One of the tenets of serverless I subscribe to is that you only pay for what you use. I’m not going to pay for compute that’s sitting idle.

So after releasing the first version, I had a workmate point out that it might be possible to do something with Group Lifecycle Events which had only just been released in March this year. I had a look at the documentation and it looked like it was possible, so I decided to give it a go. I’m pleased to say that it worked! Bear with me, I’ll give you something to play with after the writeup.

In the realm of cloud computing, managing resources in a cost-effective manner is a critical concern for many organizations. A popular cost-saving strategy is to schedule the start and stop times of instances based on the needs of the workload. While AWS provides a solution with its AWS Instance Scheduler, it comes at a monetary cost and is built on AWS SAM & CloudFormation, which may not align with the tech stacks of all organizations. Recognizing this gap, I embarked on a journey to create a Terraform-native solution that not only aligns with the technology preferences of Terraform aficionados but also presents a cost-effective alternative.

Before we get into it

This is a bit of a brain vomit/stream of consciousness, writing it as a I play with things and overcome obstacles. This will probably get a bit rambly, but I hope the thought processes help others out. You’ve been warned!

Today we’re diving into the topic of AWS API Gateway and CORS. For those who may not know, CORS stands for Cross-Origin Resource Sharing. It’s a subject that often induces a collective groan, but it’s crucial to our web-based world, and there’s always more to learn.

In recent times, AWS clients have been more security-conscious, employing Service Control Policies (SCPs) to install guardrails around their accounts. However, there’s a pitfall - a new account is by default attached to the FullAWSAccess SCP under the root Organizational Unit (OU), allowing it free reign across all of the AWS services.

The Unicorn Project by Gene Kim

Today I tried Pulumi for the first time. I was pleasantly surprised with the bells and whistles on it. A couple that definitely stood out were:

People ask me the best way to learn a new skill, and how to show an employer that they have a skill during an interview. Usually, they chase certifications for this, but there is a free method that is even better. Build stuff!

Who cares about failed backups?

I recently went through a job change. Thankfully I was searching while having an existing role, so I wasn’t in a big hurry, but this is still applicable if you’ve been suddenly let go like the mountain of unfortunate people in larger companies. I’ve found myself being asked by friends and coworkers about my strategies for finding a role, and for assistance in their journeys to get a job or change role.

How much do you need for a post?

I’ve had a couple of people lately ask me how I come up with what I write about. It’s usually something I’m happy with achieving, or something I’ve been having trouble with, or just something I’ve talked to people about multiple times, so I find it’s easier to write an article so I can tell people to go look at that instead of repeating myself again (and potentially forgetting to tell them something). So this is a post to show that you don’t have to post some grand symphony, just something you’re enthusiastic about and want to share.

Comparing apples to oranges?

I had an RDS implementation that the owner wasn’t very happy with what they were paying, so I was asked to see how it could be reduced.

Continuing on from my last post about free learning resources to get you into cloud. This time we’re talking about Python. I don’t really think this is a super necessary one, because finding python resources to learn with is like getting drunk in a brewery. Don’t have to look far. I’m not going to go over the top with a big list, here’s the 3 I’ve played with the most.

I had a client using AWS Cloud9 that had an issue where the users were managing to tax their instances to the point they’d lock up every now and then.

So you want to study, expand your horizons, but the wallet’s a little light? Never fear, because there’s some really awesome free study material out there.

This is going to be a bit of an intro to the next couple of posts. We’ve covered keeping your ass in gear. We’ve also discussed easy wins to getting hired. Now we’re going to talk about bigger goals you can set yourself that will take more time, but definitely be worth it.

On any challenge you pose yourself, if you don’t have some easy wins you can tick off to get that little kick of dopamine and have you feeling more able to take on those bigger tasks.

I know I was going to talk about getting into cloud, and trust me I am!

Funnily enough when I started at my first Managed Services job it was completely on premises work & coincidentally the same year AWS released their first product. Back then we were doing onsite server setups or data centre work aswell as desktop support.

I know my previous posts have been very technique related rather than technical, this is a warning, tech stuff inside :)

Anyone who’s worked with me knows I have a love/hate relationship with documentation.

So continuing on from how I tackle problems, another way is just to stop doing it. I find this helps in two ways.

When I’m working on a problem, I quite frequently get stuck and have to employ a variety of methods to overcome whatever obstacle I’m against. One method I use is “ask an idiot”.

This is an little thing I’ve written previously, but I wanted to put it up here. I’m not immune to it, but I feel that talking about it more helps people be more conscious and acknowledge it while not being controlled by it.

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