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Cloud from zero to hero: AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, DevOps. 81 certs across 18 providers, 37 plain-English concepts, 9 hands-on builds, cross-cloud service comparisons.

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Nobler Works

We build custom software and products at Nobler Works. Open source projects and training like this one are our way of giving back - we're nothing without the community that supports us.
If you need custom software built, get in touch.

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gitGood.dev - practice questions, coding challenges, system design and cloud certification practice exams for engineers, data, security, DevOps and product technologists

πŸš€ Like what you see? We built a whole platform for this.

gitGood.dev is our flagship tech training platform - train for the role, not just the interview.

Built for every kind of technologist, across 21 role-targeted learning paths. This repo gives you the material. gitGood gives you the reps, and tells you whether you actually know it.

Start a 7-day free trial

$8/month or $64/year after the trial. Free tier needs no card: 20 practice questions, the free coding challenges, streaks, achievements, and the job board.

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Roles - backend, frontend, full-stack and mobile development, SRE and DevOps, platform engineering, cloud and solutions architecture, security engineering, machine learning and AI engineering, data science, data analytics, data engineering, QA and SDET, engineering management, product management, TPM, and new grads breaking into tech.

Cloud certification practice exams - 13 banks and 608 original scenario-style questions (never brain dumps), with per-domain scoring and a timed exam simulator: AWS Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02, Solutions Architect Associate SAA-C03 and Developer Associate DVA-C02; Azure AZ-900, AZ-104, AZ-305 and AI-900; Google Cloud Digital Leader and Associate Cloud Engineer; Kubernetes CKA and CKAD; CompTIA Security+; HashiCorp Terraform Associate.

Everything else - 1,950+ practice questions across 34 categories Β· coding challenges with real sandboxed execution in JavaScript, Python and TypeScript Β· a 45-problem SQL playground Β· 32 system design walkthroughs including LLM inference and RAG Β· behavioral and STAR interview prep Β· curated interview packs for 39 companies Β· AI mock interviews Β· AI resume reviews Β· salary negotiation coaching Β· a live tech job-market pulse and job board.


☁️ Cloud Zero to Hero

Cloud from absolute zero to hired: AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI and IBM Cloud, Kubernetes, Linux, networking, Terraform, DevOps, platform engineering, SRE and FinOps. Concepts in plain English, hands-on builds, deep references, and a full cloud certification library.

Whether you've never opened a terminal or you're chasing your fifth cloud cert, start here.

Patrick: Ex-AWS Solutions Architect | 10 Years in Tech | 63 Certifications & Accreditations | 18x Multi Cloud Certified

πŸŽ₯ @patrickwiloak | πŸ’Ό LinkedIn

Certifications Documentation Links Providers Free to Use

Visit the website

β†’ cloud.noblerworks.com

Full-text search across all 2.1M words, dark mode, mobile-friendly.


🧭 Zero to Hero family

This is one of four free, open-source sites. Each one covers its own subject in depth and links to the others where the subjects meet.

Site Covers Website Repo
☁️ Cloud Zero to Hero (you are here) AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI, Kubernetes, Linux, networking, Terraform, DevOps, SRE, FinOps cloud.noblerworks.com cloud-zero-to-hero
πŸ“Š Data Zero to Hero Data engineering, databases, streaming, analytics, Snowflake, Databricks, data certs data.noblerworks.com data-zero-to-hero
πŸ”’ Security Zero to Hero Cloud and application security, IAM, compliance, CISSP, Security+, CCSP and more security.noblerworks.com security-zero-to-hero
πŸ€– AI Zero to Hero LLMs, RAG, agents, evals, AI at work, AI certs, landmark papers in plain language ai.noblerworks.com ai-zero-to-hero

All four are free, by Nobler Works.


πŸ›οΈ The Four Pillars

Pillar What it is Start here
πŸŽ“ Learn Plain-English cloud concepts, a beginner on-ramp, a structured path. No exam scaffolding. learn/
πŸ› οΈ Build Hands-on projects, architecture patterns, CLI cheat sheets. Practitioner reference. resources/hands-on-projects/
🎯 Certify 81 cert study guides across 18 providers. Fact sheets, practice plans, scenarios, practice questions. STUDY-HUB.md
πŸ“š Reference Cross-cloud service comparisons, career roadmaps, migration, cost and troubleshooting guides. resources/

Cross-pillar topic index ties Learn + Build + Reference + Certify together by subject (Kubernetes, networking, serverless, observability, SRE, platform engineering, FinOps).


🎯 I'm here to...

Goal Go to
πŸŒ… Start from absolute zero (terminal, git, HTTP) Day One
πŸ’‘ Look up a concept (VPC, DNS, containers, Kubernetes, Terraform) Concepts
☁️ Learn cloud without an exam Cloud from Scratch
πŸ› οΈ Build something hands-on (3-tier app, CI/CD, K8s cluster) Hands-on projects (with time estimates)
πŸ“Ί Learn from videos Curated YouTube playlist
πŸ” Compare AWS vs Azure vs GCP for a service Service comparisons
🎯 Pick the right certification Study Hub decision tree
πŸš€ Follow a career path Roadmaps
πŸ“š Browse every cert guide STUDY-HUB.md
πŸ€– Learn AI, πŸ“Š data or πŸ”’ security AI Β· Data Β· Security Zero to Hero

πŸ“° What's new

See the CHANGELOG for the rolling history. Recent batches:

  • 2026-10-21 - Fourteen new concept pages (object/block/file storage, high availability, DR with RPO and RTO, API gateways, queues and pub/sub, landing zones, IaC, GitOps, service mesh, platform engineering, cloud identity for builders, Well-Architected, managed databases, edge computing), three new Day One pages (environment variables, Linux processes and systemd, your first Docker container) and two hands-on builds: a landing zone and GitOps with Argo CD.
  • 2026-10-21 - This repo is now Cloud Zero to Hero. The old all-in-one repo was split by subject into four sibling sites: cloud stays here, and the data, security and AI material moved to Data, Security and AI Zero to Hero. Links between them are absolute, so nothing you bookmarked on a subject page is lost.
  • 2026-09-28 - New CompTIA A+ (220-1201 and 220-1202) guide: nine notes across both Core exams, a fact sheet, study plan, scenarios, strategy and 20 practice questions. On the site, every page now has its own search description and a title led by its exam code, and deploys notify search engines through IndexNow.
  • 2026-09-18 - Every dead vendor link repaired: each replacement fetched and matched to the page the citation meant. The sweep now also catches soft 404s and deep links that silently redirect to a homepage. The record of every old-to-new replacement is docs/link-rot-2026-09-17.md.
  • 2026-08-14 - The whole repo is now a searchable website: cloud.noblerworks.com, with its own landing page, full-text search, dark mode and mobile nav, generated from these same markdown files. Every counted claim in the README is checked in CI.

🎯 What's Inside This Repository?

A complete cloud learning resource. Whether you're starting fresh, building production systems, or chasing certifications:

  • βœ… Day One on-ramp - terminal, git, HTTP, servers
  • βœ… 37 concept pages - cloud computing, regions, VPCs, DNS, CDNs, load balancing, containers, Kubernetes, serverless, Terraform, CI/CD, observability, cost, storage types, high availability, disaster recovery, API gateways, landing zones, IaC, GitOps, service mesh, platform engineering, edge
  • βœ… Cloud from Scratch - a structured 8-phase path
  • βœ… 81 certification study guides across 16 providers, 6,000+ embedded vendor doc links
  • βœ… 7 cross-pillar topic indexes - Kubernetes, networking, serverless, observability, SRE, platform engineering, FinOps (find everything by topic, not provider)
  • βœ… 7 cross-cloud service comparisons - compute, storage, networking, containers, DevOps/CI/CD, observability, serverless
  • βœ… 9 CLI cheat sheets (AWS, Azure, GCP, kubectl, Terraform, Docker, Helm, GitHub CLI, multi-cloud)
  • βœ… 12 architecture patterns with multi-cloud implementations
  • βœ… 9 hands-on projects - 3-tier app, CI/CD, monitoring, Kubernetes, Terraform, serverless, DR drill, landing zone, GitOps with Argo CD
  • βœ… 7 certification roadmaps by career path
  • βœ… 6 interview prep guides
  • βœ… Migration, cost optimization, well-architected, networking and troubleshooting deep-dives
  • βœ… Freshness ledger - per-cert last-verified dates
  • βœ… Free tier guides to minimize study costs

πŸ“š Browse Certifications

Full per-provider breakdown lives in STUDY-HUB.md. Quick links:

Provider Certs Highlights
☁️ AWS 12 CLF-C02, SAA-C03, SOA-C03, DVA-C02, SAP-C02, DOP-C02, Advanced Networking (ANS-C01), SAP on AWS (PAS-C01), Quantum (QPC-C01); retired SOA-C02 retained
☁️ Azure 10 AZ-900/104/204/305/400/700, MS-900, PL-100/200/900
☁️ GCP 7 Digital Leader, Associate Cloud Engineer, Cloud Architect, Cloud Developer, DevOps, Network Engineer, Workspace Admin
☸️ Kubernetes/CNCF 14 KCNA, CKA, CKAD, CKNE, plus Argo (CAPA), Backstage (CBA), Cilium (CCA), GitOps (CGOA), Istio (ICA), Kyverno (KCA), OpenTelemetry (OTCA), Prometheus (PCA), Platform Engineering (CNPA), Platform Engineer (CNPE)
πŸ”§ HashiCorp 5 Terraform Assoc + Pro, Consul, Packer, Nomad
πŸ™ GitHub 3 Foundations, Actions, Administration
🎩 Red Hat 2 RHCSA (EX200), OpenShift Administrator (EX280)
🌐 Cisco 2 CCNA (200-301), CCNP Enterprise ENCOR (350-401)
☁️ Salesforce 3 Administrator, Platform Developer I, Platform Developer II
πŸ’° FinOps Foundation 4 Practitioner, Engineer, Analyst, Professional
πŸ”’ CompTIA 4 A+ (220-1201/1202), Cloud+ (CV0-004), Network+ (N10-009)
🐧 Linux Foundation 2 LFCS, LFCA
☁️ Oracle Cloud (OCI) 5 OCI Foundations, Architect Assoc + Pro, Developer Assoc, Operations Assoc
☁️ IBM Cloud 4 Advocate, Developer, Solution Architect, SRE
🧰 ServiceNow 1 Certified System Administrator
πŸ–₯️ VMware 1 VCP-DCV (2V0-21.23)
πŸ”Ž Splunk 1 Core Certified User
🐢 Datadog 1 Fundamentals
Total 81 across 18 providers

Highlights are a sample, not the full list - the Certs column is the total. Open a provider for everything it covers.

β†’ Full per-provider breakdown in STUDY-HUB.md

Looking for data, security or AI certifications (Snowflake, Databricks, CISSP, Security+, AWS AI Practitioner, Anthropic Claude and more)? They live on the Data, Security and AI sites.


πŸ—ΊοΈ Certification Roadmaps

Career-focused learning paths:


πŸ“š Study Resources

Service Comparisons (cross-cloud)

Compute Β· Storage Β· Networking Β· Containers/K8s Β· DevOps/CI/CD Β· Observability Β· Serverless

On the sibling sites: Databases Β· Messaging Β· Security tools Β· Identity/IAM Β· Cloud AI/ML services

CLI Quick References

AWS | Azure | GCP | Multi-cloud | kubectl | Terraform | Docker | Helm | GitHub CLI

Architecture Patterns

3-Tier Web App Β· Serverless API Β· Microservices Β· Event-Driven Β· Disaster Recovery Β· Multi-Region Active-Active Β· CQRS/Event Sourcing Β· API Gateway Β· Strangler Fig Β· Cell-Based Β· Chaos Engineering Β· Hybrid Cloud

On the sibling sites: Data Pipeline/ETL Β· Data Mesh Β· Lakehouse Β· Zero Trust Β· AI/ML Pipeline

Hands-on Projects

3-Tier App Β· CI/CD Pipeline Β· Monitoring Stack Β· K8s Cluster Β· Terraform Infra Β· Serverless App Β· DR Drill Β· Landing Zone Β· GitOps with Argo CD

On the sibling sites: Data Pipeline Β· Zero Trust Β· RAG pipeline Β· Claude agent with MCP

Deep Dive Guides

Interview Prep

Solutions Architect | DevOps | Cloud Engineer | SRE | Platform Engineer | Kubernetes and Cloud-Native

Decision Matrices - score-driven product picks

IaC tool

Postmortem Study Guides - real public outages, mapped to exam domains

AWS S3 us-east-1, 2017 | Cloudflare regex, 2019 | GCP networking, 2019 | CrowdStrike content update, 2024 | AWS DynamoDB DNS, 2025

Persona Playlists - curated reading sequences

SRE in 1 hour

Practice & Strategy


πŸŽ“ Study Paths by Experience Level

Beginner (0-6 months cloud experience)

  1. Start with a Fundamentals cert: AWS Cloud Practitioner | Azure AZ-900 | GCP Cloud Digital Leader | Oracle OCI Foundations
  2. Follow Study Strategies
  3. Use Free Tier for hands-on practice

Intermediate (6-18 months experience)

  1. Pick an Associate cert: AWS SAA / DVA / SOA | Azure AZ-104 | GCP Associate Cloud Engineer
  2. Study 2-3 hours daily for 2-3 months
  3. Work through the practice question bank for your cert until you score well on scenarios you have not seen

Advanced (18+ months experience)

  1. Choose Professional or Expert: AWS SAP / DOP | Azure AZ-305 / AZ-400 | GCP Cloud Architect / DevOps Engineer
  2. Focus on complex scenarios and design patterns
  3. Build production-grade projects

πŸ“ˆ What Makes These Materials Special?

  1. Documentation-rich - 6,000+ embedded vendor doc links, format **[πŸ“– Title](URL)** - description
  2. Multi-cloud - AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI and IBM side by side, with cross-cloud comparisons and CLI cheat sheets
  3. Comprehensive + structured - consistent format across every cert (README β†’ fact-sheet β†’ notes β†’ practice-plan β†’ scenarios β†’ strategy)
  4. Practical + hands-on - guided builds with inline code, free-tier guides
  5. Exam-focused - exam tips, common scenarios, time management strategies

πŸ’° Cost-Effective Study Strategy

Item Typical Cost
All study materials in this repo Free
Official documentation Free
Free tier sandbox accounts Free
Video course (optional) $15-50
Third-party practice tests (optional) $15-30
Exam fee (per cert) $100-700

β†’ Detailed budget guide


🀝 Community

  • Reddit: r/AWSCertifications, r/AZURE, r/googlecloud, r/kubernetes, r/devops, r/sre
  • Discord: Cloud certification study servers (community-resources.md)
  • LinkedIn: Search for "[Cert name] Study Group"
  • GitHub: Star this repo and watch for updates

πŸ“Š Repository Statistics

  • Certifications: 81
  • Documentation links: 6,000+
  • Providers: 18
  • Concept pages: 37
  • Service comparisons: 7
  • CLI cheat sheets: 9
  • Architecture patterns: 12
  • Hands-on projects: 9
  • Topic indexes: 7 (cross-pillar)
  • Career roadmaps: 7
  • Interview prep guides: 6
  • Migration guides: 4

πŸ—‚οΈ Repository Structure

cloud-zero-to-hero/
β”œβ”€β”€ README.md (you are here)
β”œβ”€β”€ STUDY-HUB.md (full per-provider navigation)
β”œβ”€β”€ CHANGELOG.md
β”œβ”€β”€ learn/                # plain-English learning content
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ concepts/         # 37 bite-size concept pages
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ day-one/          # absolute-beginner on-ramp
β”‚   β”œβ”€β”€ cloud-from-scratch.md
β”‚   └── glossary.md
β”œβ”€β”€ exams/                # 81 certs across 18 providers
β”œβ”€β”€ resources/            # comparisons, cheat sheets, roadmaps, guides, projects
β”œβ”€β”€ topics/               # cross-pillar topic indexes
β”œβ”€β”€ assets/diagrams/      # PNG diagrams, for the few too dense for inline Mermaid
└── docs/
    β”œβ”€β”€ ARCHITECTURE.md
    β”œβ”€β”€ certs.json        # generated cert index, source of truth for counts
    β”œβ”€β”€ freshness.md      # per-cert last-verified dates
    β”œβ”€β”€ improvement-roadmap.md
    └── tag-taxonomy.md   # controlled vocabulary for the optional tags: field

🎯 Quick Links


πŸ“ Contributing

Found a typo? Have a suggestion? Want to add content? See CONTRIBUTING.md for submission rules, doc-link format, frontmatter convention, and the local validation scripts.


βš–οΈ Usage & Disclaimer

Free to use for educational purposes with attribution. All technical information is sourced from and linked to official cloud provider documentation (12,000+ embedded links throughout).

Disclaimer: This repository is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by AWS, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, IBM, the Linux Foundation, HashiCorp, or any other vendor referenced. All trademarks and cloud technologies are the property of their respective owners.


πŸ“„ License

Written content: CC BY 4.0. The guides, explanations, exam material and documentation are free to share and adapt, including commercially, as long as you credit this repository and link the license.

Code samples: MIT. The fenced code blocks throughout the content and the scripts under .github/scripts/ are MIT, so you can paste a snippet into your own project without carrying an attribution obligation for ten lines of Terraform.


🌟 Star This Repo!

If these materials helped you pass a certification or advance your career, please star this repository ⭐ to help others discover these resources.


πŸš€ Ready to Start?

Get Started with the Study Hub β†’ Β· Browse Topics β†’ Β· Day One β†’


Good luck on your learning and certification journey! πŸŽ‰


πŸ‘¨β€πŸ’» About the Author

Created and maintained by Patrick Wiloak

18x Multi Cloud Certified | 63 Certifications & Accreditations | Prev @ AWS | 13x AWS Certified | 3x GCP | 2x Azure

πŸŽ₯ YouTube: @patrickwiloak - Cloud certification tips and tutorials πŸ’Ό LinkedIn: Patrick Luke Wilson - Let's connect 🌐 Portfolio: patrickwiloak.com

If this repository helped you, please ⭐ star it and share with others.


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Cloud from zero to hero: AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, DevOps. 81 certs across 18 providers, 37 plain-English concepts, 9 hands-on builds, cross-cloud service comparisons.

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