CIST 2481 - AWS Cloud Architecting

Prerequisite: CIST 2480
This course builds on foundational cloud knowledge and prepares students to design and implement secure, resilient, high‑performing, and cost‑optimized architectures using Amazon Web Services (AWS). Based on the AWS Academy Cloud Architecting curriculum, the course teaches students how to evaluate business requirements and translate them into scalable cloud solutions aligned with AWS architectural best practices. Students gain in‑depth experience with core AWS services across compute, storage, networking, databases, security, and global infrastructure. Emphasis is placed on applying the AWS Well‑Architected Framework, including operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimization, and sustainability. The course explores architectural patterns and decision‑making strategies used to design fault‑tolerant, elastic, and highly available systems. Learners examine real‑world case studies demonstrating how organizations across various industries implement cloud architectures, manage workloads, and leverage managed services. Throughout the course, students engage in hands‑on labs that simulate the role of a solutions architect-building VPC architectures, implementing load‑balanced and auto‑scaled applications, securing environments with IAM and network controls, deploying serverless and container‑based solutions, and optimizing storage and database designs. By the end of the course, students will be able to design end‑to‑end AWS architectures, apply architectural design principles to common workloads, and prepare for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate certification. Note: Students enrolled in this course will be assessed a $43.75 cost recovery fee in addition to tuition and fees. Fees can change at the end of the semester. Contact hours: Class - 2, Lab - 4. Credit hours: 4 (F, Sp)