AWS Week in Review – February 23, 2015

Let’s take a quick look at what happened in AWS-land last week: Monday, February 23 We launched a Cost Explorer Update, with More Filtering and Grouping Dimensions. We announced support for Data Pipeline Roles and Tags, along with some Security Improvements. We announced that the EC2 Container Service is now Available in the US West […]

AWS Podcast #100 – Week in Review + Stefano Bellasio of Cloud Academy

After some fits and starts, I am now recording and producing the AWS Podcast on a regular basis. I am committed to releasing at least one new episode every week, with a stretch goal of two! Last week I spent some a couple of days at the in San Francisco! With my trusty Zoom H5 […]

AWS Cost Explorer Update – More Filtering and Grouping Dimensions

AWS Cost Explorer is a spend management tool that lets you analyze, visualize and allocate your AWS spend to internal teams or projects. Using Cost Explorer, you can visualize your daily or monthly spend in easy-to-read bar and line charts or simple downloadable data tables. You can also choose to see your spend only for […]

Amazon Hacked?

Here is an announcement from a newsletter I get: Very Important – I just learned a couple of days ago that Amazon was hacked and the hackers sold the passwords. So everyone go into your Amazon accounts immediately and change your password. Information from other sources indicates that this might not be accurate, … Continue reading Amazon Hacked? →

AWS Week in Review – February 16, 2015

Let’s take a quick look at what happened in AWS-land last week: Monday, February 16 We gave you the ability to Set Preferred Payment Currency for your AWS Account. We announced the Internet of Things (IoT) Hack Series at the AWS Loft. We added from ExcelSoft, GranBio, TATA Motors, Philips, and The Weather Company. A […]

AWS Certification for DevOps Engineers

One of our guiding principles at AWS is to listen closely to our customers and the feedback that I am getting about our training and certification program is very positive. Many architects and engineers know the Cloud is the future of development and IT and the are gearing up to be as succesful as possible in this new normal.

This is why I’m excited to announce the availability of a new Professional level certification from AWS that has been high on the list of our customers. With the growing adoption of cloud computing, we see more of our customers establishing DevOps practices within their IT organizations as a way to increase IT efficiency, improve agility, and in turn innovate faster for their own customers. With increasing demand for IT professionals with cloud computing expertise and DevOps skills in particular, we are excited to offer a certification to help further our customers’ skills in this area. Last November we announced a new AWS Certification for the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional to help IT professionals validate their skills in the DevOps area and enable employers to identify qualified candidates to lead DevOps initiatives. Today, I am pleased to announce that we have released this exam publicly, as well as awarded our first DevOps Engineer certifications to those who successfully completed the beta exam. Congratulations to everyone who has achieved their AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional certifications!

The AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional certification is the next step in the path for AWS Certified Developers and SysOps Administrators. It validates technical expertise in provisioning, operating, and managing distributed application systems on the AWS platform. The exam is intended to identify individuals who are capable of implementing and managing systems which are highly available, scalable, and self-healing on the AWS platform. You must already be certified as an AWS Certified Developer - Associate or AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate before you are eligible to take this exam. Find the Exam Guide, a practice exam, and other resources at aws.amazon.com/certification.

I’m looking forward to hearing about how this new certification has helped customers and partners!

New AWS Certification for DevOps Engineers

As more companies are adopting cloud computing, they are also establishing DevOps practices within their organizations as a way to provide stable, secure, and predictable IT environments and increase IT efficiency. When I talk to our customers they tell me that they are looking for IT professionals with cloud computing expertise, with a special focus […]

Seamlessly Join EC2 Instances to a Domain

Way back in 2008 I announced that you could run Microsoft Windows on Amazon EC2. Since that time, we have made many additions to the initial offering. You now have your choice of several different versions of Windows Server including 2003 R2, 2008, 2008 R2, 2012, and 2012 R2). You can build AWS-powered applications using […]

New Internet of Things (IoT) Hack Series at the AWS Loft – Sign up Now!

Are you familiar with the Internet of Things (IoT) concept? Compact, low-cost, Internet-connected devices are now embedded in cars, buildings, factories, appliances, and so forth. The devices collect light, weight, temperature, humidity, vibration, location, or pressure data and then forward it to another location for storage, processing, analysis, and action. New Challenges The low-cost nature […]

New – Set Preferred Payment Currency for your AWS Account

With customers in 190 countries, AWS is truly a global phenomenon. Today we are making the AWS bill payment process more powerful, by adding support for credit card payments in eleven additional currencies. This support comes in addition to our existing support for US Dollars (USD). This will relieve your accounting department of the burden […]

AWS Week in Review – February 9, 2015

Let’s take a quick look at what happened in AWS-land last week: Monday, February 9 We added from Financial Times, FreeCharge, Freshdesk, NuBank, and WebMotors. We launched Tagging for ElastiCache Clusters and Snapshots. AWS Evangelist Ian Massingham posted a new What is Cloud Computing Video. A post on the Stelligent Blog talked about Continuous Delivery […]

Back-to-Basics Weekend Reading - Exploring Complex Networks

After a year of absence I am bringing back the Back to Basic Weekend Reading Series. We'll continue to look at the fundamental works of Computer Science and Engineering, and other interesting technical works.

We will start this year with a topic that spans many sciences: that of complex networks. It is relevant to everything from biology, life sciences, social sciences to computer engineering. There is no one better suitable to teach us about the fundamentals of complex networks than Steven Strogatz, the well known author and applied mathematics professor from Cornell University. You can find much of Steven's work on his personal website. In 2001 he published a review paper on complex networks in Nature that is a must read if you want to learn about (or revisit) this topic:

Exploring Complex Networks Steven Strogatz in Nature 410, 268-276 (8 March 2001)

Amazon Giveaway

Amazon announced today a new giveaway program, which in their words, is “a new self-service tool designed to modernize the time-tested radio giveaway.” This is intended to facilitate anyone who wants to create “buzz” for a website, blog, or other Internet marketing effort, using physical items. Hmmm… interestingly, e-books and other digital items … Continue reading Amazon Giveaway →

AWS Config Update – New Regions, CloudTrail Support, ServiceNow

I first wrote about last fall as part of our burst of announcements that we made during in Las Vegas. At that time I discussed the dynamic nature of the AWS cloud and how organizations face new challenges with regard to asset tracking, inventory management, change management, and governance when they move their operations to […]

Simplify Your DynamoDB Queries Using Secondary Index Scans

Let’s say you are building a data-intensive application. It might be for gaming, mobile, Internet of Things (IoT) or simply a modern web application. You are customer-driven and you derive satisfaction from being able to rapidly respond to the ever-changing needs of your users. Their requirements are quickly evolving and the application needs to evolve […]

New – Tagging for ElastiCache Clusters & Snapshots

As you probably know, you can tag many types of AWS resources for tracking and billing purposes. You can use the Cost Explorer to attribute costs to resources and you can use Resource Groups to easily create and maintain collections of resources that share a common set of tags. Today we are giving you the […]

AWS Week in Review – February 1, 2015

Let’s take a quick look at what happened in AWS-land last week: Monday, February 2 We launched Auto Export for Amazon Mobile Analytics. A post on the presented a CIO Perspective on Security in the Cloud. A post on the Inside Unbounce Blog claimed that You’d be Insane not to Grow your Startup on AWS […]

Now Available – Version 2 of the AWS SDK for Ruby

The first stable release of version 2 of the is now available, complete with support for more than 40 AWS services. You can install the aws-sdk gem from RubyGems and get started with the new SDK right now. My colleagues have been writing detailed blog posts about the new features as part of the development […]

A Change in Direction — Amazopia Mailing List?

You might have noticed that I changed the WP theme and the banner at the top of the site a few weeks ago. Or, maybe not — lots of folks out there have developed what is know in the industry as “banner blindness.” Well, it’s about to change again. You might also be … Continue reading A Change in Direction — Amazopia Mailing List? →

AWS Week in Review – January 26, 2015

Let’s take a quick look at what happened in AWS-land last week: Monday, January 26 We added from ClicThat, Concrete Software, eFront, Flypay, Geo.me, Kenshoo, IATA, Tadiran Telecom, Toronto Star, Wix, and YIT. We added a Second Location in Korea for CloudFront and Route 53. A new article showed you how to Build a Mars […]