Tasks and Duties
Objective: In this task, you will design a comprehensive cloud infrastructure plan for a hypothetical e-commerce platform. You will simulate the planning and strategy phase of a cloud engineering project by outlining a scalable, cost-effective, and secure design that can support web applications with high traffic and variable workloads.
Task Details: You will analyze the requirements of a fictional online retail service, define the overall architecture, select appropriate cloud services (compute, storage, networking, etc.), and create detailed diagrams of the proposed infrastructure. Your plan should include considerations for load balancing, auto-scaling, disaster recovery, and security best practices. Additionally, you must identify potential risks and propose mitigation strategies.
Expected Deliverables: You are required to submit a well-documented file (e.g., a PDF or Word Document) containing your architecture diagrams, a detailed written plan, a summary of your cost estimation strategy, and a risk assessment analysis. The document should also include your justification for selecting specific cloud services and any assumptions made during the planning process.
Key Steps: (1) Gather and analyze requirements from the given scenario; (2) Research and select appropriate cloud services; (3) Create detailed architecture diagrams using a tool of your choice; (4) Write a comprehensive plan that includes cost strategies and risk mitigation; (5) Review and refine your document before submission.
Evaluation Criteria: Your submission will be evaluated on the completeness and clarity of your plan, the logical organization of ideas, the depth of your analysis, the quality and professionalism of your diagrams, and the overall alignment with cloud engineering best practices. Ensure that your report is thorough and demonstrates critical thinking, as well as a practical understanding of cloud infrastructure planning.
Objective: This week, you will focus on the automation aspect of cloud engineering by using Infrastructure as Code (IaC) tools to deploy a multi-tier web application. The goal is to learn how to automate the creation, modification, and management of cloud resources using tools like Terraform or AWS CloudFormation.
Task Details: You are required to create a complete IaC script that automates the deployment of a cloud environment including a web server, an application server, and a database instance. Your script should detail the interconnections between the components, provide networking configurations, and establish security groups. Additionally, include mechanisms for auto-scaling and monitoring resource health.
Expected Deliverables: Submit a file containing your IaC scripts along with a detailed readme document (PDF or Markdown file) that explains the structure of your code, steps to deploy the infrastructure, and any dependencies or pre-requisites. Include screenshots or terminal outputs of a successful deployment, and a brief post-deployment analysis on the effectiveness of your automated approach.
Key Steps: (1) Select an IaC tool such as Terraform or CloudFormation; (2) Define the components and dependencies of your cloud environment; (3) Develop and test your IaC scripts in a local or sandbox environment; (4) Document the deployment process and validate the infrastructure; (5) Refine your scripts based on testing feedback.
Evaluation Criteria: Your submission will be assessed based on code quality, completeness of the deployment, clarity of documentation, demonstration of automation best practices, and your success in validating that the deployed infrastructure performs as expected. A well-tested, modular, and maintainable codebase is highly valued.
Objective: This task is designed to help you build practical skills in monitoring, logging, and security within a cloud environment. You will set up a comprehensive monitoring and logging framework and enhance the security posture of an existing cloud application by integrating cloud-native security services.
Task Details: You are tasked with designing and implementing a multi-layered monitoring and logging strategy for a sample cloud application. The task requires you to configure monitoring tools (such as CloudWatch, Prometheus, or similar) to track system performance, generate alerts for critical events, and implement logging solutions to capture and store system logs for troubleshooting and compliance purposes. Additionally, you must integrate security services (e.g., AWS Inspector, Azure Security Center) to perform vulnerability assessments and configure firewalls and access controls.
Expected Deliverables: Prepare and submit a comprehensive report (in PDF or Word format) that includes the configuration code snippets, architecture diagrams depicting your monitoring and security setup, and detailed step-by-step instructions on how the setup was tested. Include a discussion on the challenges you encountered and how you resolved them.
Key Steps: (1) Analyze the monitoring and security requirements; (2) Research appropriate tools and services available on major cloud platforms; (3) Develop configuration scripts or setup instructions; (4) Create detailed diagrams outlining the architecture; (5) Write a report that documents the entire process including the testing and validation of the deployed services.
Evaluation Criteria: Submissions will be evaluated based on the effectiveness of the chosen monitoring framework, depth of security considerations, clarity of documentation, and the robustness of the implemented configurations. The documentation should be detailed, showing thorough testing and validation processes, with clear explanations and visual aids to enhance understanding.
Objective: The final task will simulate a cloud migration project where you migrate an on-premise application to a public cloud environment and then optimize its performance and cost. This project will encapsulate planning, execution, and evaluation aspects of cloud engineering.
Task Details: You will be provided with a business scenario involving the migration of a legacy application to a modern cloud environment. Your task is to design a migration plan that covers key aspects such as data transfer, application re-hosting or re-platforming, and integration with cloud-native services. After migration, focus on performance optimization, including load balancing, autoscaling, and cost management strategies. Consider security enhancements and resiliency improvements post-migration.
Expected Deliverables: Submit a comprehensive final report (in PDF/Word format) that includes your migration strategy, detailed architecture diagrams before and after migration, optimization techniques implemented, and a comparison analysis of the performance and cost metrics pre- and post-migration. Attach any scripts or configuration files used during the migration process as appendices to your report.
Key Steps: (1) Analyze the legacy system and its requirements; (2) Develop a detailed migration plan including timeline and resource allocation; (3) Implement the migration using a cloud provider of your choice; (4) Monitor the performance and optimize the environment’s cost and efficiency; (5) Compile your findings, challenges, and recommendations in a detailed report.
Evaluation Criteria: Your project will be assessed based on the clarity and feasibility of your migration strategy, depth of performance and cost analysis, quality and accuracy of the architectural diagrams, and the effectiveness of the implemented optimization techniques. The final report should reflect thorough preparation, robust testing, and strategic decision-making in line with industry best practices.