As a recent graduate of a cybersecurity boot camp, I wanted to create a portfolio website that would showcase my skills and projects. I decided to use a BootStrap template, modify the HTML code using PyCharm, host the domain on Squarespace, and configure an AWS EC2 instance to serve the website. Here’s a breakdown of how I brought this project to life.

Choosing a Design Template:

I opted for BootStrap because it offers a flexible, responsive, and mobile-friendly design that aligns with modern web development standards. With numerous customizable templates, it was easy to pick one that suited my vision for a clean and professional website.

Customizing with PyCharm:

Next, I used PyCharm as my Integrated Development Environment (IDE) to modify the template’s HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. PyCharm’s intuitive interface and support for various web development tools made the customization process easy in that it was easy to work with GitHub. I was able to modify the layout to better represent my personal style.

Domain Management with Squarespace:

To secure a domain for my website, I chose Squarespace for its ease of use in domain registration and management. It provides a simple interface for domain configuration, and I found it ideal for directing traffic to my AWS EC2 instance where the site would be hosted.

Hosting on AWS EC2:

The most technical part of this project was configuring an AWS EC2 instance to serve my website. After launching an EC2 instance with the appropriate Linux AMI, I set up the environment with a web server (Nginx) and deployed my customized website files. By configuring security groups and ensuring proper permissions, I made sure that my site was secure and accessible globally.

Lessons Learned:

This project allowed me to expand my knowledge beyond cybersecurity, diving into web hosting and cloud configuration. I learned how important security is at every step, from securing SSH access to ensuring the instance and files have proper permissions. The experience of deploying a project from start to finish using cloud technologies was invaluable in honing my technical and troubleshooting skills.