📌 PHASE 1: COMPLETE BEGINNER (Weeks 1–4)
Goal: Understand cloud basics + core AWS services
Week 1 — Cloud Basics + Set Up
Topics
-
What is cloud computing
-
AWS Global Infrastructure
-
Regions, AZs, Edge Locations
-
Shared Responsibility Model
-
AWS Free Tier setup
-
IAM basics (Users, Groups, MFA, Policies)
Hands-On
-
Create AWS account
-
Enable MFA
-
Create IAM users
-
Configure AWS CLI
READ THIS ALSO: How to Become an AWS Engineer in 2026 for FREE
Week 2 — Compute Foundations
Topics
-
EC2 (Instances, AMIs, EBS, Snapshots)
-
EC2 pricing (On-Demand, Spot, Reserved)
-
Auto Scaling basics
-
Elastic Load Balancer (ALB, NLB basics)
Hands-On
-
Launch EC2 instance
-
Attach and format EBS volume
-
Create AMI
-
Configure Auto Scaling Group + ALB
Week 3 — Storage & Databases
Topics
-
S3 (Bucket, Classes, Policies, Versioning, Lifecycle)
-
Glacier
-
EBS vs EFS
-
Simple DB overview
-
RDS fundamentals
-
DynamoDB fundamentals
Hands-On
-
Create S3 bucket + enable versioning
-
Set up lifecycle rule
-
Create RDS MySQL database
-
Create DynamoDB table
Week 4 — Networking Basics
Topics
-
VPC, Subnets, Routing
-
Internet Gateway
-
NAT Gateway
-
NACL vs Security Groups
-
VPC Peering
-
DNS (Route 53 basics)
Hands-On
-
Build a simple 2-tier VPC (public + private subnets)
-
Launch EC2 in private subnet via NAT
PHASE 2: INTERMEDIATE (Weeks 5–10)
Goal: Understand real-world AWS architecture + prepare for AWS Solutions Architect Associate
Week 5 — Identity, Security & Monitoring
Topics
-
IAM deep dive
-
KMS
-
CloudTrail
-
CloudWatch (Logs, Metrics, Alarms)
-
AWS Config
Hands-On
-
Create IAM roles
-
Encrypt S3 bucket with KMS
-
Set up CloudWatch alarm on EC2
Week 6 — High Availability & Elasticity
Topics
-
Auto Scaling deep dive
-
Load balancing types
-
Multi-AZ vs Multi-Region
-
Disaster Recovery plans (Pilot Light, Warm Standby, etc.)
Hands-On
-
Deploy multi-AZ RDS
-
Build resilient 3-tier architecture
Week 7 — Serverless Foundations
Topics
-
Lambda functions
-
API Gateway
-
DynamoDB advanced
-
EventBridge
-
SQS vs SNS
Hands-On
-
Create Lambda + API Gateway REST API
-
Build SQS Queue → Lambda consumer
Week 8 — Containers & DevOps Begin
Topics
-
Docker basics
-
ECS (Fargate vs EC2)
-
ECR
-
CI/CD basics
-
CodePipeline, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy
Hands-On
-
Deploy Docker app using ECS Fargate
-
Create CI/CD pipeline using CodePipeline
Week 9 — Databases Deep Dive
Topics
-
RDS backup/restore
-
Aurora
-
DynamoDB partitioning
-
ElastiCache
-
Redis vs Memcached
Hands-On
-
Migrate database snapshot
-
Configure ElastiCache Redis for performance
READ THIS POST: What Is Screen Mirroring?
Week 10 — Exam-Ready Review (AWS Associate Level)
Tasks
-
Rebuild VPC from scratch
-
Deploy multi-tier architecture
-
Practice 300 AWS questions
-
Review whitepapers
PHASE 3: ADVANCED (Weeks 11–20)
Goal: Professional AWS skills — Architecting, DevOps, Security, Automation
Weeks 11–12 — Advanced Networking
-
VPC Endpoints
-
Transit Gateway
-
PrivateLink
-
Direct Connect
-
Global Accelerator
-
Hybrid cloud networking
Hands-On
-
Build multi-VPC architecture using Transit Gateway
Weeks 13–14 — Advanced Security
-
IAM Permission Boundaries
-
SCP (Service Control Policies)
-
Organizations
-
WAF
-
Shield
-
Secrets Manager
-
Advanced KMS
Hands-On
-
Create multi-account organization with SCP
-
Secure API with WAF
Weeks 15–16 — Advanced DevOps + Automation
-
CloudFormation
-
CDK
-
Terraform basics (optional)
-
CI/CD advanced pipelines
-
Blue/Green deployments
-
Canary releases
-
Infrastructure as Code patterns
Hands-On
-
Entire infrastructure with CloudFormation
-
Deploy Lambda with CDK
Weeks 17–18 — Big Data & Analytics
-
Kinesis
-
Glue
-
Athena
-
Redshift
-
EMR
-
QuickSight
Hands-On
-
Build streaming pipeline: Kinesis → Lambda → S3 → Athena
Weeks 19–20 — Machine Learning in AWS (Optional but valuable)
-
Sagemaker basics
-
Rekognition
-
Comprehend
-
Forecast
Hands-On
-
Train small ML model using Sagemaker
PHASE 4: PRACTICAL PROJECTS (Weeks 21–24)
Build job-ready AWS portfolio projects
✔ Project 1 — Scalable Web App (EC2 + ALB + RDS)
✔ Project 2 — Serverless App (Lambda + API Gateway + DynamoDB)
✔ Project 3 — Container App (ECS Fargate + CI/CD)
✔ Project 4 — Data Pipeline (S3 → Glue → Athena)
✔ Project 5 — Infrastructure as Code (CloudFormation/ CDK)
BONUS: Daily/Weekly Timetable Breakdown
Daily (1–2 hours)
-
30 mins video + notes
-
30 mins AWS hands-on
-
30 mins practice tests
Weekend (3–5 hours)
-
Build a small project
-
Review concepts
-
Read AWS FAQs
CERTIFICATION PATH (2026 Goal)
Month 1–2: AWS Cloud Practitioner
Month 3–4: AWS Solutions Architect Associate
Month 5–6: AWS Solutions Architect Professional OR DevOps Engineer
After 6 months:
-
Take specialty certifications (Security, Data, ML, Networking)