AWS Roadmap 2026

Stage 1: Core Compute and Storage (2-3 weeks)

1. EC2 -- instance types, security groups, key pairs
2. S3 -- buckets, storage classes, bucket policies
3. Example: launch an EC2 instance, host a static site on S3

Stage 2: Identity and Networking (2-3 weeks)

1. IAM -- users, roles, policies, least-privilege design
2. VPC -- subnets, route tables, internet/NAT gateways
3. Security Groups vs. Network ACLs
4. Example: build a VPC with a public and private subnet, and an EC2 instance in each

Stage 3: Databases and Serverless (2-3 weeks)

1. RDS -- managed relational databases
2. DynamoDB fundamentals
3. Lambda -- functions, triggers, and event sources
4. Example: build a simple serverless API -- API Gateway + Lambda + DynamoDB

Stage 4: Scaling and Reliability (2 weeks)

1. Elastic Load Balancing
2. Auto Scaling Groups
3. CloudWatch for monitoring and alarms
4. Example: put the EC2 setup from Stage 1 behind a load balancer with an Auto Scaling Group

Stage 5: Infrastructure as Code (2-3 weeks)

1. CloudFormation or Terraform
2. Example: recreate everything built in Stages 1-4 as code, deployable with a single command

Stage 6: Certification Path

1. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (foundational, optional if you already have hands-on experience)
2. AWS Certified Solutions Architect -- Associate (the most broadly valuable one for most roles)
3. A specialty certification later (DevOps Engineer, Security) based on your specific career direction

Frequently Asked Questions