AWS or Amazon Web Services is the world’s largest Cloud Service Provider, which offers role-based certifications for professionals willing to work or be experienced in AWS Cloud. AWS is the biggest player in the Cloud market with a multitude of services on offer to its customers. AWS offers certs to professionals at different levels; Foundational, Associate, Professional, and Specialty. Today we will discuss the steps or tips to prepare for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect-Associate Exam. This cert is the most popular among the professionals and is one among the most in-demand certs.
But before guiding you step-by-step on how to crack the exam. Let me get this straight. AWS Certs are a little hard to clear and are unlike other certifications wherein you ace the exam after solving some practice questions. AWS stresses more hands-on experience, and they craft questions that only professionals with good hands-on experience and a good understanding of AWS Services will be able to solve. So the principal theme of this guide is to gain maximum hands-on experience to crack the exam.
Get AWS Cloud Practitioner Certified
Initially, start by preparing for the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam that is a foundational level exam. This step will prove beneficial to those who are a novice or a beginner with no Cloud experience. If you are experienced with the AWS platform, then you can skip this step.
The main objective of this step is to gain foundational knowledge in the AWS platform, which is highly recommended. This exam is very easy to clear, and you can crack it in just two week’s preparation. I highly recommend you to take up the exam.
You can complete this step by enrolling in any good AWS Cloud Practitioner training course. Ensure that they are recognized and teach you end-to-end from scratch to help you master the AWS platform at the foundational level.
Enroll in online training for AWS Solutions Architect-Associate
The best way to ensure that you get certified with this AWS Cert is to enroll in an industry-grade course for the AWS Solution Architect Associate certification. Make sure you listen to all of the instructor-based sessions, take detailed notes, practice questions, complete assignments, ask doubts, and finally work on projects.
Learn and master various AWS Services
You need to learn about many services, but some services need more specific attention. And these services are:
Amazon S3
It is another section that needs due attention to help you ace the AWS exam. There are many subsections within this that you must master that are:
- S3 encryption options
- Lifecycle policies
- Bucket policies and access control lists
- Storage types
AWS VPC (Virtual Private Cloud)
VPC is something that many test-takers struggle with. You must solve many questions on AWS VPC because a lot of VPC based questions come up in the exam. And also understand the difference between a VPN and Direct Connect.
Amazon RDS
You must be proficient in this Relational Database Service from AWS to clear the AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam. Important topics in this are:
Multi-AZ Replication, Replicas, Snapshots, etc
Amazon Lambda
Amazon Lambda is another component that you must be proficient in. The services and events used with Lambda, limits/timeouts, etc.
Amazon Kinesis
You must ensure that you have good knowledge of Amazon’s analytics and Data Warehousing tools. You must learn about Kinesis, EMR, Redshift, Athena, etc.
Read AWS Whitepapers on various AWS Services.
Reading AWS whitepapers is underrated I feel. But trust me, they are one of the best resources to learn and understand about various AWS services and resources. You will learn how to solve scenario-based questions, and understand the differences between various services, etc.
Work on AWS Projects
Gain experience in working in the AWS platform as much as you can. And this is the best way to gain proficiency in the AWS Cloud. So working on projects seems to fit the logic. Work on as many as you can before you attempt the Cert exam.
Practice, Practice, and Practice
Once you feel you have completed the basics and gained mastery over essential concepts. Now you can move to the next step, and that is taking tests. You can enroll for test series and keep practicing to mark your progress and figure out which areas you are struggling with more. Once you attempt these tests, you will gain clarity over your preparation and could guess your marks. The key to get certified is to keep practicing.
During your preparation phase, keep reading blogs and watch YouTube videos from industry experts and the professionals who cleared the AWS Solutions Architect Associate-level exam. While watching their experiences, you will get an idea of how they prepared and what are the key strategies they used to crack the exam. You will get to know more about the resources they relied on, etc. Keep learning! Keep practicing!
