Session Management > Worklog > Week 8 Worklog

Week 8 Worklog

Week 8 Objectives:

Continue development of the Batch-based Clickstream Analytics Platform project.
Finalize and publish the project proposal on GitHub Pages for team-wide collaboration.
Plan next steps and begin research for integrating Amazon Cognito and Amazon S3 into the e-commerce web application.
Review key AWS concepts and architectural principles for the Midterm Exam.

Tasks to be carried out this week:

Day	Task	Start Date	Completion Date	Reference Material
1-2	- Team Meeting & Project Setup: • Meet the full team in person (first full meeting after one month of online collaboration). • Leader pushes the project to GitHub and adds all members to the repository. • Review and finalize the project proposal, check for errors, and publish it via GitHub Pages. • Plan upcoming tasks: - Research Amazon Cognito and Amazon S3 for e-commerce web application integration. - Explore additional AWS services for project implementation. - Set target to complete the project before Week 12. • Explore and test various e-commerce web templates to find the most suitable and responsive one.	10/27/2025	10/28/2025	GitHub Repository
3-4	- Midterm Exam Preparation: • Review AWS topics: Secure, Resilient, High-Performing, and Cost-Optimized Architectures. • Revisit key AWS services: EC2, S3, RDS, IAM, Lambda, CloudWatch, CloudFront, and EventBridge. • Practice with mock questions and scenario-based case studies.	10/29/2025	10/30/2025
5	- Midterm Exam	10/31/2025	10/31/2025

Week 8 Achievements

1. Team Collaboration and Project Setup

The full team successfully held the first in-person meeting after over a month of online collaboration.
The team leader created the GitHub repository, added all members, and pushed the finalized proposal to the repository.
The proposal content was thoroughly reviewed, corrected for formatting and logic errors, and deployed via GitHub Pages for public access.

2. Project Planning and Research

The team defined clear short-term goals and aligned on completing the project before Week 12.
Main focus areas for the next stage include:
- Researching Amazon Cognito for user authentication and identity management.
- Exploring Amazon S3 for data storage, static web hosting, and log management.
- Studying other relevant AWS services that can enhance the platform’s scalability and performance.
The team also explored several e-commerce website templates, testing features such as responsiveness, UI flow, and integration potential with AWS backend services.

3. Midterm Exam Preparation

AWS Services Categorization for Exam Review

1. Secure Architectures

Service	Concept	How it works	Example
AWS Organizations	Manage multiple AWS accounts under one organization.	Root account manages member accounts and applies Service Control Policies (SCPs).	Like a parent company managing its subsidiaries.
Service Control Policy (SCP)	Organization-wide policies that restrict permissions for accounts.	SCPs define allowed/denied actions across all accounts.	Like company laws that override department rules.
AWS IAM	Manage users, groups, roles, and permissions in AWS.	Users are authenticated and authorized using IAM Policies (JSON).	Like a card access system in a building.
IAM Roles	Grant temporary access permissions to users or services.	Services assume a role to gain temporary credentials.	EC2 assumes a role to access S3.
IAM User Groups	Group users with the same permissions.	Assign policies at the group level for easier management.	Like giving all HR employees the same access rights.
AWS KMS	Manage encryption keys to secure data.	Create CMKs to encrypt data in S3, EBS, and RDS.	Like a central bank vault with authorized keys.
AWS Cognito	User authentication and management for web/mobile apps.	Creates User Pools for login via email or social providers and issues tokens.	Like a reception desk that verifies visitor identity.
AWS Config	Track and audit AWS resource configurations over time.	Records configuration changes and evaluates compliance.	Like a surveillance camera monitoring setup changes.
AWS CloudTrail	Log all API calls and user activities in AWS.	Records events and stores logs in S3 for analysis.	Like a black box recording all system actions.
AWS WAF	Web Application Firewall for HTTP/HTTPS traffic protection.	Filters requests at CloudFront, ALB, or API Gateway.	Like a checkpoint inspecting incoming visitors.
AWS Shield	DDoS protection service for AWS applications.	Standard version auto-protects; Advanced adds proactive defense.	Like flood barriers automatically deploying in storms.
AWS Inspector	Scans workloads for vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.	Analyzes EC2, ECR, and Lambda environments.	Like a periodic safety inspection.
AWS GuardDuty	Threat detection using machine learning.	Monitors CloudTrail, DNS, and VPC logs for anomalies.	Like an intelligent home security system.
AWS Trusted Advisor	Provides best-practice recommendations for security and cost.	Scans accounts and reports optimization suggestions.	Like an internal consultant improving efficiency.

2. Resilient Architectures

Service	Concept	How it works	Example
Amazon EC2	Virtual servers hosted on AWS.	Choose instance type, AMI, and storage to deploy applications.	Like renting a server in a data center.
Auto Scaling Group (ASG)	Automatically scales EC2 instances based on demand.	Adds or removes instances according to CPU or traffic metrics.	Like opening more cash counters when a store gets busy.
Elastic Load Balancing (ALB/NLB)	Distributes traffic across multiple targets.	ALB for HTTP(S) and NLB for TCP/UDP connections.	Like a traffic roundabout evenly distributing cars.
Amazon Route 53	DNS and domain management service.	Routes traffic to endpoints like EC2 or Load Balancer.	Like a receptionist directing visitors to the right office.
AWS Global Accelerator	Improves performance with global network routing.	Routes traffic to the nearest healthy region using static IPs.	Like a global logistics hub delivering goods faster.
VPC Peering / Transit Gateway	Connects multiple VPCs privately.	Peering connects two VPCs directly, Transit Gateway connects many.	Peering = bridge; TGW = central station.
Direct Connect / Site-to-Site VPN	Connects on-premises data centers to AWS.	Direct Connect = dedicated line; VPN = encrypted tunnel over the Internet.	Like a private fiber line or secure tunnel to AWS.

3. High-Performing Architectures

Service	Concept	How it works	Example
Amazon CloudFront	Global Content Delivery Network (CDN).	Caches content at edge locations for low latency delivery.	Like warehouses near customers for faster delivery.
Amazon S3 / EBS / EFS	Object, block, and file storage services.	S3 for scalable file storage, EBS for EC2 volumes, EFS for shared files.	Like a hard drive, USB, and shared folder system.
Amazon RDS / Aurora / DynamoDB / ElastiCache	Managed database and caching services.	RDS for relational DBs, Aurora for high-performance DBs, DynamoDB for NoSQL, ElastiCache for in-memory cache.	Like a library (RDS), fast storage (Aurora), locker (DynamoDB), and clipboard (Cache).
Amazon VPC	Virtual Private Cloud for secure networking.	Divides into subnets and controls inbound/outbound traffic.	Like a gated community with separate zones.
Subnet / Security Group / NACL	Core network security layers in VPC.	SG = instance-level firewall (stateful); NACL = subnet-level (stateless).	Like guards at gates (SG) and police at street entrances (NACL).

4. Cost-Optimized Architectures

Service	Concept	How it works	Example
AWS Storage Gateway / Snowball	Hybrid storage or physical data transfer to AWS.	Gateway syncs on-prem data; Snowball transfers via hardware device.	Like shipping a container of data to AWS.
S3 Storage Classes (Standard, IA, Glacier)	Different S3 tiers for varied access frequency.	Standard for frequent, IA for infrequent, Glacier for archival storage.	Like regular, cold, and frozen warehouse storage.
Amazon Kinesis (Data Streams / Firehose / Analytics)	Real-time data collection and processing.	Streams capture data; Firehose delivers it; Analytics analyzes in real-time.	Like surveillance cameras tracking continuous movement.
Amazon Athena / Redshift / EMR / QuickSight	Data analytics and visualization tools.	Athena queries S3, Redshift stores structured data, EMR processes big data, QuickSight visualizes insights.	Like analysis, processing, and dashboard teams in a company.
Amazon SNS / SQS / EventBridge / API Gateway / Lambda	Serverless event-driven and messaging services.	SNS = notifications, SQS = queue, EventBridge = event bus, API Gateway = API endpoint, Lambda = compute logic.	Like alerts, queues, schedules, and automation bots in a system.