Built by Patrick Wiloak at Nobler Works
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The full modern stack: cloud, data, AI, and security. Concepts in plain English, hands-on builds, deep references, and the most comprehensive certification library on GitHub.
Whether you've never opened a terminal or you're chasing your fifth cert, start here.
Patrick: Ex-AWS Solutions Architect | 10 Years in Tech | 46 Certifications
🎥 @patrickwiloak | 💼 LinkedIn
| Pillar | What it is | Start here | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🎓 | Learn | Plain-English concepts, beginner on-ramp, structured paths. No exam scaffolding. | learn/ |
| 🛠️ | Build | Hands-on projects, architecture patterns, CLI cheat sheets. Practitioner reference. | resources/hands-on-projects/ |
| 🎯 | Certify | 122+ cert study guides across 22 providers. Fact sheets, practice plans, scenarios. | STUDY-HUB.md |
| 📚 | Reference | Cross-cloud service comparisons, career roadmaps, compliance and FinOps guides. | resources/ |
Cross-pillar topic index ties Learn + Build + Reference + Certify together by subject (LLMs, IAM, networking, K8s, observability, security, databases).
| Goal | Go to |
|---|---|
| 🌅 Start from absolute zero (terminal, git, HTTP) | Day One |
| 💡 Look up a concept (RAG, MCP, agents, VPC, K8s) | Concepts |
| 🤖 Learn AI without an exam | AI from Scratch |
| ☁️ Learn cloud without an exam | Cloud from Scratch |
| 🛠️ Build something hands-on (RAG, agents, 3-tier app) | 15 hands-on projects (with time estimates) |
| 📺 Learn from videos | Curated YouTube playlist |
| 🔍 Compare AWS vs Azure vs GCP for a service | Service comparisons |
| 🎯 Pick the right certification | Study Hub decision tree |
| 🚀 Follow a career path | Roadmaps |
| 📚 Browse all 122+ cert guides | STUDY-HUB.md |
See the CHANGELOG for the rolling history. Recent batches:
- 2026-05-03 - Cloud + AI scope expansion:
learn/pillar, AI concept pages,topics/cross-pillar index, AI service comparisons (vector DBs, GenAI platforms, agent frameworks, LLM observability), AI hands-on builds (RAG, MCP agents, vLLM, evals, LoRA), CI link/lint/structure checks, freshness ledger. - 2026-04-27 - Provider expansion: AWS DEA-C01, Red Hat (RHCSA, OpenShift), Cisco CCNA, Azure DP-700/AZ-700/MS-900, Salesforce Admin/PD1.
A complete cloud + AI learning resource. Whether you're starting fresh, building production systems, or chasing certifications:
- ✅ Day One on-ramp - terminal, git, HTTP, servers
- ✅ 37 concept pages - LLMs, RAG, MCP, agents, tool use, multimodal, quantization, VPCs, K8s, IAM, observability, idempotency
- ✅ Cloud from Scratch + AI from Scratch - structured 8-phase paths
- ✅ 122+ certification study guides across 22 providers, 12,000+ embedded vendor doc links
- ✅ 8 cross-pillar topic indexes - LLMs, IAM, networking, K8s, observability, security, databases (find everything by topic, not provider)
- ✅ 16 cross-cloud service comparisons (12 cloud + 4 AI: vector DBs, GenAI platforms, agent frameworks, LLM observability)
- ✅ 9 CLI cheat sheets (AWS, Azure, GCP, kubectl, Terraform, Docker, Helm, GitHub CLI, multi-cloud)
- ✅ 17 architecture patterns with multi-cloud implementations
- ✅ 15 hands-on projects (10 cloud + 5 AI: RAG, MCP agents, vLLM, eval harness, LoRA fine-tune)
- ✅ 11 certification roadmaps by career path
- ✅ 6 interview prep guides
- ✅ Compliance, migration, cost optimization, troubleshooting deep-dives
- ✅ Freshness ledger - per-cert last-verified dates
- ✅ Free tier guides to minimize study costs
Full per-provider breakdown lives in STUDY-HUB.md. Quick links:
| Provider | Count | Browse |
|---|---|---|
| ☁️ AWS | 17 | Foundational, Associate, Professional, Specialty, GenAI |
| ☁️ Azure | 23 | Fundamentals, Associate, Expert, Specialty, SecOps |
| ☁️ Google Cloud | 12 | Associate, Professional, GenAI |
| ☸️ Kubernetes/CNCF | 7 | KCNA, KCSA, CKA, CKAD, CKS, PCA, ICA |
| 🟢 NVIDIA | 10 | Associate + Professional (GenAI, AI Infra, Agentic, Multimodal) |
| 🔧 HashiCorp | 7 | Terraform, Vault, Consul, Packer, Boundary, Nomad |
| 🧱 Databricks | 6 | Data Engineer, ML, GenAI, Admin |
| ❄️ Snowflake | 4 | SnowPro Core + 3 Advanced |
| 🐙 GitHub | 5 | Foundations, Actions, Admin, Adv Security, Copilot |
| 🎩 Red Hat | 2 | RHCSA, OpenShift Administrator |
| 🌐 Cisco | 1 | CCNA 200-301 |
| ☁️ Salesforce | 2 | Administrator, Platform Developer I |
| 📊 Confluent/Kafka | 2 | Developer, Administrator |
| 🍃 MongoDB | 3 | Developer, DBA, Atlas Admin |
| 💰 FinOps | 4 | Practitioner, Engineer, Analyst, Professional |
| 🔒 CompTIA | 2 | Cloud+, Security+ |
| 🛡️ ISC2 | 2 | CISSP, CCSP |
| ☁️ Cloud Security Alliance | 1 | CCSK v5 |
| 🐧 Linux Foundation | 2 | LFCS, LFCA |
| ☁️ Oracle Cloud | 5 | Foundations, Architect, Developer, Operations |
| ☁️ IBM Cloud | 5 | Advocate, Developer, Architect, Security, SRE |
| 🤖 Anthropic Claude | 4 | Self-directed study tracks |
→ Full per-provider breakdown in STUDY-HUB.md
Career-focused learning paths:
- ☁️ Cloud Engineer | 🏗️ Solutions Architect | ⚙️ DevOps/SRE
- 📊 Data Engineer | 🔒 Security Engineer | 🌐 Multi-Cloud
- ☸️ Kubernetes Specialist | 🛠️ Platform Engineer | 🤖 AI/ML Engineer
- 💰 FinOps | 🗄️ Database Specialist
Cloud: Compute · Storage · Databases · Networking · AI/ML · Containers/K8s · Security · DevOps/CI/CD · Observability · Serverless · Identity/IAM · Messaging
AI: Vector databases · GenAI platforms · Agent frameworks · LLM observability
AWS | Azure | GCP | Multi-cloud | kubectl | Terraform | Docker | Helm | GitHub CLI
17 multi-cloud patterns: 3-Tier Web App · Serverless API · Microservices · Event-Driven · Data Pipeline/ETL · Disaster Recovery · Zero Trust · Data Mesh · Lakehouse · AI/ML Pipeline · Multi-Region Active-Active · CQRS/Event Sourcing · API Gateway · Strangler Fig · Cell-Based · Chaos Engineering · Hybrid Cloud
Cloud: 3-Tier App · CI/CD Pipeline · Monitoring Stack · Zero Trust · Data Pipeline · Deploy ML Model · K8s Cluster · Terraform Infra · Serverless App · DR Drill
AI: RAG pipeline · Claude agent with MCP · Run Llama on single GPU · Eval harness · LoRA fine-tune
- Compliance: SOC 2 | HIPAA | PCI DSS | GDPR | FedRAMP
- Migration: On-Prem to AWS | to Azure | to GCP | Cloud-to-Cloud | Database
- Well-Architected: AWS | Azure | GCP
- Cost Optimization: AWS | Azure | GCP | FinOps Principles
- Troubleshooting: AWS | Azure | GCP | Kubernetes
- Networking: Hybrid Connectivity | Multi-Cloud | DNS Deep Dive | Load Balancing
Solutions Architect | DevOps | Cloud Engineer | Data Engineer | Security Engineer | SRE
Vector database | IaC tool | LLM serving
AWS S3 us-east-1, 2017 | Cloudflare regex, 2019 | GCP networking, 2019
AI engineer in 30 min | Cloud security in 1 hour | Data engineer in 1 hour | SRE in 1 hour
- 🎯 Practice Resources Guide
- 💰 Free Tier Guides
- 📝 Study Tips & Strategies
- ✅ Exam Day Checklist
- 📅 Freshness Ledger - per-page last-verified dates
- 📖 Complete Study Guide (Blog)
- 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 / AZ-204 | GCP Associate Cloud Engineer
- Study 2-3 hours daily for 2-3 months
- Complete 1000+ practice questions
- Choose Professional or Expert: AWS SAP / DOP | Azure AZ-305 / AZ-400 | GCP PCA / Data Engineer
- Focus on complex scenarios and design patterns
- Build production-grade projects
- Documentation-rich - 12,000+ embedded vendor doc links, format
**[📖 Title](URL)** - description - Multi-cloud + AI-native - 22 providers, cross-cloud comparisons, AI-side comparisons (vector DBs, GenAI platforms)
- Comprehensive + structured - consistent format across all 122+ certs (README → fact-sheet → notes → practice-plan → scenarios → strategy)
- Practical + hands-on - 15 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/cybersecurity
- Discord: Cloud certification study servers (community-resources.md)
- LinkedIn: Search for "[Cert name] Study Group"
- GitHub: Star this repo and watch for updates
- Certifications: 122+ (plus 4 vendor study tracks)
- Documentation links: 12,000+
- Providers: 22
- Concept pages: 37 (cloud + AI primitives)
- Service comparisons: 16 (12 cloud + 4 AI)
- CLI cheat sheets: 9
- Architecture patterns: 17
- Hands-on projects: 15 (10 cloud + 5 AI)
- Topic indexes: 8 (cross-pillar)
- Career roadmaps: 11
- Interview prep guides: 6
- Compliance guides: 5
- Migration guides: 5
cloud-data-ai-security-zero-to-hero/
├── README.md (you are here)
├── STUDY-HUB.md (full per-provider navigation)
├── CHANGELOG.md
├── learn/ # plain-English learning content
│ ├── concepts/ # 37 bite-size concept pages
│ ├── day-one/ # absolute-beginner on-ramp
│ ├── ai-from-scratch.md
│ ├── cloud-from-scratch.md
│ └── glossary.md
├── exams/ # 122+ certs across 22 providers
├── resources/ # comparisons, cheat sheets, roadmaps, guides, projects
├── topics/ # cross-pillar topic indexes
├── assets/diagrams/ # PNG diagrams (draw.io exports)
└── docs/
├── ARCHITECTURE.md
└── freshness.md # per-cert last-verified dates
- 📚 Study Hub - main navigation
- 🗂️ Topic indexes - browse by subject across pillars
- 🆕 What's new
- 📅 Freshness ledger
- 📝 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, or any other vendor referenced. All trademarks and cloud technologies are the property of their respective owners.
If these materials helped you pass a certification or advance your career, please star this repository ⭐ to help others discover these resources.
Get Started with the Study Hub → · Browse Topics → · Day One →
Good luck on your learning and certification journey! 🎉
Created and maintained by Patrick Wiloak
16x Multi Cloud Certified | Prev @ AWS | 11x AWS Certified | 3x GCP | 2x Azure
🎥 YouTube: @patrickwiloak - Cloud certification tips and tutorials 📝 Blog: Study Guide 2025 - Proven study strategies 💼 LinkedIn: Patrick Luke Wilson - Let's connect 🌐 Portfolio: patrickwiloak.com
If this repository helped you, please ⭐ star it and share with others.