value and document, wide-column, in-memory, graph and time series, and migration. For each one, learn its current name, its former names and whether it is still open to new customers.
2. Level 2: The Standard Workload ProfileFree
   Learn the profile you will use to judge every service in this course. It covers the data model, the read and write mix, QPS and latency, transactions and consistency, size and growth, scaling and sharding, availability with RPO and RTO, multi-region needs, engine compatibility and licensing, OLTP versus analytics, team skills and the cost model.
3. Level 3: Amazon RDS for MySQL and MariaDB
   Work through the nine-part lesson on RDS for MySQL and MariaDB: fit, limits that bite, instance, storage and I/O pricing, Multi-AZ options, and a quick start you build, query and then delete.
4. Level 4: Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL
   Apply the nine-part lesson to RDS for PostgreSQL: supported extensions, major-version upgrades, storage and connection limits, pricing, and a hands-on quick start.
5. Level 5: Amazon RDS for SQL Server
   Cover RDS for SQL Server across the nine parts, with the focus on editions, licence-included versus bring-your-own-licence options, feature limits and how much the licence adds to the cost.
6. Level 6: Amazon RDS for Oracle and Db2
   Apply the nine-part lesson to the commercial RDS engines Oracle and Db2. Licence models, edition limits, option groups and the true cost of running them are the main topics.
7. Level 7: Amazon RDS Custom
   Learn what RDS Custom adds for Oracle and SQL Server: operating-system and database access that standard RDS blocks. You also learn which operational duties move back to you and when this trade is worth making.
8. Level 8: Amazon Aurora Provisioned
   Apply the nine-part lesson to provisioned Aurora MySQL and PostgreSQL: the shared distributed storage layer, replicas, the Standard versus I/O-Optimized storage choice, and a cluster quick start.
9. Level 9: Aurora Serverless v2
   Learn how Aurora Serverless v2 scales capacity units, what minimum and maximum capacity really cost, and when serverless beats or loses to provisioned instances.
10. Level 10: Aurora PostgreSQL Limitless Database
    Learn about Aurora Limitless Database: horizontal sharding for PostgreSQL behind a single endpoint. Topics include sharded and reference tables, shard keys, limits and cost.
11. Level 11: Amazon Aurora DSQL
    Apply the nine-part lesson to Aurora DSQL, the serverless distributed SQL service. Cover its PostgreSQL compatibility gaps, its optimistic concurrency model, its multi-region active-active design and its pricing units.
12. Level 12: Amazon DynamoDB Fundamentals
    Apply the nine-part lesson to DynamoDB: key design, access-pattern-first modelling, on-demand versus provisioned capacity, item and partition limits, and a table quick start.
13. Level 13: DynamoDB Global Tables
    Extend DynamoDB to several regions with global tables. Topics include replication and conflict handling, the eventual and strong consistency modes, replicated write costs and failover design.
14. Level 14: Amazon ElastiCache: Valkey, Redis OSS and Memcached
    Amazon ElastiCache in the nine-part pattern: the managed in-memory cache with Valkey, Redis OSS and Memcached, serverless or node-based, with limits, costs, a quick start and when to choose it.
15. Level 15: Amazon MemoryDB
    Amazon MemoryDB in the nine-part pattern: a durable in-memory database on Valkey or Redis OSS, when your cache is the system of record, with limits, costs, a quick start and when to choose it.
16. Level 16: Amazon DocumentDB
    Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility) in the nine-part pattern: what is and is not MongoDB, instance-based and elastic clusters, limits, costs, a quick start and when to choose it.
17. Level 17: Amazon Keyspaces (for Apache Cassandra)
    Amazon Keyspaces in the nine-part pattern: serverless Cassandra-compatible wide-column storage, CQL differences, limits, capacity modes, costs, a quick start and when to choose it.
18. Level 18: Amazon Neptune
    Amazon Neptune in the nine-part pattern: the managed graph database (Neptune Database and Neptune Analytics; property graph with Gremlin and openCypher, RDF with SPARQL), with limits, costs, a quick start and when to choose it.
19. Level 19: Choosing Among AWS Non-Relational Databases
    Puts DynamoDB, ElastiCache, MemoryDB, DocumentDB, Keyspaces, Neptune and Timestream side by side against the standard workload profile, so the learner can shortlist the right non-relational service and rule out the rest.
20. Level 20: Timestream, Oracle Database@AWS and What's Closed
    Amazon Timestream (LiveAnalytics and for InfluxDB) and Oracle Database@AWS in the nine-part pattern, then the AWS database services closed to new customers, with dates, for every selection record.
21. Level 21: AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)
    The nine-part lesson on AWS DMS: how its replication instances, DMS Serverless, endpoints and tasks move data with a full load followed by ongoing change data capture (CDC), where it works well and where it fails, and what it really costs to run.
22. Level 22: Schema Conversion for Engine Changes
    How DMS Schema Conversion and the desktop AWS Schema Conversion Tool assess and convert schemas, stored code and SQL when you change database engine, and how to read the assessment report to size the manual work honestly.
23. Level 23: High Availability, Backup and Disaster Recovery
    A side-by-side look at how each AWS database family delivers high availability (HA), backups, point-in-time restore and cross-region disaster recovery (DR), and how to map those features to the recovery point objective (RPO, how much data you can lose) and recovery time objective (RTO, how long you can be down) in the workload profile.
24. Level 24: Security, Encryption and Access
    How to secure any AWS database end to end: network isolation, encryption at rest with AWS KMS keys and in transit with TLS, secrets rotation, IAM database authentication versus native users, auditing, and the shared-responsibility split for each service.
25. Level 25: Performance Tuning and Fair Benchmarking
    How to benchmark candidate databases fairly, with the same data shape, access pattern, concurrency, warm-up and cost per run, and how to tune using CloudWatch Database Insights or Performance Insights, query plans, connection pooling, caching and capacity settings.
26. Level 26: A Worked Total Cost of Ownership
    Building a dated, line-by-line monthly and three-year cost for two shortlisted designs: compute, storage, I/O, backups, replicas, licences, data transfer and egress, support, and the staff time each design needs.
27. Level 27: Migration Paths and Cutover Planning
    Choosing the overall migration path (rehost, replatform or refactor, either onto the same engine or a different one) and planning the cutover with validation, rollback and a minimal-downtime window.
28. Level 28: The Weighted Selection Scorecard
    Turning the standard workload profile into a weighted scorecard that ranks candidate AWS services on fit, limits, operations, risk and total cost, and that excludes any service failing a hard requirement before scoring starts.
29. Level 29: Scoring AWS Against Another Cloud
    Applying the same scorecard to the closest equivalent services on another cloud, such as Azure or Google Cloud, using dated, cited evidence from official docs and price pages instead of marketing claims.
30. Level 30: Final Challenge: Decision Workshop and Selection Record Exam
    A capstone that reviews the whole course: profile a realistic workload, shortlist and score services across AWS and another cloud, design for HA, DR, security and cost, plan the migration, and defend the choice in a one-page selection record.

Access

The first 2 levels are free with a free account. Every level, the podcast edition and the AI tutor come with All Access at £4.99/month or any Creator plan — see pricing.

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