Built by Patrick Wiloak at 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.
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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.
$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.
What's inside gitGood.dev
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 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
π₯ @patrickwiloak | πΌ LinkedIn
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| βοΈ 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 |
| π Data Zero to Hero | Data engineering, databases, streaming, analytics, Snowflake, Databricks, data certs | data.noblerworks.com | data-zero-to-hero |
| π Security Zero to Hero | Cloud and application security, IAM, compliance, CISSP, Security+, CCSP and more | security.noblerworks.com | security-zero-to-hero |
| π€ 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.
| Pillar | What it is | Start here | |
|---|---|---|---|
| π | Learn | Plain-English cloud concepts, a beginner on-ramp, a structured path. No exam scaffolding. | learn/ |
| π οΈ | Build | Hands-on projects, architecture patterns, CLI cheat sheets. Practitioner reference. | resources/hands-on-projects/ |
| π― | Certify | 81 cert study guides across 18 providers. Fact sheets, practice plans, scenarios, practice questions. | STUDY-HUB.md |
| π | 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).
| Goal | Go to |
|---|---|
| π Start from absolute zero (terminal, git, HTTP) | Day One |
| π‘ Look up a concept (VPC, DNS, containers, Kubernetes, Terraform) | Concepts |
| βοΈ Learn cloud without an exam | Cloud from Scratch |
| π οΈ Build something hands-on (3-tier app, CI/CD, K8s cluster) | Hands-on projects (with time estimates) |
| πΊ Learn from videos | Curated YouTube playlist |
| π Compare AWS vs Azure vs GCP for a service | Service comparisons |
| π― Pick the right certification | Study Hub decision tree |
| π Follow a career path | Roadmaps |
| π Browse every cert guide | STUDY-HUB.md |
| π€ Learn AI, π data or π security | AI Β· Data Β· Security Zero to Hero |
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.
A complete cloud learning resource. Whether you're starting fresh, building production systems, or chasing certifications:
- β Day One on-ramp - terminal, git, HTTP, servers
- β 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
- β Cloud from Scratch - a structured 8-phase path
- β 81 certification study guides across 16 providers, 6,000+ embedded vendor doc links
- β 7 cross-pillar topic indexes - Kubernetes, networking, serverless, observability, SRE, platform engineering, FinOps (find everything by topic, not provider)
- β 7 cross-cloud service comparisons - compute, storage, networking, containers, DevOps/CI/CD, observability, serverless
- β 9 CLI cheat sheets (AWS, Azure, GCP, kubectl, Terraform, Docker, Helm, GitHub CLI, multi-cloud)
- β 12 architecture patterns with multi-cloud implementations
- β 9 hands-on projects - 3-tier app, CI/CD, monitoring, Kubernetes, Terraform, serverless, DR drill, landing zone, GitOps with Argo CD
- β 7 certification roadmaps by career path
- β 6 interview prep guides
- β Migration, cost optimization, well-architected, networking and troubleshooting deep-dives
- β Freshness ledger - per-cert last-verified dates
- β Free tier guides to minimize study costs
Full per-provider breakdown lives in STUDY-HUB.md. Quick links:
| Provider | Certs | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| βοΈ 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 |
| βοΈ Azure | 10 | AZ-900/104/204/305/400/700, MS-900, PL-100/200/900 |
| βοΈ GCP | 7 | Digital Leader, Associate Cloud Engineer, Cloud Architect, Cloud Developer, DevOps, Network Engineer, Workspace Admin |
| βΈοΈ 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) |
| π§ HashiCorp | 5 | Terraform Assoc + Pro, Consul, Packer, Nomad |
| π GitHub | 3 | Foundations, Actions, Administration |
| π© Red Hat | 2 | RHCSA (EX200), OpenShift Administrator (EX280) |
| π Cisco | 2 | CCNA (200-301), CCNP Enterprise ENCOR (350-401) |
| βοΈ Salesforce | 3 | Administrator, Platform Developer I, Platform Developer II |
| π° FinOps Foundation | 4 | Practitioner, Engineer, Analyst, Professional |
| π CompTIA | 4 | A+ (220-1201/1202), Cloud+ (CV0-004), Network+ (N10-009) |
| π§ Linux Foundation | 2 | LFCS, LFCA |
| βοΈ Oracle Cloud (OCI) | 5 | OCI Foundations, Architect Assoc + Pro, Developer Assoc, Operations Assoc |
| βοΈ IBM Cloud | 4 | Advocate, Developer, Solution Architect, SRE |
| π§° ServiceNow | 1 | Certified System Administrator |
| π₯οΈ VMware | 1 | VCP-DCV (2V0-21.23) |
| π Splunk | 1 | Core Certified User |
| πΆ 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.
Career-focused learning paths:
- βοΈ Cloud Engineer | ποΈ Solutions Architect | βοΈ DevOps/SRE | π Multi-Cloud
- βΈοΈ Kubernetes Specialist | π οΈ Platform Engineer | π° FinOps
- On the sibling sites: π Data Engineer | ποΈ Database Specialist | π Security Engineer | π€ AI Engineer
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
AWS | Azure | GCP | Multi-cloud | kubectl | Terraform | Docker | Helm | GitHub CLI
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
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
- Migration: On-Prem to AWS | to Azure | to GCP | Cloud-to-Cloud | Database (Data site)
- Well-Architected: AWS | Azure | GCP
- Cost Optimization: AWS | Azure | GCP | Kubernetes | FinOps Principles
- Troubleshooting: AWS | Azure | GCP | Kubernetes | CI/CD | Terraform state and drift
- Networking: Hybrid Connectivity | Multi-Cloud | DNS Deep Dive | Load Balancing
- Compliance (SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI DSS, GDPR, FedRAMP) lives on the Security site.
Solutions Architect | DevOps | Cloud Engineer | SRE | Platform Engineer | Kubernetes and Cloud-Native
AWS S3 us-east-1, 2017 | Cloudflare regex, 2019 | GCP networking, 2019 | CrowdStrike content update, 2024 | AWS DynamoDB DNS, 2025
- π Practice Question Banks - scenario questions with explained answers, one bank per certification
- π― Practice Resources Guide
- π° Free Tier Guides
- π Study Tips & Strategies
- β Exam Day Checklist
- π Freshness Ledger - per-page last-verified dates
- Start with a Fundamentals cert: AWS Cloud Practitioner | Azure AZ-900 | GCP Cloud Digital Leader | Oracle OCI Foundations
- Follow Study Strategies
- Use Free Tier for hands-on practice
- Pick an Associate cert: AWS SAA / DVA / SOA | Azure AZ-104 | GCP Associate Cloud Engineer
- Study 2-3 hours daily for 2-3 months
- Work through the practice question bank for your cert until you score well on scenarios you have not seen
- Choose Professional or Expert: AWS SAP / DOP | Azure AZ-305 / AZ-400 | GCP Cloud Architect / DevOps Engineer
- Focus on complex scenarios and design patterns
- Build production-grade projects
- Documentation-rich - 6,000+ embedded vendor doc links, format
**[π Title](URL)** - description - Multi-cloud - AWS, Azure, GCP, OCI and IBM side by side, with cross-cloud comparisons and CLI cheat sheets
- Comprehensive + structured - consistent format across every cert (README β fact-sheet β notes β practice-plan β scenarios β strategy)
- Practical + hands-on - guided builds with inline code, free-tier guides
- Exam-focused - exam tips, common scenarios, time management strategies
| 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 |
- 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
- 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
cloud-zero-to-hero/
βββ README.md (you are here)
βββ STUDY-HUB.md (full per-provider navigation)
βββ CHANGELOG.md
βββ learn/ # plain-English learning content
β βββ concepts/ # 37 bite-size concept pages
β βββ day-one/ # absolute-beginner on-ramp
β βββ cloud-from-scratch.md
β βββ glossary.md
βββ exams/ # 81 certs across 18 providers
βββ resources/ # comparisons, cheat sheets, roadmaps, guides, projects
βββ topics/ # cross-pillar topic indexes
βββ assets/diagrams/ # PNG diagrams, for the few too dense for inline Mermaid
βββ docs/
βββ ARCHITECTURE.md
βββ certs.json # generated cert index, source of truth for counts
βββ freshness.md # per-cert last-verified dates
βββ improvement-roadmap.md
βββ tag-taxonomy.md # controlled vocabulary for the optional tags: field
- π Study Hub - main navigation
- ποΈ Topic indexes - browse by subject across pillars
- π What's new
- π Freshness ledger
- π§ͺ Labs by certification - which hands-on build backs which exam
- π οΈ Improvement roadmap - known gaps and what is being done about them
- π Practice-question key review - 2026-10-14 record of the AI-verified answer-key review: keys fixed, wording tightened, what is still open
- π 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.
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.
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.
If these materials helped you pass a certification or advance your career, please star this repository β to help others discover these resources.
Get Started with the Study Hub β Β· Browse Topics β Β· Day One β
Good luck on your learning and certification journey! π
Created and maintained by Patrick Wiloak
18x Multi Cloud Certified | 63 Certifications & Accreditations | Prev @ AWS | 13x AWS Certified | 3x GCP | 2x Azure
π₯ YouTube: @patrickwiloak - Cloud certification tips and tutorials πΌ LinkedIn: Patrick Luke Wilson - Let's connect π Portfolio: patrickwiloak.com
If this repository helped you, please β star it and share with others.
gitGood.dev - train for the tech role, not just the interview Β· Semantix.chat - talk your way to fluency with an AI language tutor Β· Achilles.fit - adaptive training plans with an AI coach
Free, open-source projects from the Nobler Works team. If one helps you, a β helps the next person find it.
| Project | What it is | |
|---|---|---|
| π°οΈ IRONSIGHT | Real-time OSINT command center - 50+ live intel feeds, no API keys | Website β |
| π War Games | NATO, Russia, and China on one map, each commanded by an LLM | Website β |
| βοΈ Minecraft Agentic Builder | A crew of AI agents builds Minecraft worlds live in your browser | Repo β |
| π§ Bedrock RAG with S3 Vectors | Deploy document Q&A on AWS Bedrock in under 10 minutes (CDK or Terraform) | Repo β |
| π Proper Training for Distance Running | Evidence-based running guide with twelve 5K-to-marathon plans | Read online β |
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