Tobias Schmidt
@tpschmidt.com
Helping aspiring engineers master the cloud
👨💻 Freelance Software Engineer
✍️ Book #1: http://awsfundamentals.com
📕 Book #2: http://cloudwatchbook.com
Learn AWS for Free: https://awsfundamentals.com/newsletter
👨💻 Freelance Software Engineer
✍️ Book #1: http://awsfundamentals.com
📕 Book #2: http://cloudwatchbook.com
Learn AWS for Free: https://awsfundamentals.com/newsletter
Love the announcement of Database Savings Plans at AWS! 💾
Up to 𝟯𝟱% 𝗼𝗳𝗳 if you commit for a year! 💸
Best thing: It's not just for one database engine or instance type.
You can move workloads between Aurora, RDS, DynamoDB, ElastiCache, DocumentDB, and more.
Up to 𝟯𝟱% 𝗼𝗳𝗳 if you commit for a year! 💸
Best thing: It's not just for one database engine or instance type.
You can move workloads between Aurora, RDS, DynamoDB, ElastiCache, DocumentDB, and more.
December 6, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Love the announcement of Database Savings Plans at AWS! 💾
Up to 𝟯𝟱% 𝗼𝗳𝗳 if you commit for a year! 💸
Best thing: It's not just for one database engine or instance type.
You can move workloads between Aurora, RDS, DynamoDB, ElastiCache, DocumentDB, and more.
Up to 𝟯𝟱% 𝗼𝗳𝗳 if you commit for a year! 💸
Best thing: It's not just for one database engine or instance type.
You can move workloads between Aurora, RDS, DynamoDB, ElastiCache, DocumentDB, and more.
Getting started with ECS? Not fun. You end up explaining tasks, task definitions, target groups, subnets, security groups.
Seems like ECS Express Mode will fix this! 😮
Seems like ECS Express Mode will fix this! 😮
December 3, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Getting started with ECS? Not fun. You end up explaining tasks, task definitions, target groups, subnets, security groups.
Seems like ECS Express Mode will fix this! 😮
Seems like ECS Express Mode will fix this! 😮
More CloudWatch updates rolling in before re:Invent...
You can now easily protect your log groups from being deleted 🔑
aws.amazon.com/about-aws/w...
You can now easily protect your log groups from being deleted 🔑
aws.amazon.com/about-aws/w...
December 2, 2025 at 1:58 PM
More CloudWatch updates rolling in before re:Invent...
You can now easily protect your log groups from being deleted 🔑
aws.amazon.com/about-aws/w...
You can now easily protect your log groups from being deleted 🔑
aws.amazon.com/about-aws/w...
I guess we can now finally easily mitigate one of the most common security incidents for a whole AWS organization: restricting public access for S3 bucket 🪣 🔓
aws.amazon.com/about-aws/w...
aws.amazon.com/about-aws/w...
December 2, 2025 at 8:02 AM
I guess we can now finally easily mitigate one of the most common security incidents for a whole AWS organization: restricting public access for S3 bucket 🪣 🔓
aws.amazon.com/about-aws/w...
aws.amazon.com/about-aws/w...
Most of the noise from re:Invent day 1 is about "agentic AI"
The interesting stuff for me is way more boring: Lambda, EKS, DNS, IAM.
AWS just shipped features that will change how a lot of teams design systems long before they ship "cute" agents 😛
The interesting stuff for me is way more boring: Lambda, EKS, DNS, IAM.
AWS just shipped features that will change how a lot of teams design systems long before they ship "cute" agents 😛
December 1, 2025 at 7:39 PM
Most of the noise from re:Invent day 1 is about "agentic AI"
The interesting stuff for me is way more boring: Lambda, EKS, DNS, IAM.
AWS just shipped features that will change how a lot of teams design systems long before they ship "cute" agents 😛
The interesting stuff for me is way more boring: Lambda, EKS, DNS, IAM.
AWS just shipped features that will change how a lot of teams design systems long before they ship "cute" agents 😛
Everyone says they do observability.
Almost nobody uses it to actually solve problems.
Stared at dashboards and still lost? You’re not alone.
❄️ Cold take:
Most engineers just want to know where to put their trace or how to see their logs.
Almost nobody uses it to actually solve problems.
Stared at dashboards and still lost? You’re not alone.
❄️ Cold take:
Most engineers just want to know where to put their trace or how to see their logs.
November 30, 2025 at 8:03 AM
Everyone says they do observability.
Almost nobody uses it to actually solve problems.
Stared at dashboards and still lost? You’re not alone.
❄️ Cold take:
Most engineers just want to know where to put their trace or how to see their logs.
Almost nobody uses it to actually solve problems.
Stared at dashboards and still lost? You’re not alone.
❄️ Cold take:
Most engineers just want to know where to put their trace or how to see their logs.
You already know how to spin up stuff on AWS. 🏗️
Seeing what it does in production is the hard part! 🔎
We put together a 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 bundle that focuses on that part:
Seeing what it does in production is the hard part! 🔎
We put together a 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 bundle that focuses on that part:
November 29, 2025 at 8:00 AM
You already know how to spin up stuff on AWS. 🏗️
Seeing what it does in production is the hard part! 🔎
We put together a 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 bundle that focuses on that part:
Seeing what it does in production is the hard part! 🔎
We put together a 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 bundle that focuses on that part:
My personal favorites for the pre:Invent announcements 🪄
Didn't plan to end up with the heavy serverless focus! ⚡️
You can find the detailed review on our blog ✍️
awsfundamentals.com/blog/aws-pr...
Didn't plan to end up with the heavy serverless focus! ⚡️
You can find the detailed review on our blog ✍️
awsfundamentals.com/blog/aws-pr...
November 27, 2025 at 3:20 PM
My personal favorites for the pre:Invent announcements 🪄
Didn't plan to end up with the heavy serverless focus! ⚡️
You can find the detailed review on our blog ✍️
awsfundamentals.com/blog/aws-pr...
Didn't plan to end up with the heavy serverless focus! ⚡️
You can find the detailed review on our blog ✍️
awsfundamentals.com/blog/aws-pr...
I really love how easy it is to set up OpenTelemetry with Lambda through the official layers.
But the cold start times are pretty rough! 🥶
I guess there's nothing to be fine-tuned to improve this? 🐌
But the cold start times are pretty rough! 🥶
I guess there's nothing to be fine-tuned to improve this? 🐌
November 27, 2025 at 2:01 PM
I really love how easy it is to set up OpenTelemetry with Lambda through the official layers.
But the cold start times are pretty rough! 🥶
I guess there's nothing to be fine-tuned to improve this? 🐌
But the cold start times are pretty rough! 🥶
I guess there's nothing to be fine-tuned to improve this? 🐌
If this works as written here, it seems like a great feature addition. Pretty tired of requesting 30 quota increases for Lambda when using CloudFront for new accounts! ⚡️
November 27, 2025 at 8:04 AM
If this works as written here, it seems like a great feature addition. Pretty tired of requesting 30 quota increases for Lambda when using CloudFront for new accounts! ⚡️
Reminder: if your compute runs in a VPC and you need to access other services like DynamoDB or S3 for large datasets, set up VPC endpoints or your bill will explode quickly! 💸
There's no downside, only upside.
Less cost, better security!
www.geocod.io/code-and-co...
There's no downside, only upside.
Less cost, better security!
www.geocod.io/code-and-co...
November 26, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Reminder: if your compute runs in a VPC and you need to access other services like DynamoDB or S3 for large datasets, set up VPC endpoints or your bill will explode quickly! 💸
There's no downside, only upside.
Less cost, better security!
www.geocod.io/code-and-co...
There's no downside, only upside.
Less cost, better security!
www.geocod.io/code-and-co...
AWS quietly offers a stack of free, hands-on workshops at workshops.aws 🛠️ Most engineers I know have never tried them. That’s a missed opportunity. They are quite nice hands-on, step-by-step guides!
The ECS Immersion Day is one that I will keep recommending!
The ECS Immersion Day is one that I will keep recommending!
November 26, 2025 at 7:58 AM
AWS quietly offers a stack of free, hands-on workshops at workshops.aws 🛠️ Most engineers I know have never tried them. That’s a missed opportunity. They are quite nice hands-on, step-by-step guides!
The ECS Immersion Day is one that I will keep recommending!
The ECS Immersion Day is one that I will keep recommending!
Lambda will likely get Node.js v24 support this month! ⚡️
If you haven't updated from Node.js v20 to v22 yet, note that you won't be able to update your function after July 1, 2026!
docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/late...
If you haven't updated from Node.js v20 to v22 yet, note that you won't be able to update your function after July 1, 2026!
docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/late...
November 25, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Lambda will likely get Node.js v24 support this month! ⚡️
If you haven't updated from Node.js v20 to v22 yet, note that you won't be able to update your function after July 1, 2026!
docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/late...
If you haven't updated from Node.js v20 to v22 yet, note that you won't be able to update your function after July 1, 2026!
docs.aws.amazon.com/lambda/late...
AWS just dropped 4 new advanced Skill Builder courses for AWS Organizations! 🏗️
Best: they are free and actually useful! 🛠️
Rant: I hate that AWS Organizations is still often considered optional for enterprises.
Best: they are free and actually useful! 🛠️
Rant: I hate that AWS Organizations is still often considered optional for enterprises.
November 25, 2025 at 7:56 AM
AWS just dropped 4 new advanced Skill Builder courses for AWS Organizations! 🏗️
Best: they are free and actually useful! 🛠️
Rant: I hate that AWS Organizations is still often considered optional for enterprises.
Best: they are free and actually useful! 🛠️
Rant: I hate that AWS Organizations is still often considered optional for enterprises.
S3 is rather cheap (~$0.02/GB/m) but what if you need a file system?
Yes, EFS works but costs 15x more (~$0.30/GB/m). 💸
Is this a "pick one" thing in the cloud? 😅
AWS sum down to:
Yes, EFS works but costs 15x more (~$0.30/GB/m). 💸
Is this a "pick one" thing in the cloud? 😅
AWS sum down to:
November 24, 2025 at 9:57 AM
S3 is rather cheap (~$0.02/GB/m) but what if you need a file system?
Yes, EFS works but costs 15x more (~$0.30/GB/m). 💸
Is this a "pick one" thing in the cloud? 😅
AWS sum down to:
Yes, EFS works but costs 15x more (~$0.30/GB/m). 💸
Is this a "pick one" thing in the cloud? 😅
AWS sum down to:
Did you know about CloudWatch's 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅 𝗙𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱𝘀?
You can create your own indexes for free, which speeds up your Log Insights queries and reduces their costs! ⚡️
Here’s how it works in practice:
You can create your own indexes for free, which speeds up your Log Insights queries and reduces their costs! ⚡️
Here’s how it works in practice:
November 24, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Did you know about CloudWatch's 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝗲𝘅 𝗙𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱𝘀?
You can create your own indexes for free, which speeds up your Log Insights queries and reduces their costs! ⚡️
Here’s how it works in practice:
You can create your own indexes for free, which speeds up your Log Insights queries and reduces their costs! ⚡️
Here’s how it works in practice:
Reminder: AWS X-Ray SDKs are moving to maintenance mode next year!
If you're still instrumenting with the old X-Ray SDKs or the Daemon, this is a signal to get serious about OpenTelemetry! 💪
The old SDKs will only get security fixes from February 2026!
If you're still instrumenting with the old X-Ray SDKs or the Daemon, this is a signal to get serious about OpenTelemetry! 💪
The old SDKs will only get security fixes from February 2026!
November 23, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Reminder: AWS X-Ray SDKs are moving to maintenance mode next year!
If you're still instrumenting with the old X-Ray SDKs or the Daemon, this is a signal to get serious about OpenTelemetry! 💪
The old SDKs will only get security fixes from February 2026!
If you're still instrumenting with the old X-Ray SDKs or the Daemon, this is a signal to get serious about OpenTelemetry! 💪
The old SDKs will only get security fixes from February 2026!
CloudFront lets me run code at the edge, like it’s 2025 or something.
Azure Front Door just misses this completely.
And that's not the only missing feature.
CloudFront’s rules are flexible. Front Door’s rules are super narrow and missing a lot of essentials.
Azure Front Door just misses this completely.
And that's not the only missing feature.
CloudFront’s rules are flexible. Front Door’s rules are super narrow and missing a lot of essentials.
November 22, 2025 at 7:57 AM
CloudFront lets me run code at the edge, like it’s 2025 or something.
Azure Front Door just misses this completely.
And that's not the only missing feature.
CloudFront’s rules are flexible. Front Door’s rules are super narrow and missing a lot of essentials.
Azure Front Door just misses this completely.
And that's not the only missing feature.
CloudFront’s rules are flexible. Front Door’s rules are super narrow and missing a lot of essentials.
I really like where AWS is taking CloudWatch with the new Application Signals, Application Map & Transaction Search.
The entry barrier could be lower though!
I get that it's work in progress! 🛠️
The entry barrier could be lower though!
I get that it's work in progress! 🛠️
November 21, 2025 at 7:57 AM
I really like where AWS is taking CloudWatch with the new Application Signals, Application Map & Transaction Search.
The entry barrier could be lower though!
I get that it's work in progress! 🛠️
The entry barrier could be lower though!
I get that it's work in progress! 🛠️
Not every product needs this, but if you’re running large-scale event-driven systems, this is a real upgrade for Lambda’s SQS integration. ⚡️
Default SQS event source mapping is fine for steady workloads or ones that don't have too tight latency requirements.
Default SQS event source mapping is fine for steady workloads or ones that don't have too tight latency requirements.
November 20, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Not every product needs this, but if you’re running large-scale event-driven systems, this is a real upgrade for Lambda’s SQS integration. ⚡️
Default SQS event source mapping is fine for steady workloads or ones that don't have too tight latency requirements.
Default SQS event source mapping is fine for steady workloads or ones that don't have too tight latency requirements.
Is the increased payload size for Lambda really a thing?
Never thought about it, maybe because with Powertools for AWS Lambda you don't really have to think about it.
It can automatically store oversized payloads in S3 and handles references transparently. 🪄
Never thought about it, maybe because with Powertools for AWS Lambda you don't really have to think about it.
It can automatically store oversized payloads in S3 and handles references transparently. 🪄
November 20, 2025 at 8:04 AM
Is the increased payload size for Lambda really a thing?
Never thought about it, maybe because with Powertools for AWS Lambda you don't really have to think about it.
It can automatically store oversized payloads in S3 and handles references transparently. 🪄
Never thought about it, maybe because with Powertools for AWS Lambda you don't really have to think about it.
It can automatically store oversized payloads in S3 and handles references transparently. 🪄
Deployments with ECS got better once again! 🏗️
If your old tasks die, but new ones can’t start, you won't have issues anymore! ⚡️
Previous problem: You push a new task definition version, it fails health checks, and suddenly your service availability tanks.
If your old tasks die, but new ones can’t start, you won't have issues anymore! ⚡️
Previous problem: You push a new task definition version, it fails health checks, and suddenly your service availability tanks.
November 19, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Deployments with ECS got better once again! 🏗️
If your old tasks die, but new ones can’t start, you won't have issues anymore! ⚡️
Previous problem: You push a new task definition version, it fails health checks, and suddenly your service availability tanks.
If your old tasks die, but new ones can’t start, you won't have issues anymore! ⚡️
Previous problem: You push a new task definition version, it fails health checks, and suddenly your service availability tanks.
AWS launched 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁-𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀 for CloudFront 💸
This was definitely not on my pre/:reInvent bingo card!
Even CloudWatch's log ingest seems to be completely included.
This was definitely not on my pre/:reInvent bingo card!
Even CloudWatch's log ingest seems to be completely included.
November 19, 2025 at 5:50 AM
AWS launched 𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁-𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝘀 for CloudFront 💸
This was definitely not on my pre/:reInvent bingo card!
Even CloudWatch's log ingest seems to be completely included.
This was definitely not on my pre/:reInvent bingo card!
Even CloudWatch's log ingest seems to be completely included.
Rust is finally 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 in AWS Lambda! 🦀 ⚡️
You can now ship critical workloads in Rust on Lambda!
This changes the serverless landscape for all performance enthusiasts!
You can now ship critical workloads in Rust on Lambda!
This changes the serverless landscape for all performance enthusiasts!
November 18, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Rust is finally 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 in AWS Lambda! 🦀 ⚡️
You can now ship critical workloads in Rust on Lambda!
This changes the serverless landscape for all performance enthusiasts!
You can now ship critical workloads in Rust on Lambda!
This changes the serverless landscape for all performance enthusiasts!
Both last month's Azure Front Door outages hit us hard. 💥
The incident and late acknowledgment by Microsoft didn't make me mad, but a small note on the Azure health board did....
The incident and late acknowledgment by Microsoft didn't make me mad, but a small note on the Azure health board did....
November 18, 2025 at 7:58 AM
Both last month's Azure Front Door outages hit us hard. 💥
The incident and late acknowledgment by Microsoft didn't make me mad, but a small note on the Azure health board did....
The incident and late acknowledgment by Microsoft didn't make me mad, but a small note on the Azure health board did....