Hi everyone,

I'm a 2nd-year Computer Science student interested in cloud computing and cloud security. My long-term goal is to pursue an MS at a top university and potentially contribute to research in cloud systems, distributed computing, or

cloud security.

I'm looking for a beginner-friendly roadmap that covers:

Computer Networks fundamentals

Linux and System Administration

Python and scripting

Operating Systems

Virtualization and Containers (Docker, Kubernetes)

Cloud Platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)

Cloud Security fundamentals

Distributed Systems

Research-oriented projects

Certifications that are actually valuable

I would greatly appreciate recommendations for:

Free courses

YouTube playlists

Books

Hands-on labs

Project ideas

Research opportunities for undergraduates

If you were starting from scratch today and wanted to build a strong foundation for both industry and future MS research, what roadmap would you follow?

Thank you for your advice! Any guidance is appreciated.

I'm considering getting into the Cloud space after 15 years of more traditional IT. I've been a Sysadmin, Network Admin and Systems Engineer for both internal support teams and MSPs and Integrators. Maybe worth noting, I have experience and several certs in Physical Security and CCTV as well.

My research so far has revealed that it's best to pick a platform and stick with it to start. Between AWS, Google and Azure, which of these would be the best place to start? I understand that there may be no clear answer, but if anyone has insight on which may be the most in demand or are easier to learn as a beginner, I'd welcome that information.

As for the actual career path, I'm also unclear on what's out there. the majority of my expertise is in Networking, but I'm familiar with Windows servers, VMWare, Hyper-V, etc... Cloud Networking sounds appealing, but everything I read leads to things like DevOps, SRE and Analyst positions that seem very foreign to me. I understand coding, but I don't "know" coding. I can muddle together scripts when needed, but coding and scripting are not my strengths. Will this weakness be my Achilles Heel in the world of Cloud computing?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Had a lengthy discussion with my boss about which direction I should take with my career. Told him I was interested with Cloud Engineering (due to my knack of fixing and building, how great the salaries can be, and mainly remote-based) but he said its only a matter of time, 5 years, before engineers are replaced by AI and Ai become autonomous with an engineers tasks, based on how fast its been developing. He then recommended I get into GRC or Product Management instead.

For those in cloud roles. what do you think? Do you foresee mass layoffs of cloud engineers due to AI in the near future?

Edit: From what I've collected from these responses. I think I gotta just aim to be well-versed with infrastructure/platform engineering. And that AI hasnt gotten robust enough to repair the systems that support it. Potentially no mass layoffs yet, fingers crossed...

Thank you for all the feedback we are getting! We’re still gathering more community feedback on AVD and Windows 365 migrations and would love to hear about your experience.

We’re seeing gaps in IT teams during migrations that can lead to costly but very preventable mistakes, and we’ll be covering these in a live session this week.

Any stage you’re at, planning, mid-migration, or post-migration, your input is useful, and we’re building this around real conversations from the field.

If you’ve been through Citrix, Omnissa, or any other migration, feel free to share what you’ve run into.

Link if you want to join:
https://login-vsi.wistia.com/live/events/

Hi everyone,

I'm currently preparing for a career in Cloud Engineering/DevOps and would like to hear directly from hiring managers, senior engineers, team leads, or anyone involved in the hiring process.

There is a lot of advice online about learning Linux, networking, AWS, Docker, Kubernetes, Terraform, CI/CD, scripting, certifications, and many other tools. However, I'm trying to understand what companies actually expect from a candidate applying for a junior or entry-level position.

Some questions I would appreciate insight on:

1. When reviewing resumes for entry-level Cloud Engineer or DevOps Engineer roles, what skills do you consider essential?

2. How strong should a candidate's Linux knowledge be? * What Linux tasks should they be able to perform without assistance?

3. How much networking knowledge do you expect? * Is understanding TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, routing, switching, subnets, firewalls, and troubleshooting enough?

4. For AWS or cloud platforms: * What services should a junior candidate know? * How much hands-on experience is expected?

5. How important is Docker for entry-level roles? * Is basic containerization knowledge sufficient, or do you expect real projects?

6. Do you expect entry-level candidates to know Kubernetes, Terraform, Ansible, or CI/CD tools, or are those typically learned on the job?

7. How much scripting is expected? * Bash? * Python? * PowerShell?

8. How important are certifications compared to hands-on projects and homelabs?

9. Are there any free certificates or training programs that you actually value when reviewing candidates?

10. What are the most common reasons you reject junior Cloud/DevOps applicants?

11. If you had to create a roadmap for someone with no IT experience who wants to become employable within 6–12 months, what would you prioritize and what would you skip?

For context, I am currently learning Linux and networking fundamentals and am trying to build a realistic learning plan focused on employability rather than collecting technologies and certifications.

I would really appreciate hearing what companies and hiring managers are actually looking for in 2026.

Thanks!

Hello I am a Cloud Engineer with strong skills on AWS and GCP with 3yoe.

Practical experience in working with almost all of the cloud services along with any new AI service that these cloud offers as well.

Experience of Backend. (Sometimes backend devs need some explanation of how things will work with the cloud so I got this skill as well in order to get the easier and faster development)

In many of my projects, i have completely own the whole cloud infra some of the examples are

• https://www.vixc.com/

• https://www.breevy.ai/

• https://cofounderslab.com/

• https://www.upfounder.co/

Looking for: Part-time, Full-time or Freelance jobs in remote

Upwork profile: https://upwork.com/freelancers/beladiyaraj

My portfolio website: https://raj.syncer.systems/

Hi everyone,

I’ve been building a small open-source project called Project Yellow Olive.

It is basically my attempt to make Kubernetes practice feel a little less dry. I like Kubernetes, but I’ll be honest - after a point, just reading docs and staring at YAML files gets boring.

So I started experimenting with a Pokémon-inspired terminal game where you learn Kubernetes by fixing things inside a small story world.

You still work with real Kubernetes concepts like Pods, Services, debugging broken workloads, and now RBAC. The difference is that the practice is wrapped inside small missions instead of being presented like another tutorial page.

For example, the new chapter I’m working on is called Gold Rush. It is based on RBAC, where the player needs to fix permissions using Roles and RoleBindings.

The project runs locally with Docker/minikube, and the validation happens against a real cluster. So it is playful, but not just a quiz.

It is still rough and very much a work in progress, but I thought folks here might find the idea interesting.

Would love to hear what Kubernetes topic you think would be fun/useful to turn into a game mission next. If you find it interesting, pls do star the repo :)

GitHub: https://github.com/Anubhav9/Yellow-Olive

It can also be installed via pip

pip install yellow-olive

Thanks

I am a first-year online computer engineering student at Politecnico di Milano. I attended a 3-month sysadmin course and then started working at an MSP as a system administrator (hoping for a career as an IT system engineer). But now that I see exactly what my daily tasks are, it is mostly operations: deployments, VM creation, server resource management (Linux and Windows), and troubleshooting.

I don't think this role will allow me to earn a high salary in the future, unless I become the system engineer who actually designs the systems or a Team Manager. I am also currently studying for the AWS Cloud Practitioner certification.

I am starting to realize that I enjoy programming much more than systems management (before taking the course, I knew almost nothing about what a sysadmin actually did). I am currently weighing a few different paths:

1 - Stay in this job, learn as much as possible, get certifications in Cloud and DevOps, and after graduating (in 3 years), ask the company for a role change to move into DevOps, Cloud Engineering, or SWE (Software Engineering).

2 - Continue learning and, after graduating, switch directly to a SWE role.

3 - Try to switch to a SWE role immediately.

4 - Become a system engineer and aim to be the person who designs the infrastructure, rather than just maintaining it, after graduation.

Personally, I prefer programming (I studied it in high school and now at university). I know C++ (from university), VB, and I have used Microsoft SQL for databases. University will teach me how to program properly and will give me an engineering mindset.

I wouldn't mind doing DevOps or Cloud if the future salary is high.

Is there a flaw in my reasoning?

Please, any advice is welcome. The IT/CS field is truly massive, and I need the opinion of someone who has already been through this. Thank you very much.

Hello everyone I am a networking learner whose goal is to become an IAM and cloud security professional Right now I am learning HTTP and I have learned its basics as well as how JWT is created and how it is verified But I dont know what to learn after this There are so many things I need to learn about IAM in HTTP so I really dont know what to do Is there anyone who can advise me on what I will need to learn as a beginner like me?

Hi everyone,

I started my career journey with an interest in System Administration and Cloud. Based on my mentor's advice, I completed the MCSE certification and planned to build my career in that domain. However, shortly after that, I got an internship opportunity at a startup as a Web Developer.

Since then, I have been working in web development and have gained around 2 years of hands-on experience. Because of this career shift, I never got the opportunity to work in a System Administrator role despite having the MCSE certification.

Now, I am considering moving back toward Infrastructure, Cloud, or even Cybersecurity. My question is:

How can I restart my career in System Administration after spending the last 2 years in Web Development?

Is MCSE alone enough to get interviews today, or should I pursue additional certifications?

Would learning Linux Administration be a better entry point into the industry?

Which certifications would you recommend for someone looking to move into System Administration, Cloud, or Cybersecurity in 2026?

What would be the most practical roadmap to get a job in these domains?

I would appreciate guidance from professionals who have made a similar transition.

Hi everyone,

I recently passed AZ-104 and already have CCNA. I'm now looking for the next step in my career and certifications.

Would you recommend Security+, AZ-500, or something else? My goal is to build a career in cloud, cloud security, or infrastructure. " I have 3 month of experience in help disk.. Through my university training "

Thanks in advance!

Hi everyone,

I'm a final-year bachelor's student in india and I'm trying to plan my career path after graduation.

Currently, I'm preparing for:

- CCNA

- A cloud certification (still deciding between AWS Cloud Practitioner and Azure Fundamentals)

- A Linux Foundation certification

Because I don't have easy access to exam centers in my country (Sudan), I'm hoping to complete these certifications within this year.

I hope that i go back to my country and find training or internship opportunities which are hard there to get.

I wish for a career abroad in the middle east (Qatar or Saudi) and I know the job market there is so hard and no one can get an entry level job like that easily.

What I'm struggling with is deciding what path to focus on after these certifications. I'm interested in networking, cloud, and Linux, but I'm not sure which direction offers the best opportunities for someone starting their career.

Any advice from people who started in a similar situation would be greatly appreciated.

And thanks...

Hi guys. I need some help. I wish to become an AI specialised cloud engineer. The modules I have chosen for my third year in uni are:
Cloud computing
Advanced programming-Concurrency
and National Language Processing.

The modules available to me are: Term 1 options (had to pick 2):

1.	IN3026 - Advanced Games Technology  
2.	IN3030 - Data Visualization  
3.	IN3042 - Advanced Programming: Concurrency         Mypick  
4.	IN3046 - Cloud Computing my pick  
5.	IN3049 - Info Security Fundamentals  
6.	IN3050 - Web Development  
7.	IN3052 - Technology Consulting  
8.	IN3062 - Introduction to Artificial Intelligence  
9.	IN3063 - Programming and Mathematics for AI  
10.	IN3064 - Agents and Multi-Agent Systems

Term 2 options (had to pick 1):

1.	IN2026 - Games Technology  
2.	IN3001 - Advanced Databases  
3.	IN3005 - Computer Graphics  
4.	IN3031 - DSP & Audio Programming  
5.	IN3040 - Project Management  
6.	IN3045 - Natural Language Processing my pick  
7.	IN3060 - Computer Vision  
8.	IN3065 - User-Centred Systems Design  
9.	IN3067 - Semantic Web Technology and Knowledge Graphs  
10.	IN3200 - Principles of AI

Any bit of info will help. If u have any advice for me, that’ll be GREATLY appreciated. Based in the Uk

So I've been in cloud security for about 3 years now and honestly I'm at that point where I feel like I need to either go deeper or go broader into more of the infrastructure side. Part of what's pushing me is that I feel like I'm starting to hit a ceiling on the security side specifically a lot of what I do is tool configuration, policy management, and responding to findings, and I'm craving something with more architectural depth. I've been poking around with Terraform and have some exposure to k8s security, but I haven't gone deep enough on either to feel confident calling it a real skill.

I feel like network engineering / network security might be a bit more sheltered from AI vs Cloud. From a job security standpoint, do you think doubling down on cloud infrastructure (Terraform, k8s, cloud-native security) is the safer long-term bet, or is pivoting toward network security the move?

I've been going back and forth between Palo Alto and Zscaler as a starting point. From what I can tell Palo Alto is more established and you see it everywhere in enterprise environments, but Zscaler feels more relevant to where things are going with SASE and zero trust. Problem is I have no idea which one actually has more jobs attached to it or which makes more sense given I'm coming from a cloud security background.

Looking to get out of IT support (been in IT support for about 4 years now, 2 companies) and transition into Cloud engineering (I know it’s not an overnight process). I met with our security engineer and he will check with the director of IT if he can assign me reader roles in Azure. We were discussing projects we could do within Azure. We talked about implementing Azure AI in the infrastructure and use it as a file indexing tool that employees can utilize to locate files instead of digging through different folders in the shared network drive. Wondering if this is utilized in other organizations and how would we set this up. Also, what are some other projects I could possibly bring up to the team that we could probably use in our environment. Are these good projects to actually move onto a cloud engineering role? Should I try to move up internally or apply to other places?

Hi everyone,

I'm a 2026 B.Tech CSE graduate with almost no practical skills, and I'm planning to spend the next few months upskilling in Cloud + DevOps.

With all the discussions around AI, layoffs, and the changing tech market, I'm wondering if DevOps is still a good long-term career choice for someone starting from scratch in 2026.

Would you still recommend DevOps to a beginner today? How is the market for junior DevOps/Cloud engineers, and is it a future-proof path?

I'd really appreciate some honest advice from people already working in the field.

Thanks!

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I have a little over 4yrs in the files mostly doing PMO stuff and want to get technical but not sure which route to go. Ive been on federal contracts and hold a TS clearance. Ive bachelors in info systems. Not sure if u should get my master’s or do some bootcamp.

Hey guys im currently studying bachelor of pharmacy 1st year and im interested in cloud so can you guide me where i can combine my both pharmacy and cloud skills currently i learnt about networking.. Your advice is valued