AWS Queues And Lambda Processing: A Simple, Quick Walkthrough.

Have you ever wondered what a queue is or how you could implement a queue in AWS? Perhaps you’re considering using a queue for a solution that you’re working on but you’re not fully sure how the pieces fit together?

SQS & Lambda Logos

If that’s you — you’re in the right place! Today we’ll remove the mysticism of queues in AWS. But how will we remove the mysticism? By walking step-by-step for how to configure an SQS queue and use Lambda to process it.

By the end of this article you’ll understand what a queues is, why you might need one and how to setup one up SQS and Lambda.

How To Setup AWS Lambda Scheduled Events with Terraform

Lambda functions on their own are pretty useless. Lambda’s need someone — or something — to initiate them. An important (and fun) trigger for Lambda is the CloudWatch event. With CloudWatch events we can trigger Lambda’s on recurring schedules that we define.

AWS Lambda

Scheduled Lambda’s are useful for executing tasks like backups, or running security scanning. Today we’re going to go through what you need to do in order to Terraform Lambda Scheduled Event’s.

I’ll cover everything you need to know about CloudWatch Events, CloudWatch Event Targets and Lambda permissions.

By the end of this article you’ll know how to execute a Lambda on a scheduled CloudWatch event (and write it all in Terraform). 

Do Cloud Engineers Code?

DevOps. Platform Engineer. Cloud Engineer. So many terms and roles! But they all seem to mean the same thing. So when it comes to this new term Cloud Engineer. What do Cloud Engineers do all day? And do cloud engineers code?

Cloud Vendor Logos

The short answer to whether Cloud Engineers code is: yes. But, Cloud Engineers don’t write any old code, they write very specific types of code.

By the end of this article you’ll know what a Cloud Engineer is and whether they code (spoiler alert: they do).

What Is the Best Way to Learn Terraform?

So you’ve heard about this Terraform thing and want to get in on the action? Learning a new technology such as Terraform can be a daunting task at first. Today we’re going to go through the best way to learn Terraform so that you can break through the fog of uncertainty and start learning today.

Terraform

In this article we’ll discuss the different considerations you should make when learning Terraform, the main features you’ll need to know and the features you can safely ignore (at first) to give you the confidence to start working with Terraform.

By the end of this article you should have an understanding of what Terraform is, and the best way to start to learn it.

Create An AWS S3 Website Using Terraform And Github Actions

We’ve talked a lot recently about infrastructure as code and setting up cloud environments. But nothing beats getting hands on with a technology to help learning. A workflow I’ve used a lot recently is Terraform (and remote state) using a Github Actions pipeline. It’s cheap, straight-forward and a great little workflow for creating cloud resources. Today, let me show you why.

Terraform logo

So I thought setting up a basic workflow for creating a website would be a great hands-on way to get your head around some different topics: AWS, Terraform and Github Actions. Today we’ll go through how to setup an S3 bucket (which could function as a website) in AWS and use a Github Actions pipeline to create the infrastructure and upload our files.

By the end of this article you’ll know how to configure an AWS S3 bucket using Terraform and deploy it using Github Actions.