MOHAMED ZIYAAFSER BIN MOHD. ZINNAH

Planning / Goals

> Achieve my dreams
> Get CGPA above 3.67
> Study smart

Motto 

> Be happy and keep everyone around me happy
> Mom and Dad are my world 

Interest 

> Football                          - im a crazy footballer and fan of it
> Futsal                              - since its the same concept of football, im craze to this
> Arts                                 - love to express everthing in drawings
> Exploring adventures  - tests my limit
> Seek challenges            - love challenges as life would be too boring without it
> Swimming                      - it swims my worries and stress away
> Talking to myself          - because I dont want to miss a day talking to the most excellent person, well that's me
> Singing                           -  especially during my showers huhu
> Thinking                         - love to solve problem using my thought
> Voluntering                     - loves voluntering to the core

Skills
> Leadership skills
> Communication skills
> Thinking skills
> Programming
> Gaming
> Problem solving skills
> Editing

Volunteering 
> Education Department Bureau of Child Representative Council (MPKK) under JKM
> Malaysian Vaccine Support Volunteer (MyVac)
> Member of Malaysian United Democratic Allinace Party ( MUDA )

I had several steps in getting the badge. I had to spend several hours in watching the teaching videos provided, completing the quiz by achieving more than 80% percent and by completing other labs. A total of 10 modules were provided. An average of 1 hour was spent to complete 1 module. After completing all those things, I received the badge after completing few last survey questions.

As for the learning path, I had zero knowledge on cloud computing and how Amazon Web Server functions on cloud computing. In the initial states, I had difficulties in learning what exactly is this cloud computing even though the first module of AWS shares about the basic. I had a lot of questions and thought going through my mind about AWS. In the second and third module, I start to get into the flow of understanding what AWS really is. My questions and doubts start to clear one by one as the teaching video was useful and informative. Not only that, but the questions also that were ask at the end of every module elevates my understanding on the lesson learnt. An advantage of it is, even if I do not score well in the quiz, I have unlimited trial to correct my mistake until I really understand the module. As moving along with the path, the module starts to become more complicated as there were more harder subtopics and lessons included in it. Nevertheless, good explanation and teaching technique from the experts made me to understand well about AWS cloud computing.

It took me 4 days to complete all the modules as I was very serious in learning this. I did not divide my time doing other works because if I do so, I might not focus well in this AWS course. Therefore, by putting full concentration on AWS module, it made me finish the course very fast and I was also able to learn and adapt it easily.   After completing the 10 modules and questions, I had to undergo few steps and complete a survey. Soon, I received my AWS badge that I have been waiting for eagerly through my email by sending a link to cregg.com. The AWS badge looks simple but classy. Whenever I see the badge, I can refresh back all my knowledge and effort I go through to complete the badge.

Summary of what you have gained from completing the course

A total of 10 modules were assigned to complete the course and to get the badge. I’ve gained a lot of information and knowledges about cloud computing through this course. A brief summary of what I’ve gained from each module is shared below.

Module 1 is to let know the basics and what AWS cloud computing all about. This module consists of 4 subtopics. First, introduction to cloud computing.   I was thought with what cloud computing is, the function, and types of cloud computing in understandable way. Types of cloud computing model I learned are Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Besides, next subtopic is advantages of cloud. I was introduced with 6 main advantages which few of them are stop guessing capacity, increase speed and agility, go global in minutes and more. Before this, I wasn’t sure why many companies use cloud computing, but after learning I can relate it. Moving on, the introduction for AWS was thought. Simple explanation of what is web services, categories of AWS and service were shared. Finally in the module, subtopic called moving to the AWS cloud was though in which it includes about the AWS CAF (framework) and its explanation and perspectives from many parties. These are the knowledge gained in module 1.

Moving on, module 2 which is cloud economics and billing consists of 5 small chapters. First, the fundamental of pricing.  From this, I was able to know AWS pricing philosophy and the identify the pricing characteristics of AWS. I was also exposed with how to pay for AWS. Moving on, Total cost of ownership. This explains about what is TCO, differences between on-premises and cloud and more. Third part of the topic was AWS Organizations. From this, knowledge about AWS organizations in few categories were shared such as the concept of AWS organization with security, the setup, how to access and more. 4^th teaching subtopic was about AWS Billing and Cost Management. This helps me in understanding about method of billing, tracking the cost and more. Finally, the module end with the technical support models that shares about the tools, plans to support AWS technical.

Module 3 emphasizes about AWS Global Infrastructure Overview. It contains only 2 subtopics which are AWS global infrastructure and AWS Services & Services Categories. From this, I was able to identify the difference between few regions and get to know more about the services and categories.  Module 4 consists of 6 subtopics. This module explains me on how to recognize the shared responsibility model, get to know what IAM is and recognize other AWS compliance programs.

Module 5 consist of 6 subtopics to understand. Generally, it shares and explains more towards the networking sites and how it delivers. In this module as well, I was able to label network diagram and identify few new services and its uses such as Amazon Route S3, Amazon VPC and Amazon CloudFront. Moving on module 6 is a longer module as it consist of 8 subtopics about compute. This module helped me in getting to know the overview of different AWS compute services in the cloud, how Amazon EC2 works. Demonstration of AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Lambda were also shared.

Next, module 7 titles emphasize more on storage capacity on AWS cloud. It has total of 8 subtopics and video. It helps me gain knowledge in differentiate types of storage, AWS services like S3, EBS, EFS and how it works. Module 8 is more towards databases and consist of 4 subtopics. In this module, I gained much knowledge on different AWS database services such as Amazon RDS, DynamoDB, Redshift and Aurora. I learn the difference between them and get to know how it performs the task respectively.

Module 9 is titled as Cloud Architecture and consist of 8 subtopics that explains about the overview of architecture design.  I was able to know the design principles for AWS Well-Architected Framework, the security, reliability, and high availability. I was also exposed with the interpretation of AWS Trusted Advisor. Finally, in the last, module 10 is called Auto Scaling and Monitoring that consist of 6 subtopics. I was exposed on how Amazon EC2 works in distributing traffic by using Elastic Load Balancing. Besides, I was got to know about the Amazon CloudWatch and EC2 Auto Scaling. In this module as well, I was able to perform scaling and loading to improve my architecture design. 

As of that, these are all the important thing I have gained from this course. All this thing really makes me feel happy as I’m now have knowledge in AWS Cloud computing compared to in the initial state where I don’t even know that use of cloud computing. Therefore, this course really gained me a lot of knowledge.

Your motivation to complete this project

The biggest motivation to complete this project was the eagerness to learn new knowledge that I have not explored before. As I am someone who loves to gain new information and knowledge, the eagerness to learn this project took me to a higher place. Besides, most of my friends who finished this course earlier also do tell that this AWS course is very good, and they gained a lot about cloud computing. This made me feel very curious as well as excited to learn as they put the expectation to high. While doing the AWS course, the content of every module was very useful and straight to point makes me to even continue the rest of the module. Finally, I managed to complete this. 

Your opinion whether getting the badge is easy or difficult? Which module is the easiest/most difficult?

From my opinion, I would say it was not difficult as other people might say we need to spend a lot of time on it and it’s hard to understand. No, it’s not like that, it doesn’t waste our time nor its very difficult. It is quite hard to understand the process in the starting point but ones we get into the flow, each and every module goes smoothly without the need of struggling. My motivation in which the eagerness made this module to be easy as mindset is very important in doing anything. If mindset is right, any difficult things would turn easy.

When comparing every module, I would say the easiest module was the third module as it only covers two subtopics which are AWS global infrastructure and AWS Services & Services Categories. Since the subtopic and content in this module is less, it was easy to understand it. It was also easy because it didn’t take much of time for that module.  In another aspect, the most difficult module I would say is the module 9. This module is indeed very long and time consuming as it has one of the greatest number of subtopics and contents in it comparing with other modules. This module 9 covers the architecture part of cloud computing and it took me a while to understand how it really work. Not only that, another reason why module 9 is hard because of its placement as the second last module. Since I ‘ve learnt a lot in previous module, it made me struggle a little to understand this module. Therefore, what I did was I spent a whole day listening to this module again to really understand the knowledge. Nevertheless, my clear mindset made me to overcome difficulty very well.

What’s a badge worth?

The badge is definitely worth it. This badge is not only just a digital badge, but it reflects my hard work and energy I spent on this course completing in it. Whenever I see this badge, I use to think back my efforts that I poured and all the knowledge that I gained. Not only that, but this badge is also worth it because I could show and display this on my online resume in the future. This badge would really stand out in my profile as finishing a course in AWS cloud computing is not very easy.

Feedback whether getting the badge improve your knowledge and skills on Cloud Computing

Getting the badge really improved my knowledge and skills on Cloud Computing. Before this, I had very low knowledge on cloud computing and how the system works in it. I had so many doubts on cloud computing. But, after completing this course and getting the badge, I learned a lot in the aspect of knowledge and skills as well. So many new information was shared and explained, and those lab exercise and knowledge on how to demonstrate the services, framework and architecture elevated my new skills on cloud computing. From this knowledge and skills, I have the confidence that this can make me explore more new things and use this in my life, career and future.

Your opinion whether every company should shift to Cloud Computing?

From my point of view, I would say, yes, every company should shift to cloud computing. It is because we are in the modern era, in the 4^th industry revolution and it is obvious that cloud computing is so beneficial for every company to sustain with the changes. There are many reasons why companies should shift to cloud computing. First, cloud computing can be very beneficial in terms of financial cost, as it can save a lot of cost compared to creating own data center or by using the manual way. In the same aspect, using cloud computing makes it easy to predict the cost as we can make comparisons on the services available conveniently and also with less effort. Moving on, with the aid of cloud computing, it helps to reduce time and effort in deploying their cloud applications as in cloud computing it can be done in few weeks of time compared to other ways that is quite time consuming. Besides, cloud computing enhances security. When it comes to small companies, building a strong security network is a hard job to be done and it requires a lot of cost creating it. With the cloud computing, companies like AWS cloud computing have their own specialized security that can be very convenient especially for small companies. These are few reasons why every company should shift to cloud computing as there are a lot of advantages.

Your opinion whether every computer science/UTM student should learn Cloud Computing (get the AWS badge?).

From my opinion, for sure I would say, yes, every computer science or UTM student should learn cloud computing. Cloud computing is a rapid growing technology in the 4^th industry revolution. The knowledge and exposure in this area is a must for the students to adapt with the changes.  In the upcoming years, it is a no doubt that cloud computing will be one of the main technologies used by every companies. AS of that, students shown not waste time, and must start exploring their basic knowledge on cloud computing. This can make them have clearer vision of what is cloud computing. By doing this, students don’t have to struggle in the future to learn this from beginning. Teaching resource like this, in AWS Academy can be very useful as this makes it easy to understand and to obtain a certificate and badge. Therefore, all students should learn cloud computing for their basic knowledge in it.  

Any advice to your friends who have not get the AWS badge yet?

Don’t feel its difficult or time consuming getting this AWS badge. Believe me, it is worth it. Just give a shot. Remember, cloud computing is something rapidly growing, and this is the right time as it will be hard to learn this when you are busy after university life.  Just spend few days in this and learn new things. You would definitely feel proud of yourself once completing this AWS badge.

What is your direction after completing the badge?

I am very excited to learn more new knowledge, information, and skills, which that means this badge is definitely won’t be the last badge, as I would start to buckle me up to get more and more badges. I would start to search and get information about which new course to be chosen in my upcoming days, as AWS Academy was really a great platform to learn.  Therefore, my directions after this will be, enrolling in other courses that can be found in AWS Academy to obtain more certificates and badges.

Your opinion about getting the AWS badge that is included in SECP1513 subject

I’ve very grateful and happy because this SECP1513 subject made me, getting the AWS badge. Without this, I would have never known this great online platform to gain new skills and badge. After this, I’m able to explore more new things using this AWS Academy. The badge received really makes me proud as now, I have the basic knowledge on cloud computing, and this badge acts as an indicator to show others that I have the knowledge about it.