Kubernetes on AWS Course

Lesson 1 • Kubernetes Architecture Overview

Explains control plane and data plane components and their responsibilities. Provides the structural foundation for all cluster operations covered later.

Lesson 2 • AWS Core Services for Kubernetes

Introduces EC2, VPC, IAM, and S3 as they relate to running Kubernetes. Connects AWS primitives to cluster infrastructure decisions made in later chapters.

Lesson 3 • kubectl CLI Essentials

Hands-on use of kubectl to inspect, create, and delete resources. Builds the command-line fluency required for every lab in the course.

Lesson 4 • Container and Orchestration Concepts

Covers containers, images, and why orchestration is necessary at scale. Establishes the vocabulary used throughout the entire course.

Lesson 1 • Cluster Creation with Terraform

Provisions EKS using the official AWS Terraform modules for repeatable infrastructure. Introduces infrastructure-as-code patterns used in production environments.

Lesson 2 • Post-Cluster Configuration Essentials

Covers aws-auth ConfigMap, OIDC provider setup, and core add-on installation. Completes the cluster so workloads can be deployed securely in the next chapter.

Lesson 3 • Cluster Creation with eksctl

Uses eksctl to provision clusters declaratively via YAML config files. Demonstrates the fastest path to a working cluster for development and staging.

Lesson 4 • Networking Prerequisites for EKS

Designs the VPC topology required before cluster creation, including subnet tagging. Prevents the most common networking misconfigurations seen in EKS deployments.

Lesson 1 • DaemonSets and Job Controllers

Deploys node-level agents with DaemonSets and batch tasks with Jobs and CronJobs. Covers operational patterns for log collectors, monitors, and scheduled tasks.

Lesson 2 • Deployment Strategies and Rolling Updates

Configures rolling update parameters, readiness probes, and revision history. Ensures zero-downtime deployments for stateless applications on EKS.

Lesson 3 • StatefulSets and Persistent Workloads

Manages ordered pod identity and stable network names for databases and queues. Connects to EBS-backed persistent volumes introduced in the storage chapter.

Lesson 4 • Helm Chart Deployment on EKS

Installs and manages applications using Helm 3 charts and values overrides. Introduces the package management workflow used for most AWS add-ons.

Lesson 1 • VPC CNI Plugin Deep Dive

Explains how the AWS VPC CNI assigns native VPC IPs to pods. Covers ENI management, IP prefix delegation, and custom networking configurations.

Lesson 2 • Ingress and Path-Based Routing

Configures ALB-backed Ingress objects for host and path-based HTTP routing. Enables multi-service exposure through a single load balancer entry point.

Lesson 3 • AWS Load Balancer Controller

Installs and configures the AWS Load Balancer Controller to manage ALB and NLB resources. Replaces the legacy in-tree cloud provider for load balancer provisioning.

Lesson 4 • Network Policies and Traffic Control

Enforces pod-to-pod traffic rules using Kubernetes NetworkPolicy with a compatible CNI. Introduces micro-segmentation as a security baseline for EKS workloads.

Lesson 1 • S3 Integration Patterns

Connects workloads to S3 using Mountpoint for S3 CSI driver and SDK-based access. Covers object storage patterns for ML datasets, logs, and static assets.

Lesson 2 • Kubernetes Storage Primitives

Explains PersistentVolumes, PersistentVolumeClaims, and StorageClasses as the storage API. Establishes the abstraction layer that decouples workloads from underlying storage.

Lesson 3 • EFS CSI Driver and Shared Storage

Configures the EFS CSI driver for ReadWriteMany shared file storage across pods. Addresses use cases where multiple pods must read and write the same volume.

Lesson 4 • EBS CSI Driver Configuration

Installs the EBS CSI driver and creates gp3-backed StorageClasses for block storage. Enables dynamic EBS volume provisioning for StatefulSets and databases.

Lesson 1 • IAM Roles for Service Accounts

Configures IRSA to grant pods fine-grained AWS API permissions without node-level credentials. Eliminates the need for long-lived access keys in containerized workloads.

Lesson 2 • Network Security and Encryption

Secures inter-pod traffic with mTLS and encrypts API server communication. Addresses data-in-transit requirements for regulated workloads on EKS.

Lesson 3 • Pod Security and Admission Controls

Enforces pod security standards and custom policies using admission webhooks. Prevents privilege escalation and unsafe container configurations at deploy time.

Lesson 4 • EKS Authentication and Authorization

Explains how AWS IAM authenticates users and how RBAC authorizes Kubernetes actions. Connects IAM identities to Kubernetes roles through the access entry model.

Lesson 1 • Vertical Pod Autoscaler

Automatically right-sizes container resource requests based on historical usage data. Complements HPA by eliminating manual request tuning for long-running workloads.

Lesson 2 • Cost Visibility and Optimization Tactics

Analyzes EKS spend using Kubecost, AWS Cost Explorer, and resource tagging strategies. Applies Spot instances, Savings Plans, and bin-packing to reduce cluster costs.

Lesson 3 • Cluster Autoscaler on EKS

Adds and removes EC2 nodes in response to pending pods and underutilization. Configures node group scaling policies and expander strategies for multi-group clusters.

Lesson 4 • Karpenter Node Provisioning

Replaces Cluster Autoscaler with Karpenter for faster, more flexible node provisioning. Uses NodePool and EC2NodeClass to select optimal instance types dynamically.

Lesson 1 • Dashboards and Alerting with Grafana

Visualizes cluster health and workload performance using Grafana dashboards and alerts. Connects Prometheus data sources to actionable on-call notifications.

Lesson 2 • Cluster Upgrades and Day-2 Operations

Executes in-place EKS control plane and node group upgrades with minimal disruption. Covers backup, drain, and validation procedures for production upgrade runbooks.

Lesson 3 • Metrics Collection with Prometheus

Deploys Prometheus and kube-state-metrics to scrape cluster and workload metrics. Forms the metrics foundation for alerting and dashboards in this chapter.

Lesson 4 • Log Aggregation on EKS

Routes container and control plane logs to CloudWatch and OpenSearch using Fluent Bit. Enables log-based troubleshooting and compliance retention for EKS workloads.