AWS Week in Review – December 14, 2015

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Let’s take a moment to recap the notable events from the AWS community last week:

Monday, December 14

• We announced the launch of Encrypted EBS Boot Volumes.
• The DynamoDB Backend for Titan was updated to Version 1.0.
• Amazon RDS now supports Oracle Database Standard Edition Two (BYOL) along with the October 2015 PSU.
• The AWS DevOps Blog provided a guide on setting up the Jenkins Plugin for AWS CodeDeploy.
• Another article on the AWS DevOps Blog detailed how to implement Continuous Delivery for a PHP application using AWS CodePipeline, AWS Elastic Beanstalk, and Solano Labs.
• The AWS Big Data Blog discussed performance tuning for your Titan graph database on AWS.
• An update on the AWS Security Blog highlighted a certification update – ISO 9001 now includes 10 new services in scope.
• Botmetric shared 21 essential AWS Cloud Security Best Practices you must know.
• TriNimbus explored ways to streamline internal processes to maximize the value of IaaS/AWS.

Tuesday, December 15

• We announced that EC2 Run Command is now available for Linux instances.
• The T2.Nano instances were introduced.
• Enhancements to the AMI Copy Service were unveiled.
• I published four new AWS podcasts: Compgun, Primadesk, SkinnyPrice, and Cameron Peron.
• We updated the AWS SDKs for Java, JavaScript, Ruby, and Go.
• The AWS Command Line Tool Blog invited readers to super-charge their AWS command-line experience with aws-shell.
• The AWS Partner Network Blog raised the question: What Does it Mean to be a Next-Generation Managed Service Provider?
• The Amazon Mobile App Distribution Blog featured Part 4 of a series on Building Unity Games for Fire TV.
• The AWS Compute Blog discussed managing Lambda functions using API Gateway stage variables.
• The AWS Security Blog demonstrated how to automatically update your security groups for Amazon CloudFront and AWS WAF using AWS Lambda.
• The AWS Startup Collection featured an interview with bitmovin on improving video quality on the web.
• BitNami announced support for the new Amazon T2.Nano instances.
• Cloud Academy examined AWS AMI virtualization types: HVM vs. PV.
• Cloud Machine Manager highlighted 6 cloud computing experts you should know about (I am honored to be on that list).
• ParkMyCloud asked if you can “ec2-describe” your problem.
• The Grav Blog discussed fast, free Grav development on EC2.
• The Riot Games Engineering Blog shared insights on migrating vast amounts of data to AWS.
• Gofore wrote about going serverless with Amazon S3 and Lambda.

Wednesday, December 16

• We announced an update for AWS Trusted Advisor – featuring new and updated checks.
• The EC2 Container Service is now available in the EU (Frankfurt) region.
• I shared an InfoWorld review titled – Amazon Aurora Rocks MySQL.
• We announced that the AWS Service Catalog is now available in the Asia Pacific (Singapore) region.
• The AWS DevOps Blog provided guidance on viewing AWS CodeDeploy logs in the Amazon CloudWatch Console.
• The AWS Compute Blog explored how to utilize AWS Lambda with Auto Scaling lifecycle hooks.
• The new AWS Government, Education, & Nonprofits Blog detailed how MPAC achieved over 75% savings.
• The AWS Security Blog explained an additional method for removing unnecessary permissions in your IAM policies by leveraging service last access data.
• Cloudonaut shared their SaaS architecture, TimeSeries.Guru.
• Cloud Zone noted that the cloud does not just “work.”

Thursday, December 17

• We introduced AWS Cost and Usage Reports for more comprehensive and customizable reporting.
• An update for AWS CloudTrail was announced – it can now be activated in all regions and used with multiple trails.
• Gzip support for Amazon CloudFront was rolled out.
• We announced AWS Marketplace support for clusters and AWS resources.
• Users can now create up to 500 security groups per VPC.
• The AWS SDKs for JavaScript, Java, Ruby, and Go were updated.
• The AWS Enterprise Blog discussed how AWS Marketplace continues to simplify cloud usage.
• We introduced a new Managed NAT (Network Address Translation) Gateway.
• James Hamilton elaborated on VPC NAT Gateways: transactional uniqueness at scale.
• The AWS Windows and .NET Developer Blog addressed contributions to the AWS SDK for .NET.
• The AWS Java Blog covered tuning the AWS SDK for Java to enhance resiliency.
• The AWS Startup Collection published Part 2 of a series on scaling on AWS.
• Cloud Academy discussed using SELinux to bolster the security of your EC2 servers.
• Cloudability provided insights into the new AWS Cost and Usage Reports.
• HackPundit wrote about Amazon SES undetermined bounce handling.

Friday, December 18

• We announced enhanced monitoring for Amazon RDS (MySQL 5.6, MariaDB, and Aurora).
• AWS Config Rules are now available in US East (Northern Virginia).
• AWS IoT has achieved general availability.
• Amazon API Gateway now supports API definition import and export.
• The AWS DevOps Blog discussed using custom JSON on AWS OpsWorks layers.
• Another post from the AWS DevOps Blog detailed building continuous deployment on AWS with AWS CodePipeline, Jenkins, and AWS Elastic Beanstalk.
• The AWS Government, Education, & Nonprofits Blog explored the concept of data-driven politics.

Saturday, December 19

• Cloud Enlightened presented a tutorial on sending responses back to CloudFormation custom resources from Python Lambda functions.

For those interested in open-source resources, consider exploring tools like git-secrets, ssh2, smoketail, aws-shell, and others that can enhance your AWS experience. These tools are essential for developers and engineers working in the cloud.

If you’re interested in blogging, check out this blog post for tips on how to enhance your writing. Additionally, SHRM provides authoritative insights on managing workplace issues, while this resource offers valuable information on safety and training in Amazon fulfillment centers.