My Journey with Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Foundations Associate 2025#
Recently, I completed the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) 2025 Foundations Associate (1Z0-1085-25) certification — a beginner-level course designed to help learners understand the fundamentals of Oracle Cloud and how it supports modern digital transformation.
Through a series of well-structured learning modules, I gained hands-on knowledge about OCI’s architecture, services, and the principles behind cloud computing. Here’s an overview of the key modules and what I learned from each.
1. Cloud Concepts and OCI Overview#
The course began with an introduction to cloud computing models — including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS).
It explained how Oracle Cloud Infrastructure delivers computing resources on demand through its global regions and availability domains. Each region represents a geographical location, and every availability domain acts as an independent data center with its own power, cooling, and network resources.
This module helped me understand the advantages of the cloud, such as elasticity, high availability, fault tolerance, and cost efficiency, and how OCI provides these through its well-planned infrastructure.
2. Compute Services#
The Compute module focused on OCI’s ability to run workloads on flexible computing resources. I learned how users can create and manage virtual machines (VMs) or bare metal instances depending on their performance needs.
The course explained key features such as:
Instance Configuration and Pooling for creating scalable application environments.
Autoscaling, which automatically adjusts resources based on traffic demand.
Load Balancing, which distributes incoming traffic across multiple servers to ensure reliability.
This module gave me a solid understanding of how OCI Compute helps build scalable and fault-tolerant applications.
3. Storage Services#
The Storage module introduced the different types of storage that OCI offers:
Object Storage for unstructured data like backups, logs, and images.
Block Volume for high-performance storage attached to compute instances.
File Storage for shared file systems accessible across multiple instances.
Archive Storage for long-term retention of infrequently accessed data.
I also learned about data durability, redundancy, and lifecycle management, which ensure that data remains available and protected across regions. Understanding the balance between performance, cost, and durability was an essential takeaway from this section.
4. Networking#
The Networking module was one of the most important sections of the course. It explained the role of the Virtual Cloud Network (VCN) — OCI’s private, customizable network environment that connects all deployed resources.
Key concepts included:
Subnets for organizing and isolating resources.
Gateways (Internet, NAT, Service, and Dynamic Routing Gateways) for connecting to external or private networks.
Security Lists and Network Security Groups (NSGs) for controlling inbound and outbound traffic.
Load Balancers for distributing workloads evenly.
This module gave me a deeper understanding of how cloud networking works and how OCI ensures security and connectivity within cloud environments.
5. Database Services#
The Database module explored Oracle’s advanced database offerings. I learned about:
Autonomous Database — a self-managing, self-patching, and self-tuning database that eliminates manual administration.
Oracle Database Cloud Service, which provides full control over Oracle databases in the cloud.
MySQL HeatWave, a high-performance, in-memory query accelerator that runs analytics directly on transactional data.
This section highlighted how Oracle leverages its decades of database expertise to provide fast, secure, and reliable database services for both traditional and modern workloads.
6. Security and Identity#
Security in the cloud is critical, and this module covered OCI’s approach to maintaining it through Identity and Access Management (IAM).
I learned how policies, users, groups, compartments, and dynamic groups are used to manage access to resources. The concept of the Shared Responsibility Model clarified how both Oracle and the customer play roles in maintaining security.
Other important features included encryption at rest and in transit, audit logs, and fault domains for protecting workloads from hardware-level failures.
7. Pricing, SLAs, and Support#
This module focused on OCI’s pricing model, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and support tiers.
It explained how Oracle provides transparent and predictable pricing across services and offers multiple support levels based on customer needs.
I also learned about the Always Free Tier, which allows users to experiment with key OCI services at no cost, and usage monitoring tools that help control and optimize spending.
The SLA discussion emphasized Oracle’s strong guarantees for availability, manageability, and performance, reflecting its commitment to enterprise-grade reliability.
8. Shared Responsibility and Best Practices#
The final module reinforced the Shared Responsibility Model, defining what Oracle secures (infrastructure and hardware) versus what customers secure (applications, data, and access).
It also introduced cloud governance best practices such as compartment design, policy management, tagging resources, and monitoring usage.
These concepts are essential for maintaining security, efficiency, and compliance in cloud operations.
Conclusion#
Completing the OCI 2025 Foundations Associate certification gave me a well-rounded understanding of how Oracle Cloud Infrastructure operates — from its global architecture to its compute, storage, networking, and security services.
Each module built a deeper appreciation of how Oracle has designed its cloud to meet the demands of modern applications while maintaining flexibility, cost control, and performance.
This certification represents a strong first step toward mastering Oracle Cloud. Going forward, I plan to explore the OCI Architect Associate track to gain deeper, hands-on knowledge in designing and deploying enterprise-level solutions on OCI.
Haris
FAST-NUCES
BS Computer Science | Class of 2027
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