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Devaki P
Devaki P

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Getting Started with Cloud Computing: My Hands-On AWS Session

#aws #devops #cloud #beginners


# ☁️ Day 1 Cloud Learning: Deploying My Portfolio Using Amazon S3 and CloudFront

Introduction

As part of my Day 1 cloud learning session, I explored the basics of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and learned how cloud services can be used to host and deliver a website.

For my hands-on activity, I created a personal portfolio website using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, uploaded the website files to Amazon S3, and explored how Amazon CloudFront can be used to distribute the website.

This session helped me understand the journey from creating a website locally to making it available through cloud infrastructure.

🎯 Objectives of the Session

The main objectives of Day 1 were:

  • Understand the AWS cloud environment.
  • Explore the AWS Management Console.
  • Learn about Amazon S3 and buckets.
  • Create and configure an S3 bucket.
  • Upload website files to S3.
  • Understand bucket permissions and policies.
  • Create a CloudFront distribution.
  • Understand how CloudFront helps deliver web content.
  • Explore Amazon Route 53.
  • Deploy and access a personal portfolio website using AWS.

☁️ Exploring AWS

I started the session by exploring the AWS Management Console and understanding how different AWS services are organized.

AWS provides many cloud services for computing, storage, networking, databases, security, and application deployment.

During the session, I explored services including:

  • Amazon S3
  • Amazon CloudFront
  • Amazon Route 53
  • AWS security and access settings
  • Bucket policies and permissions

This gave me a basic understanding of how different AWS services can work together to deploy a web application.

🗄️ 1. Understanding Amazon S3

The first major service I worked with was Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3).

Amazon S3 is an object storage service that can be used to store files such as:

  • HTML files
  • CSS files
  • JavaScript files
  • Images
  • Documents
  • Other application assets

For my hands-on activity, I created an S3 bucket and used it to store the files required for my portfolio website.

My S3 Bucket

I created an S3 bucket and uploaded my website files into it.

The bucket contained files related to my portfolio website, including the main index.html file and other website resources.

📸 Screenshot – S3 Bucket

Add your screenshot showing the S3 bucket and uploaded files here.

🌐 2. Creating the Portfolio Website

Before deploying the website, I created my personal portfolio using web technologies.

The main website file was:

index.html
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The portfolio contains sections such as:

  • Home
  • About
  • Skills
  • Projects
  • Experience
  • Education
  • Contact

The portfolio was designed to present my academic background, technical skills, projects, and experience in a simple and professional way.

📤 3. Uploading Website Files to Amazon S3

After creating the portfolio, I uploaded the website files to my S3 bucket.

The S3 bucket acts as cloud storage for the website files.

The basic workflow was:

Portfolio Website
       ↓
   index.html
       ↓
Upload to Amazon S3
       ↓
S3 Bucket
       ↓
Website files stored in cloud
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I also explored the objects stored inside the bucket and checked their properties.

📸 Screenshot – Uploaded Website Files

Add your screenshot showing index.html and other uploaded files here.

🔐 4. Exploring S3 Permissions and Bucket Policies

Another important part of the session was understanding bucket permissions and policies.

I explored the Permissions section of the S3 bucket and learned that bucket policies are written in JSON and can be used to control access to objects stored in a bucket.

I also explored settings related to Block Public Access.

This helped me understand that cloud storage is not only about uploading files. Access control and security are also important when making resources available through the internet.

📸 Screenshot – Bucket Policy

Add your bucket policy screenshot here.

🔄 5. Exploring S3 Object Management

I also explored individual objects stored inside the S3 bucket.

For example, website resources such as JavaScript files can be stored as separate S3 objects.

The S3 console provides information about each object, including its:

  • Object name
  • Type
  • Size
  • Last modified time
  • Storage class
  • Object URL

This helped me understand how website resources are represented and managed in object storage.

📸 Screenshot – S3 Object Details

Add the screenshot showing the script.js object here.

🚀 6. Deploying Through Amazon CloudFront

After working with S3, I explored Amazon CloudFront.

Amazon CloudFront is a content delivery service that helps deliver web content to users through a distributed network of locations.

For my practical activity, I created a CloudFront distribution for my website.

The basic architecture I understood was:

                 AWS Cloud
                    │
                    ▼
              Amazon S3
                    │
              Website Files
                    │
                    ▼
           Amazon CloudFront
                    │
                    ▼
                 Users
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This helped me understand the difference between storing website files and delivering those files efficiently to users.

🌍 7. Exploring Amazon Route 53

I also explored Amazon Route 53, AWS's DNS service.

During the session, I learned at a basic level that DNS helps connect domain names with the resources where applications or websites are hosted.

The overall concept can be represented as:

User
  ↓
Domain Name
  ↓
DNS / Route 53
  ↓
Cloud Resource
  ↓
Website
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This gave me an initial understanding of how domain names and cloud-hosted websites can be connected.

💻 8. My Final Portfolio Website

Finally, I accessed the portfolio website after deploying it through AWS.

The website contains my introduction as an AI & Machine Learning student along with my skills, projects, experience, education, and contact information.

Seeing the website running through the cloud was one of the most useful parts of the session because it connected the concepts I learned with an actual working result.

📸 Screenshot – Final Portfolio

Add your final portfolio screenshot here.

🧠 What I Learned

The Day 1 session helped me understand several important cloud concepts.

1. Cloud Storage

I learned how Amazon S3 can be used to store website files and other objects in the cloud.

2. Website Deployment

I understood the basic process of taking a website created locally and making its files available through cloud infrastructure.

3. Access Management

I learned that permissions, bucket policies, and public access settings are important when working with cloud resources.

4. Content Delivery

I got an introduction to how CloudFront can be used to distribute web content.

5. DNS

I explored Route 53 and understood its role in connecting domain names with cloud resources.

6. AWS Console

Most importantly, I became more familiar with navigating the AWS Management Console and exploring different services.

🔧 Challenges and Practical Learning

One of the important things I realized during the session is that deploying a website in the cloud involves more than simply uploading an HTML file.

There are several components to understand:

Website Development
        ↓
File Storage
        ↓
Permissions & Security
        ↓
Content Delivery
        ↓
DNS / Domain
        ↓
End User
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Each component has a different purpose, and understanding how they connect is an important part of learning cloud computing.

📌 Key Takeaways

My major takeaways from Day 1 were:

  • Amazon S3 can be used to store website files.
  • S3 organizes uploaded files as objects inside buckets.
  • Bucket permissions and policies control access.
  • CloudFront can distribute web content.
  • Route 53 provides DNS-related functionality.
  • AWS provides multiple services that can work together.
  • A locally developed website can be moved into a cloud environment.
  • Practical experimentation helped me understand cloud concepts better than theory alone.

🏁 Conclusion

Day 1 gave me a practical introduction to cloud computing using AWS.

Instead of only learning the definitions of cloud services, I was able to explore AWS directly, create an S3 bucket, upload my portfolio website, examine bucket permissions and objects, create a CloudFront distribution, and explore Route 53.

The most satisfying part of the session was seeing my own portfolio website deployed through the cloud.

This experience gave me a foundation for exploring more AWS services and understanding how real-world applications are deployed and delivered using cloud infrastructure.

📚 Technologies and Services Explored

Web Technologies

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript

AWS Services

  • Amazon S3
  • Amazon CloudFront
  • Amazon Route 53
  • AWS Management Console

🚀 What's Next?

This was only my first step into cloud computing. In the upcoming sessions, I look forward to exploring more AWS services, understanding cloud architecture, and gaining more hands-on experience with deployment and application development.

Learning cloud is not just about knowing the services — it is about understanding how those services work together to build and deliver real applications.

AWS #CloudComputing #AmazonS3 #CloudFront #Route53 #WebDevelopment #DevOps #LearningInPublic


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