Showing posts with label Google Cloud Platform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Google Cloud Platform. Show all posts

Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect

 



Hello everyone, once again its that time of the year for certification renewals! The below guide is related to the new version of the Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect certification in 2022.

It's really amazing how fast time goes and this will now be my second renewal of this certification and am really excited to share my study guide, advice, hints and helpful information on the latest version of the exam. This exam guide is based on the Cloud Architect exam written in March 2022.

As of last year, 2021, Google made a complete revision of the Cloud Architect exam which was really needed in order to keep up with the pace of innovation being displayed on the Google Cloud Platform over the last few years. This exam has changed dramatically but still follows the same underlying architecture principals that we have grown accustomed to over the last four years.

As previously, the exam is based on 50 questions, which are displayed across four separate case studies as well as additional questions. You have two hours to complete the exam and the cost is $200. The exam is able to be taken at a testing center or remotely through https://webassessor.com/googlecloud. The exam is an advanced level certification so it is recommended to have some extensive real life experience hands on working with Google Cloud. The Google Cloud Associate Cloud Engineer (ACE) exam would be a good starting point if just entering the world of Google Cloud: https://cloud.google.com/certification/cloud-engineer

The biggest change in the new exam is the introduction of two brand new case studies, namely EHR Healthcare and Helicopter Racing League and the complete update of two previous case studies, Mountkirk Games and Terram Earth. These case studies are really vital to the exam and are the core focus that you need to spend your time on. When spending time studying these case studies you will be introduced or updated on various new products and skills that are vital in order to cover off the exam guide requirements.

For further exam details and requirements please check the official Google Cloud material: https://cloud.google.com/certification/cloud-architect https://cloud.google.com/certification/guides/professional-cloud-architect/

Please see below link to all four case studies that can be downloaded and reviewed from Google:

https://services.google.com/fh/files/blogs/master_case_study_ehr_healthcare.pdf

https://services.google.com/fh/files/blogs/master_case_study_helicopter_racing_league.pdf

https://services.google.com/fh/files/blogs/master_case_study_mountkirk_games.pdf

https://services.google.com/fh/files/blogs/master_case_study_terramearth.pdf

Please note: These case studies are at a high level and can be difficult to understand and digest. I will link some really great YouTube playlists that can assist you to study these in a practical way:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSTDaMV8ZFc&list=PLiGDmIpNsrc3tOl-95mzKqXaHc3KoMblW&index=6&t=5s - All case studies explained with diagrams and hints

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJqmcacktOE - All case studies explained with solutions

It's sometimes a lot easier to be able to visually see diagrams and watch videos on advice around the various solutions to solve the case study problems. These can be a great backup to using and actually writing your own solutions on the case studies. All areas and solutions that are mentioned need further research and reading to understand. The best place to go is always the Google Cloud documentation: https://cloud.google.com/docs

Exam hint: You will not have enough time to read and learn the case studies prior to taking the exam, so please take advantage of the fact that you can download and work through these in your preparation.

I'm going to also link below further resources that are really helpful in the study process for this exam and I can recommend spending time going through all of these in detail before attempting your exam:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1LUtqhOEjUMySCfn3zj8Arhzcmazr3vrPzy7VzJwIshE/edit#gid=0 - Google Sheet with direct links to reading areas inside Google Cloud documentation. Time saver!

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/preparing-google-cloud-certification-professional-architect-mohan?trk=articles_directory - Nice sum up of study resources.

https://cloud.google.com/architecture - Architecture designs and guides from Google.

https://cloud.google.com/architecture/framework - More architecture information

https://www.pluralsight.com/paths/cloud-architecture-with-google-cloud - Official on demand courses

https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/preparing-professional-cloud-architect-exam-1- More courses

https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/gcp-cloud-architect - More courses

https://www.cloudskillsboost.google/course_templates/78?utm_source=gcp_training&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=cgc - Qwiklabs hands on labs

I also really recommend watching all of the Next 21 YouTube playlist, as this is really great content that provides you with the updates and information across all of the Google Cloud services and products:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLIivdWyY5sqK5sIM83V8rOHWMoXaA2m4H

Overall the exam is not easy and there is a huge volume of knowledge areas that can be asked in the exam. Its really helpful in focusing on different formats during this study process. Watch video courses, YouTube, reading official Google Cloud architecture frameworks, reading documentation and understanding concepts that you are not familiar with. Hands on labs and/or experience are essential!

The only official practice test is the Google version which you can use to judge your skill set:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdvf8Xq6m0kvyIoysdr8WZYCG32WHENStftiHTSdtW4ad2-0w/viewform

With the above information you will also be ready to certify Cloud Architect in 2022!

https://www.credential.net/2cfdbb42-e43e-433c-a898-b475740f356d



Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect



I have just recently completed the Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect exam for the renewal. It's crazy that the two years is already up and time to re certify! Please find some below information on this exam as well as study resources and a guide on being able to tackle this certification.

Firstly, I have to say that after completing the exam two years ago in 2018 a lot has changed in the Google Cloud landscape in 2020. It's absolutely vital to update these exams every two years in order to keep up with the rapid innovation and release of new features and products by Google Cloud!

About the exam

Two years ago there were only two Google Cloud certifications available, the Professional Cloud Architect and the Data Engineer. Now with the release of numerous new role based certifications it has become a bit easier to certify on the track that represents your job role a bit better. However the Professional Cloud Architect still represents the high level solutions architect approach to GCP.

I suggest you have a look at all the various Google Cloud exams as it may be best suited to start with the Cloud Engineer if you are looking at beginning or starting on the cloud infrastructure track.
https://cloud.google.com/certification

In my personal opinion this is still the most vital and valuable cloud solutions architect exam available in the market currently, and will continue to be so for quite some time. The reason? It's really due to the innovation that Google is investing in their cloud platform. The growth in the platform in just two years has been impressive and many enterprises are investigating migration or are in the process of migrating into the platform. The Professional Cloud Architect is also still rated as the highest paid certification in the market currently. Please view the link below:

https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/resources/resource-library/articles/top-paying-certifications/

Study Resources

The exam itself is not an easy one unfortunately and Google does strive to keep a very high standard on the certifications on the exam. It encompasses both the design and implementation of cloud architecture. The Professional Cloud Architect exam assesses your ability to:

- Design and plan a cloud solution architecture
- Manage and provision the cloud solution infrastructure
- Design for security and compliance
- Analyze and optimize technical and business processes
- Manage implementations of cloud architecture
- Ensure solution and operations reliability

The exam is delivered on a high level knowledge of solution architecture, for example in trying to identify the best solutions and services to map to organisation requirements and migrations.  By going through and reading the official exam guide it will give you a good idea of the scope that the exam encompasses which is really large. https://cloud.google.com/certification/guides/cloud-architect

However this exam also deep dives into technical skills across the products and tests your knowledge of actually understanding the integration of the services as well as infrastructure management.

I have outlined some study resources below that I have used personally for this exam. My advice is to read through the official guides first in order to get an understanding of the requirements. The second step is to hit the labs really hard. Unless you have a great deal of experience using GCP you are really going to need to do the labs as it's absolutely vital to get the hand on experience of GCP. Qwiklabs is the best place to do this and please find some links below to some relevant Qwiklabs content.

https://google.qwiklabs.com/courses/1070?utm_source=gcp&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=certification

https://google.qwiklabs.com/courses/879&utm_source=cloud-dot-google&utm_medium=website

I also find that a really good training resource is using Youtube and watching all the past Google Cloud Next 19 sessions on the various GCP products and resources. This can give you some really useful information and help you prepare on areas you are unsure of. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGrlWVWlpgE&list=PLIivdWyY5sqIXvUGVrFuZibCUdKVzEoUw

Please find some links to official study guides and further information:

Study links:
https://cloud.google.com/certification/cloud-architect

Exam Guide:
https://cloud.google.com/certification/guides/cloud-architect

Google also offers a free practise test on their website which is really helpful to judge your study progress and whether you are ready to take the exam or should spend some more time preparing:

Practise Exam:
https://cloud.google.com/certification/practice-exam/cloud-architect

One nice thing about the exam is that Google gives you all the applicable case studies on their website which really helps you to plan and map out the various GCP service requirements:

The case studies for the exam are available online:
https://cloud.google.com/certification/guides/cloud-architect/casestudy-mountkirkgames-rev2
https://cloud.google.com/certification/guides/cloud-architect/casestudy-dress4win-rev2
https://cloud.google.com/certification/guides/cloud-architect/casestudy-terramearth-rev2

Another great resource for learning on GCP is the Google Cloud documentation, this is a really great place to read up on services and gain more understanding on specific technical requirements.

https://cloud.google.com/docs

Google Cloud also offers classroom training sessions which are a great way to introduce you to the platform at any level and have an instructor guide you through GCP by using a delivery of slides as well as hands on labs in order build of your real world skills on the platform.
https://cloud.google.com/training/courses

This exam will take a lot of time to prepare for, but this time is really a great investment and it will be a really great learning experience in order to further your career and cloud skill development.

Good luck!

Are Containers the future?




What are containers? How do containers work? Can I use containers? These are some common questions being asked about this application "virtualisation" technology. In this post we will be trying to simplify the basics of containers and answer some of these questions.

What are containers?

Containers can be compared to virtual machines but are very different. Containers contain groups of applications that can run directly on an underlying host operating system unlike virtual machines that require a hypervisor layer. This is greatly beneficial as you are able to achieve higher density, better elasticity, increased portability and advanced scalability. These advantages are achieved with less overhead management and administration.


The older way of achieving this same function was to have virtual machines running over a hypervisor which was running within a host operating system. Each of these layers require management and support and even the virtual machine had to run its own operating system. All of these operating systems require patching and other administration to operate. As you can see containers just contain the actual application and no other overheads are required.

How do containers work?

Containers are implemented using specific technology like Docker which was originally run within the Linux operating system. Nowadays containers can also be run on Windows. Docker containers are really the standard way of doing things now. If you require multiple containers, clusters or are looking to run containers in the cloud you need to look at Kubernetes which is the most popular container orchestration platform currently.

 Kubernetes is an open-source container-orchestration system for automating deployment, scaling and management of containerized applications. It was originally designed by Google and is now maintained by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation.

Can I use containers?

This question really depends on your specific workload and application. Most applications should be able to be ported into containers and then launched either onsite or in the cloud. One great thing about containers is that they can be run both onsite and in the cloud and are extremely portable between different operating systems and cloud platforms. With this flexibility its much easier to be able to move your containers anywhere you would like to run them. I would suggest further consultation with your developers and cloud architects to determine your use case and the best applicable solution for your use case.



Containers in the cloud

The easiest way to test and use containers in production is to launch them through your cloud platform. Each public cloud provider offers a widespread range of managed container solutions. Google Cloud Platform offers the original GKE Google Kubernetes Engine. This is currently the most advanced offering of managed Kubernetes in the cloud with Azure coming in second with the recently generally available AKS. Azure Kubernetes Service. Please read the below links in order to learn more about these platforms and containers.


Are containers the future?

Yes containers are the future of application technology in the cloud as well as on-premise. Containers are becoming more and more popular and learning and understanding some background in them whether you are a developer or operations engineer is really required. There are so many courses and further information out there and I suggest starting by looking at your cloud providers documentation to set you in the right direction.

Some great further information can be read here:


Cloud Based Virtual Networks



While discussing the implementation of cloud infrastructure we touched on the base of core infrastructure that will need to be provisioned in the cloud in order to begin your migration or greenfield cloud deployment. The core infrastructure required is cloud storage, compute resource and virtual networks. Today we will be going into virtual networks in more depth.

 Virtual Networks

 As previously discussed virtual networks are absolutely vital to understand in order to correctly provision and deploy cloud resources. These virtual networks are used to connect, segment and link your cloud based resources as well as on premises networks.

 Virtual network segmentation is completed with the use of subnets. These subnets are used to seperate various cloud based networks using different IP ranges. These are seperate networks that can be used for different functions, for example the front end and back end tier of an application.

 Another aspect to understand is the use of firewalls within these virtual networks. Traditionally a firewall is used on premises between the internal network and external network (internet). In cloud services a firewall is used in the same way but also internally, so you are able to secure internal as well as external networks and applications.

 As mentioned above another incredibly important aspect of cloud based virtual networks is the ability to connect to your on premises environment. This is valuable in order to build and architect hybrid cloud solutions. This can be achieved by using direct ISP based links that bypass the public internet to keep things internally secure and fast or via VPN tunnels.
These VPN tunnels are encrypted but do run over the public internet so may not be as secure as your policies allow. Also, you may need a higher speed redundant link.

 Cloud Platforms

 There are some differences between the different cloud providers but basically cloud based virtual networks are quite similar and perform reasonably the same function. In Azure you get Virtual Networks which are the base of your cloud based network infrastructure and in Google Cloud Platform you get Virtual Private Cloud Networks (VPC's) both offer a few different features so its always important to read the relevant documentation and use a trial account to test for your specific requirements. 

To  sum up though you need to brush up on your general network skills (get out the Network+ manual) before planning your cloud based networks and I highly recommend some courses in the cloud platform you are looking into going with. There are literally loads of in depth free video courses available on any platform to learn the necessary skills.

 Training

 Please see below Coursera GCP and Pluralsight Azure on demand courses:

 https://www.coursera.org/specializations/gcp-architecture

https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/planning-designing-microsoft-azure-network-solutions?twoid=e7d045ab-0691-4def-896a-8db6cb74790b&aid=7010a000001xDURAA2

Implementing Cloud Infrastructure



One of the most important concepts to think about when implementing cloud solutions is your core infrastructure. This will be your base when building infrastructure in the cloud. This will comprise of virtual networks, cloud storage and compute at the base layer order to build upon in IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service)

To break it down this is very comparable to on premises infrastructure as when looking to physical storage,  physical servers, virtualisation, virtual networks and virtual machines. The cloud reduces the need have the physical infrastructure in place. You are able to utilise this on a pay per use model in any of the public cloud providers for example Google Cloud Platform or Microsoft Azure. You are charged for what you use which is great!

Virtual Networks

After activating your cloud subscription you can begin setting up your virtual network. This has different names depending on what provider you are using i.e in Microsoft Azure its called Virtual Networks and in Google Cloud Platform its called Virtual Private Cloud Networks (VPC's) Basically these are similar ways to perform network segmentation in the cloud based on virtualised networks. Subnets are used to segment these virtual networks or VPC's. You are also able to integrate load balancers and firewalls:


Within these virtual networks you can isolate specific services, i.e virtual machines, you can implement load balancers as well as connect networks from different regions togeather. You are also able to implement security with firewall's across these virtual networks both internally and externally. Another feature of virtual networks is the ability to connect them with your existing on premises networks. There are various methods available in order to achieve this as in a direct Interconnect (GCP) or Express Route (Azure) link from your site to the applicable cloud provider. Another way do to this is be using secure encrypted VPN tunnels:



Cloud Storage

Cloud Storage is absolutely critical as this is where all of your resources will be stored in the cloud. I have previously written about cloud storage if you would like to read further:

In the context of this article we will be referencing more towards storage of infrastructure like virtual machine files, virtual machine disks and general file storage. These will be the locations where your compute workloads will be stored when created. There are various different types of storage but for virtual machines you will look at options like HDD or SSD depending on workload. Google GCP has persistent disks and Azure has managed disks for VM's. http://www.ruckcloud.ml/2018/04/lets-talk-about-managed-disks.html


Compute

The compute layer is all about the computing resources that you will be utilising. This is based on virtual machines in one form or the other. You can spin up traditional VM's one at a time with a large selection of different operating systems from Windows to Linux. These are called IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) VM's. You can also leverage batch operation with automating a large number VM creation to achieve a large processing job for example. These VM's can automatically scale up and down based on load and you are only charged when they are in use. With IaaS you have direct control and management of your VM's.

You are also able to make use of virtual machines in PaaS (Platform as a Service) where you can immediately spin up app's for computing needs without the need of managing IaaS VM's. This is very handy for developers that are not too concerned with managing VM's.

In this article I have touched on the core base infrastructure required with cloud computing. These areas all go into much more depth but sometimes its nice to get a simple overview of what they are and how they work. This is really essential to understand when first looking into the cloud to either build new services or migrate your existing infrastructure.

Further information on cloud infrastructure is available at:



What exactly is Cloud Storage?



This is a really good question for anybody starting to think about the Cloud and starting their journey towards migrating their workloads. It seems like a very simple question but sometimes the answer is not as simple as may be expected. Cloud storage is the key aspect in cloud migration as this is where and how all of your data will be stored.

A good way to explain cloud storage is by comparing consumer vs commercial cloud storage. Most people these days are actively using and relying on cloud storage everyday through One Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox and the large number of other providers. Basically all these options are the same, store your media, images, files offsite in the cloud.



The commercial aspects of cloud storage are a bit more complex as you will need to identify your workload and requirements of it. As in blob storage is great for videos, images and media but that will not work with databases or application back end data. The various cloud suppliers have various tiers of cloud storage to help you identify your requirements. These can range from "hot" storage or frequently accessed data to "cold storage" archive data.

Looking at the Microsoft Azure offerings the below different products are available:

File
Simple, distributed, cross-platform file system

- Lift and shift migration
- Simple and inexpensive
- Move data to cloud with no coding

Disk
Premium storage for I/O-intensive applications

- Low latency, high throughput
- Automatic triple replication
- Enterprise-grade durability
- Learn more

Blob
Massively-scalable object storage for unstructured data

- Cost-effective for massive volume
- Tiered storage options
- Single infrastructure with global reach
- Learn more

Queue
Durable queues for large-volume cloud services

- Simple, cost-effective messaging
- Decoupled component flexibility
- Resilient scaling and buffering
- Learn more

Table
- Flexible NoSQL database

Key-value table storage
- Structured or unstructured data
- Low latency at Internet scale
- Learn more

Archive
Low cost storage for rarely used data

- Data automatically encrypted at rest
- Seamless integration with hot and cool storage tiers
- Supported by leading Data Management partners

Most cloud providers fit into the same above categories with different service offerings and names, Google Cloud Platform for instance offers the following in Google Cloud Storage:


Please see bottom of the article for links with further details and information.

A good way to start with cloud storage options are with your backup or archival data. By moving this data to the cloud a company can start leveraging the power of cloud without initially moving their entire workload. By storing your backups and even running your daily, weekly or monthly backup runs into the cloud this will provide a cost effective and reliable offsite backup option that can really prove to be invaluable in the case of a disaster.

There are really a huge volume of different cloud backup providers these days which all basically offer the same thing with different types of software. Locally running backups that copy your data to the cloud. All of these products will use either their own cloud storage servers or more likely one of the big cloud providers. You might even be able to get the choice of which public cloud storage provider you use with the specific backup product. You could also go directly to a public cloud provider and use their native cloud backup tools.



There are also on premises to cloud replication devices such as Microsoft's Storesimple that will automatically move your archival or "cold' on premises data into the cloud. This is something that can assist with large enterprise storage volumes and cloud storage adoption.

Ultimately cloud storage is expanding rapidly with the great volumes of data being generated everyday and it is really the future of all data storage. Going forward it will be easier, safer and more cost effective to utilise and migrate your current on-premises storage into the cloud. A good way to start on this journey is with your backups.

Further sources and information:

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