My Journey to Learning AWS: From EC2 Basics to Infrastructure Automation
Introduction
Hi, I’m Sadikshya Baral — a recent computing graduate and a cloud enthusiast. A few months ago, I started my journey into the world of Amazon Web Services (AWS) with no prior cloud experience. Today, I’ve completed over 35 hands-on AWS projects ranging from hosting static sites to automating infrastructure with Terraform.
This blog is the first in a 4-week series where I’ll share my journey, projects, learnings, and key takeaways — in the hope that it will inspire or guide others stepping into cloud computing.
How It Started: Spinning Up My First EC2 Instance
Like many, my AWS learning began with EC2, Amazon’s virtual server. I started by:
Creating an EC2 instance from scratch
Hosting a WordPress site
Learning how to SSH into instances
Understanding key pairs and security groups
The first time I saw my WordPress site live from an EC2 instance, it was an "aha" moment. I realized how powerful and accessible cloud infrastructure could be.
IAM, S3, and Lambda: Exploring AWS Core Services
After EC2, I dived deeper into:
IAM: Created custom IAM roles and policies to understand access control
S3: Built and hosted static websites, explored lifecycle policies, versioning, and replication
Lambda: Developed my first serverless functions, including one that analyzes text uploaded to S3
I also hosted Jenkins on EC2 and used the AWS pricing calculator to estimate costs, reinforcing how cloud is both technical and financial.
Learning by Building: Databases, CI/CD & Serverless
As I got more confident, I started integrating multiple services:
Installed MySQL on EC2, connected it with MySQL Workbench
Created and managed RDS databases
Set up CI/CD pipelines using:
GitHub
CodeCommit
CodePipeline
CodeBuild
Built and deployed static websites automatically
One of my favorite serverless projects was counting words from a text file automatically using Lambda triggered by S3 events.
Evolving into DevOps & Infrastructure as Code
Once I mastered individual services, I wanted to automate the whole process.
That’s when I discovered CloudFormation and Terraform:
Used CloudFormation to automate S3 website hosting
Wrote Terraform scripts to:
Provision EC2
Set up S3 buckets
Automate S3 replication
Deploy scalable websites using ALB, EC2, and CloudFront
This was a turning point — I saw how infrastructure as code (IaC) could reduce time, errors, and boost productivity.
API Security & Cloud Compliance
With the foundation laid, I focused on security and scalability:
Used Amazon Cognito for securing API access
Learned about AWS Service Catalog for governance and compliance
Backed up EC2 instances using AWS Backup
Accessed EC2 securely using Session Manager and OpenVPN
Key Takeaways So Far
Hands-on is the best way to learn AWS. Reading is not enough — build!
Start small, but keep scaling your knowledge as you go.
Automation is powerful. Once you get into CloudFormation and Terraform, everything clicks.
Security matters: IAM, Cognito, and backups are just as important as deploying services.
What’s Next in Week 2?
In Week 2, I’ll dive deeper into a technical post about most practical and exciting projects I’ve done.
Final Note
If you’re just starting out with AWS, don’t be intimidated. I was there too — confused by acronyms and overwhelmed by the AWS dashboard. But with consistency and curiosity, I turned that confusion into confidence.
Thanks for reading! 😊
Let’s keep building.
