Cloud Resume Challenge

This website is my (2nd) attempt at the Cloud Resume Challenge created by Forrest Brazeal, who designed the challenge to help people develop cloud skills in a hands-on way through working with real infrastructure.

Live site: jlcrc.cloud
GitHub repository: https://github.com/jericholeal/jl-cloud-resume-challenge-2

Project Overview

• Deployed a multi-page static website (HTML, CSS, JS) on S3, served via CloudFront with OAC
• Implemented a session-based visitor counter using API Gateway, Lambda, and DynamoDB
• Defined fully modular Terraform configurations (ACM, API Gateway, CloudFront, DynamoDB, IAM, Lambda, Route53, S3) with remote state (S3 + DynamoDB lock)
• Bootstrapped key resources, then imported and managed all infrastructure with Terraform, practicing least-privilege and modular design best practices
• Built CI/CD pipelines using GitHub Actions + OIDC, with separate workflows for frontend, backend, and Lambda packaging
• Secured traffic with ACM TLS certificates, custom domain via Route 53, and full DNSSEC setup (KMS-signed, DS record published on NameCheap)
• Used IAM Identity Center (SSO) for CLI access and AWS Organizations for account and role isolation
• Planned enhancements: Add CloudWatch alerts, Slack/PagerDuty notifications, IAM policy validation, and CI/CD security gates

More details of my Cloud Resume Challenge (Take 2) HERE.

Cloud Resume Challenge: Backstory

I wanted to challenge myself and dive into the deep end of cloud computing to have a taste of it. I found the Cloud Resume Challenge and took the leap, that being my first time ever touching AWS and its resources and services. I got my hands on the AWS console and learned about the different resources and how the pieces fit together.

Near the end of my first attempt, I started to realize things that I could've done better and imagined what I would do if I did it over again.

This site is the result of that do-over attempt.

Read more about my initial Cloud Resume Challenge attempt and learning experience HERE.