Lesson 1Backup strategies: full vs incremental, logical vs physical DB backups, filesystem vs application backups, retention policiesDesign backup plans for servers and databases, comparing full and step-by-step backups, logical and physical ways, and filesystem against application-level methods. Set retention, encryption, and checking practices.
Full versus incremental backup plansLogical versus physical DB backupsFilesystem and application-level backupsBackup encryption and access controlRetention schedules and legal needsLesson 2Centralized logging: syslog vs logstash vs fluentd, log rotation, retention, index strategies, and sizing for an internal appLearn how to gather logs in one place for an inside app using syslog, Logstash, or Fluentd. We cover log gathering, rotation, retention, indexing ways, and size planning to help fix problems and meet rules.
Choosing log shippers and collectorsDesigning log formats and metadataLog rotation and retention policiesIndexing strategies for fast searchSizing storage and ingestion ratesLesson 3Designing a 4-node architecture: roles and separation (2 web servers, 1 app worker, 1 DB, optional central log/monitor)Design a useful four-node structure with clear role splits. You will place two web servers, one app worker, and one database node, and think about adding central logging and monitoring for watching and strength.
Defining roles for each server nodeWeb tier design and reverse proxiesApplication worker patterns and queuesDatabase placement and connectivityAdding shared logging and monitoringLesson 4Network design: private networks, security groups, firewall rules, NAT, and routing between on-prem and cloudLearn how to design secure, strong networks for mixed environments. We cover private subnets, security groups, firewall rules, NAT ways, and routing between on-site and cloud to support growing server setups.
Designing private and public subnetsSecurity groups and firewall rule designNAT gateways and outbound internet accessRouting between on-prem and cloud VPCsNetwork segmentation for app tiersLesson 5Patch management: OS package lifecycle, configuration management tools (Ansible, Puppet, Salt), scheduled windows and rollback plansPlan and run patch management for operating systems and apps. Learn package life cycles, using Ansible, Puppet, or Salt, setting maintenance times, testing updates, and preparing rollback and talk plans.
OS and package lifecycle conceptsUsing Ansible, Puppet, or SaltPatch testing and staging environmentsScheduling maintenance windowsRollback strategies and communicationLesson 6Access control and authentication: SSH key management, bastion host patterns, jumpboxes, VPN placement, MFA considerationsDesign secure access control for servers using SSH keys, bastion hosts, and VPNs. Learn key life management, jumpbox ways, MFA joining, and logging admin access for rules and incident fixing.
SSH key generation and rotationBastion hosts and jumpbox patternsVPN placement and traffic flowsIntegrating MFA for admin accessAuditing and logging remote sessionsLesson 7Restore testing: recovery drills, point-in-time restore for databases, RTO/RPO concepts and how to validate restoresUnderstand how to show backups work through planned restore tests. You will practice recovery drills, database point-in-time restores, and checking steps matched to RTO and RPO goals for key inside services.
Defining RTO and RPO objectivesPlanning and running recovery drillsTesting database point-in-time restoresValidating application-level restoresDocumenting and reviewing test resultsLesson 8Runbooks and operational playbooks: creating and storing runbooks, change management, runbook examples for common tasksCreate good runbooks and operational guides for regular and emergency tasks. Learn structure, storage, and change control, and look at real examples for setups, restarts, incident sorting, and rollback steps.
Runbook structure and required detailsVersioning and storing runbooksChange management and approvalsRunbooks for common maintenance tasksIncident response and escalation playbooksLesson 9Basic monitoring and alerting architecture: metrics, logs, traces; choosing a monitoring stack (Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager, Nagios, Zabbix)Build a basic monitoring and alerting structure using metrics, logs, and traces. Compare Prometheus, Grafana, Alertmanager, Nagios, and Zabbix, and design alert rules, dashboards, and escalation paths for inside services.
Key metrics, logs, and tracing signalsSelecting a monitoring tool stackDesigning dashboards for operatorsAlert rules, thresholds, and noise controlEscalation policies and on-call flowsLesson 10High-availability and redundancy tradeoffs for a mid-size internal app (load balancing, sticky sessions, session stores)Look at high-availability ways and redundancy choices for a medium inside app. Learn load balancing options, handling sticky sessions, outside session stores, and failure cases to balance cost, complexity, and uptime.
Identifying availability requirementsLoad balancer types and health checksSticky sessions versus stateless designExternal session stores and cachingFailure modes and graceful degradation
