How to Build a Free-Tier Home SOC Lab | Cybersecurity Hands-On Training (AWS + Grafana) - Episode #1

🚀 Can You Build a Real-World Security Operations Center (SOC) at Home—for FREE? 🤯

That’s exactly what I set out to do! In this first episode of CyberDefend Lab, I’ll show you how I turned an ambitious SOC simulation plan into a lightweight, scalable, and cost-effective cybersecurity lab—all while staying within AWS and Oracle Cloud free-tier limits.

🔥 WHAT YOU’LL LEARN IN THIS VIDEO:

✅ How I started with a grand multi-VM SOC vision and why I scaled it down

✅ My revised, free-tier SOC setup for real-world cybersecurity training

✅ The best lightweight security tools for log aggregation, visualization, and monitoring

✅ How this lab prepares me for a SOC Analyst, Penetration Tester, or Incident Responder role

✅ Step-by-step AWS Ubuntu Server + Rsyslog + Fluent Bit setup

💡 Whether you're studying for Security+, learning cybersecurity from scratch, or breaking into a SOC career, this lab setup will help you gain hands-on experience in threat detection, log analysis, and cyber defense!

💀 The Problem: Overcomplicated Labs & High Costs

Like many cybersecurity learners, I initially over-engineered my home SOC.

My original plan included:

🔴 3 VMs across AWS and Oracle Cloud
🔴 Heavyweight tools like Elastic Stack, AWS GuardDuty, and MISP
🔴 Complex attack simulations that needed constant troubleshooting

The result?

High costs, too many moving parts, and constant maintenance headaches. 💸

💡 The Solution: A Streamlined Free-Tier SOC Lab

To keep things practical and efficient, I revised my lab to one VM + lightweight security tools, maintaining realism without exceeding free-tier limits.

🔥 Phase 1: The Current Setup

✅ Single VM: AWS Ubuntu Server 22.04 LTS (SOC Hub)

✅ Log Collection: Rsyslog (Forwarding logs)

✅ Log Aggregation: Fluent Bit (Efficient querying)

✅ Next Step: Grafana for log visualization


🚀 Future Plans:

🔹 Add Rocky Linux as a target system for attack simulations

🔹 Use Kali Linux (Oracle Cloud) for penetration testing & incident response

🔹 Introduce AWS GuardDuty, CloudTrail, and AlienVault OTX for advanced detection

🛠 How This Lab Works (Real-World Cybersecurity Workflows)

🎯 Defender (SOC Hub) – Ubuntu Server

✔️ Collects logs & monitors threats
✔️ Aggregates system logs via Rsyslog & Fluent Bit
✔️ Future: Detecting anomalies using Grafana & AWS GuardDuty

🎯 Target (Victim Machine) – Rocky Linux

✔️ Simulates enterprise/government infrastructure
✔️ Generates forensic data for analysis
✔️ Future: Forwarding logs for centralized SOC monitoring

🎯 Attacker (Red Team) – Kali Linux

✔️ Performs reconnaissance (Nmap)
✔️ Conducts penetration tests (Metasploit, Hydra)
✔️ Future: Exploiting vulnerabilities in the target environment

This setup lets me simulate SOC workflows, respond to threats, and analyze security incidents—all without expensive software or hardware!

🔑 Why This Matters to You

This isn’t just my personal project—it’s a blueprint for anyone looking to build cybersecurity skills in:

💡 SOC Operations – Learn log monitoring, alerting, and threat detection

💡 Incident Response – Practice real-world forensic analysis & security investigations

💡 Penetration Testing – Simulate attacks & test detection capabilities

🎯 Perfect for:

✔️ Aspiring SOC Analysts & Cybersecurity Students
✔️ Security+ & Google Cybersecurity Certificate Holders
✔️ Ethical Hackers & Blue Team Practitioners

🎬 What’s Next?

Episode #2: Grafana Setup & Log Visualization!

Want to see how I configure Grafana to visualize logs & monitor security events? Stay tuned for the next episode!

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📌 COMMENT BELOW:

What’s your biggest challenge in setting up a home lab?

Let’s solve it together!

🔗 Resources & Tools Mentioned in This Video:

🛠 AWS Free Tier → AWS Free Tier Sign-Up

🛠 Fluent Bit → Fluent Bit Docs

🛠 Grafana → Grafana Docs

🛠 Metasploit Framework → Metasploit Docs

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🔹 #SOCAnalyst #CybersecurityTraining #HomeSOC #ThreatDetection #AWSFreeTier #Grafana #CyberDefendLab #Infosec #CloudSecurity