Module 4 · AWS for Data Engineers
You know AWS. This module teaches what you don't: the five services named in the skill requirement and how they chain into data pipelines.
Required skill · s2 (paraphrased)
AWS cloud: S3, Glue, Lambda, Step Functions, IAM — hands on.
Your coverage: Partial
What we're assuming
- S3: familiar territory — any senior cloud engineer has used it.
- IAM: you've designed roles, trust policies, credential rotation flows.
- Lambda: some exposure likely; we verify with a hands-on.
- Glue / Step Functions: less rehearsed — the real gap.
What we modify for your background
- Skip: AWS Console 101, what an ARN is, what a region is, "what is IAM."
- Emphasize: Glue (Catalog + Crawler + ETL jobs) as the biggest gap. Step Functions state machines and when they beat Lambda chains. IAM for data pipelines (least-priv policy design for pipeline roles).
- Bonus: we'll note where your IaC experience maps to Glue jobs, Lambda functions, Step Functions state machines — so you can describe a production deploy.
Want more depth?
See Credits → Module 4. Best free additional resource: AWS Cloud Quest: Data Analytics (gamified, free Skill Builder account).
Lessons
- Lesson 4.1 — S3 as a Data Lake (what changes vs general-purpose S3) crash deep
- Lesson 4.2 — Glue: Catalog, Crawlers, ETL Jobs crash deep
- Lesson 4.3 — Lambda + Step Functions for Pipelines crash deep
- Lesson 4.4 — IAM for DE — roles, policies, least privilege deep