The AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam is a foundational certification that is designed to validate your knowledge of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud. It is an excellent entry point for individuals who are interested in pursuing a career in cloud computing or for those who want to gain a basic understanding of cloud computing concepts.
To pass the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam, you must have a comprehensive understanding of AWS services, architectures, and pricing models. In addition, you must have a solid grasp of cloud computing concepts such as security, scalability, and elasticity.
In this blog, we will provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to prepare for the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam. We will cover the exam format, the topics that will be covered in the exam, and the resources that you can use to prepare for the exam. By following our guide, you will be able to prepare yourself for the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam and increase your chances of passing it on your first attempt.
Glossary for AWS Cloud Practitioner Terminology
Here’s a glossary of some key terms and acronyms related to AWS Cloud Practitioner:
- AWS: Amazon Web Services, a cloud computing platform offered by Amazon.
- Cloud Computing: A model for delivering on-demand computing resources over the internet.
- Region: A geographical location where AWS resources are available. Each region has multiple availability zones.
- Availability Zone: An isolated location within a region that has its own power, cooling, and networking infrastructure.
- EC2: Elastic Compute Cloud, a service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud.
- S3: Simple Storage Service, a service that provides scalable and durable object storage.
- RDS: Relational Database Service, a service that provides managed database solutions.
- VPC: Virtual Private Cloud, a service that provides a virtual network to isolate AWS resources.
- IAM: Identity and Access Management, a service that provides control over AWS resources and users.
- ELB: Elastic Load Balancer, a service that distributes incoming network traffic across multiple EC2 instances.
- Auto Scaling: A service that automatically adjusts the number of EC2 instances based on demand.
- CloudFormation: A service that allows users to define and manage AWS resources using code.
- Lambda: A service that allows users to run code without provisioning or managing servers.
- SNS: Simple Notification Service, a service that sends notifications from AWS services to various endpoints.
- SQS: Simple Queue Service, a service that allows users to decouple and scale distributed systems and applications.
- Glacier: A low-cost storage service for data archiving and long-term backup.
- Route 53: A scalable domain name system (DNS) service for managing domain names and routing internet traffic to AWS resources.
- API Gateway: A service that allows users to create, publish, and manage APIs.
- CloudFront: A content delivery network (CDN) that delivers content to end-users with low latency and high data transfer speeds.
- KMS: Key Management Service, a service that allows users to create and manage encryption keys for their data.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it covers some of the most commonly used terms and acronyms related to AWS Cloud Practitioner.
Exam preparation resources for AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam
Here are some official AWS Cloud Practitioner exam preparation resources with website links:
- AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials: This free digital course provides an overview of AWS cloud concepts, AWS services, security, architecture, pricing, and support. It is an excellent starting point for preparing for the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam. Link: https://www.aws.training/Details/Curriculum?id=27076
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam Guide: This official exam guide covers the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam’s topics and provides information on the exam format and scoring. The guide includes sample questions, practice exam questions, and recommended resources for further study. Link: https://d1.awsstatic.com/training-and-certification/docs-cloud-practitioner/AWS-Certified-Cloud-Practitioner_Exam-Guide.pdf
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Practice Exams: These practice exams, available for purchase on the AWS website, provide practice questions that simulate the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam’s format and content. The exams provide explanations for correct and incorrect answers and come with a money-back guarantee. Link: https://aws.amazon.com/training/course-descriptions/cloud-practitioner-practice-exams/
- AWS Whitepapers: AWS offers a range of whitepapers that cover topics such as security, architecture, cost optimization, and compliance. These papers provide detailed information on AWS services and best practices for using them. Link: https://aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/
- AWS Documentation: AWS documentation provides detailed information on AWS services, API reference, SDKs, and developer tools. The documentation includes examples, tutorials, and code samples. Link: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/
- AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam Readiness Training: This free digital course provides a comprehensive review of exam objectives and helps candidates prepare for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam. It includes videos, practice quizzes, and a final exam. Link: https://www.aws.training/Details/eLearning?id=34737
- AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials (Second Edition): This updated version of the Cloud Practitioner Essentials course provides a deep dive into AWS services, pricing, and support. The course includes hands-on labs and scenarios to help learners practice and apply their knowledge. Link: https://www.aws.training/Details/Curriculum?id=60697
All of these resources are official and provided by AWS itself. They are designed to help you prepare for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam and ensure that you have the necessary knowledge and skills to use AWS services effectively.
Expert tips to pass the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam
Here are some expert tips to help you pass the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam:
- Understand the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam format: The AWS Cloud Practitioner exam consists of multiple-choice questions, and you have 90 minutes to answer 65 questions. It’s important to familiarize yourself with the exam format so you can manage your time effectively.
- Learn the AWS Cloud Concepts: The AWS Cloud Practitioner exam focuses on cloud concepts and AWS services. So, it’s essential to understand what the cloud is, how it works, and the benefits of cloud computing. AWS provides a free digital training course, AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials, to help you learn the fundamentals.
- Study the AWS Global Infrastructure: You should have a good understanding of AWS Global Infrastructure, which includes Regions, Availability Zones, Edge Locations, and Data Centers. Knowing the global infrastructure will help you understand the availability, durability, and fault tolerance of AWS services.
- Get Hands-on Experience: Hands-on experience is key to passing the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam. AWS provides free tier services, which allows you to experiment and learn AWS services without incurring costs.
- Take Practice Exams: Practice exams will help you understand the exam format and give you a feel for the types of questions asked in the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam. AWS provides free practice exams and exam readiness courses to help you prepare for the exam.
- Use Exam Dumps with Caution: While exam dumps may seem like a quick and easy way to pass the exam, it’s not a legitimate way of learning. Moreover, using exam dumps is a violation of the AWS exam policy and can result in a permanent ban from taking AWS exams.
- Join AWS Communities: Joining AWS communities like AWS User Groups and AWS Community Day events can help you connect with other AWS professionals and learn from their experiences. Additionally, you can learn about new AWS services and features that can help you in your exam preparation.
In summary, understanding the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam format, learning cloud concepts, studying the AWS global infrastructure, getting hands-on experience, taking practice exams, and joining AWS communities can help you pass the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam.
AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam Overview
First thing first, the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam is a foundation exam. The CLF-C02 Exam is designed for candidates who have the knowledge and skills to demonstrate an overall understanding of the AWS Cloud. Also, it tests their independent understanding of specific technical roles labelled by other AWS Certifications. The exam can be easily taken at a testing centre or from the comfort and convenience of a home or office location as an online proctored exam.
Becoming an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner is a recommended step if you’re starting out. But, also, it’s an optional step toward achieving an Associate-level or Specialty certification.
After qualifying the CLF-C02 Exam, the candidate will be able to do the following tasks-
- First of all, define what the AWS Cloud is and the basic global infrastructure
- Secondly, describe basic AWS Cloud architectural principles
- Subsequently, describe the AWS Cloud value proposition
- Also, describe key services on the AWS platform and their common use cases (for example, compute and analytics)
- Further, Describe the basic security and compliance aspects of the AWS platform and the shared security model
- And, Define the billing, account management, and pricing models
- Additionally, Identify sources of documentation or technical assistance (for example, whitepapers or support tickets)
- Lastly, Describe basic/core characteristics of deploying and operating in the AWS Cloud
AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam Details
The CLF-C02 Exam comprises of around 65-68 question. All the question in the examination will be either multiple-choice questions or multiple responses. However, you will only have 90 minutes to complete the examination. As for the registration fee, it is USD 100. And, the examination is available in Four different languages. Further these languages are- English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese.
Finally, you’re all done with the exam details and information. Now that you’re all equipped with an exam overview, it’s time for your next crucial step. Yes, it’s none other than the Exam Guide aka the Course Outline. This constitutes the most important section of the exam. So, try not to skip this section. In other words, this is the heart of the examination. Now, you get it, it’s that important.
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) Exam Guide
This exam guide comprises of weightage of domains, all the subdomains, and objectives. It is not just a comprehensive listing of the content on this examination. But, the table below illustrates the main content domains and their weightage in the CLF-C02 Exam.
Domain 1: Cloud Concepts 24%
1.1: Define the benefits of the AWS Cloud.
Knowledge of:
- Value proposition of the AWS Cloud
Skills in:
- Understanding the economies of scale (for example, cost savings) (AWS Documentation: Understand the fundamentals of pricing)
- Understanding the benefits of global infrastructure (for example, speed of deployment, global reach) (AWS Documentation: Global infrastructure)
- Understanding the advantages of high availability, elasticity, and agility (AWS Documentation: High availability and scalability on AWS)
Task Statement 1.2: Identify design principles of the AWS Cloud.
Knowledge of:
- AWS Well-Architected Framework
Skills in:
- Understanding the pillars of the Well-Architected Framework (for example, operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, cost optimization, sustainability) (AWS Documentation: The pillars of the framework)
- Identifying differences between the pillars of the Well-Architected Framework
Task Statement 1.3: Understand the benefits of and strategies for migration to the AWS Cloud.
Knowledge of:
- Cloud adoption strategies
- Resources to support the cloud migration journey
Skills in:
- Understanding the benefits of the AWS Cloud Adoption Framework (AWS CAF) (for example, reduced business risk; improved environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance; increased revenue; increased operational efficiency) (AWS Documentation: AWS Cloud Adoption Framework (AWS CAF), Benefits management, An Overview of the AWS Cloud Adoption)
- Framework
- Identifying appropriate migration strategies (for example, database replication, use of AWS Snowball) (AWS Documentation: Best practices for AWS Database Migration Service)
Task Statement 1.4: Understand concepts of cloud economics.
Knowledge of:
- Aspects of cloud economics
- Cost savings of moving to the cloud
Skills in:
- Understanding the role of fixed costs compared with variable costs (AWS Documentation: Key principles)
- Understanding costs that are associated with on-premises environments (AWS Documentation: AWS Outposts)
- Understanding the differences between licensing strategies (for example, Bring Your Own License [BYOL] model compared with included licenses) (AWS Documentation: Simplified Bring-Your-Own-License experience using AWS License Manager)
- Understanding the concept of rightsizing Tips for Right Sizing)
- Identifying benefits of automation (for example, provisioning and configuration management with AWS CloudFormation) (AWS Documentation: What is AWS CloudFormation?)
- Identifying managed AWS services (for example, Amazon RDS, Amazon Elastic Container Service [Amazon ECS], Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service [Amazon EKS], Amazon DynamoDB) (AWS Documentation: Choosing an AWS container service)
Domain 2: Security and Compliance 30%
2.1 Define the AWS shared responsibility model
Knowledge of:
- AWS shared responsibility model
Skills in:
- Recognize the elements of the Shared Responsibility Model (AWS Documentation: Shared Responsibility Model)
- Describe the customer’s responsibility on AWS
- Describe AWS responsibilities (AWS Documentation: Shared Responsibility Model)
- Describing responsibilities that the customer and AWS share
- Describing how AWS responsibilities and customer responsibilities can shift, depending on the service used (for example, Amazon RDS, AWS Lambda, Amazon EC2)
2.2 Understand AWS Cloud security, governance, and compliance concepts.
Knowledge of:
- AWS compliance and governance concepts
- Benefits of cloud security (for example, encryption)
- Where to capture and locate logs that are associated with cloud security
Skills in:
- Identifying where to find AWS compliance information (for example, AWS Artifact) (AWS Documentation: Viewing compliance information)
- Understanding compliance needs among geographic locations or industries (for example, AWS Compliance)
- Describing how customers secure resources on AWS (for example, Amazon Inspector, AWS Security Hub, Amazon GuardDuty, AWS Shield) (AWS Documentation: Security, identity, and compliance)
- Identifying different encryption options (for example, encryption in transit, encryption at rest) (AWS Documentation: Encrypting Data-at-Rest and Data-in-Transit)
- Recognizing services that aid in governance and compliance (for example, monitoring with Amazon CloudWatch; auditing with AWS CloudTrail, AWS Audit Manager, and AWS Config; reporting with access reports) (AWS Documentation: Logging and events)
- Recognizing compliance requirements that vary among (AWS Documentation: AWS services Compliance)
2.3 Identify AWS access management capabilities
Knowledge of:
- Identity and access management (for example, AWS Identity and Access Management [IAM])
- Importance of protecting the AWS root user account
- Principle of least privilege
- AWS IAM Identity Center (AWS Single Sign-On)
Skills in:
- Understanding access keys, password policies, and credential storage (for example, AWS Secrets Manager, AWS Systems Manager) (AWS Documentation: What is AWS Secrets Manager?)
- Identifying authentication methods in AWS (for example, multi-factor authentication [MFA], IAM Identity Center, cross-account IAM roles) (AWS Documentation: Using multi-factor authentication (MFA) in AWS)
- Defining groups, users, custom policies, and managed policies in compliance with the principle of least privilege (AWS Documentation: Security best practices in IAM)
- Identifying tasks that only the account root user can perform (AWS Documentation: Tasks that require root user credentials)
- Understanding which methods can achieve root user protection (AWS Documentation: Root user best practices for your AWS account)
- Understanding the types of identity management (for example, federated) (AWS Documentation: Overview of AWS identity management: Users)
2.4 Identify components and resources for security
Knowledge of:
- Security capabilities that AWS provides
- Security-related documentation that AWS provides
Skills in:
- Describing AWS security features and services (for example, security groups, network ACLs, AWS WAF) (AWS Documentation: Security group policies)
- Understanding that third-party security products are available from AWS Marketplace (AWS Documentation: Security Products in AWS Marketplace)
- Identifying where AWS security information is available (for example, AWS Knowledge Center, AWS Security Center, AWS Security Blog)
- Understanding the use of AWS services for identifying security issues (for example, AWS Trusted Advisor) (AWS Documentation: AWS Trusted Advisor)
Domain 3: Cloud Technology and Services 34%
3.1 Define methods of deploying and operating in the AWS Cloud
Knowledge of:
- Different ways of provisioning and operating in the AWS Cloud
- Different ways to access AWS services
- Types of cloud deployment models
- Connectivity options
Skills in:
- Deciding between options such as programmatic access (for example, APIs, SDKs, CLI), the AWS Management Console, and infrastructure as code (IaC) (AWS Documentation: Grant programmatic access)
- Evaluating requirements to determine whether to use one-time operations or repeatable processes
- Identifying different deployment models (for example, cloud, hybrid, onpremises) (AWS Documentation: Selecting the right cloud for workloads – differences between public, private, and hybrid)
- Identifying connectivity options (for example, AWS VPN, AWS Direct Connect, public internet) (AWS Documentation: Amazon Virtual Private Cloud Connectivity Options)
3.2 Define the AWS global infrastructure
Knowledge of:
- AWS Regions, Availability Zones, and edge locations
- High availability
- Use of multiple Regions
- Benefits of edge locations
- AWS Wavelength Zones and AWS Local Zones
Skills in:
- Describe the relationships among Regions, Availability Zones, and Edge Locations (AWS Documentation: Regions and Zones, Regions and Availability Zones)
- Describe how to achieve high availability through the use of multiple Availability Zones
- Describing when to use multiple Regions (for example, disaster recovery, business continuity, low latency for end users, data sovereignty) (AWS Documentation:Multi-Region Application Architecture)
- Describing at a high level the benefits of edge locations (for example, Amazon CloudFront, AWS Global Accelerator) (AWS Documentation:AWS for the Edge)
3.3 Identify AWS compute services
Knowledge of:
- AWS compute services
Skills in:
- Recognizing the appropriate use of different EC2 instance types (for example, compute optimized, storage optimized) (AWS Documentation: Compute optimized instances)
- Recognizing the appropriate use of different container options (for example, Amazon ECS, Amazon EKS) (AWS Documentation: Choosing an AWS container service)
- Recognizing the appropriate use of different serverless compute options (for example, AWS Fargate, Lambda)
- Recognizing that auto scaling provides elasticity (AWS Documentation: Auto Scaling group for your Elastic Beanstalk environment)
- Identifying the purposes of load balancers (AWS Documentation: What is an Application Load Balancer?)
3.4 Identify AWS database services.
Knowledge of:
- AWS database services
- Database migration
Skills in:
- Deciding when to use EC2 hosted databases or AWS managed databases (AWS Documentation: Choosing between Amazon EC2 and Amazon RDS)
- Identifying relational databases (for example, Amazon RDS, Amazon Aurora) (AWS Documentation: What is Amazon Aurora?)
- Identifying NoSQL databases (for example, DynamoDB) (AWS Documentation: Types of NoSQL databases)
- Identifying memory-based databases
- Identifying database migration tools (for example AWS Database Migration Service [AWS DMS], AWS Schema Conversion Tool [AWS SCT]) (AWS Documentation: What is AWS Database Migration Service?)
Task Statement 3.5: Identify AWS network services.
Knowledge of:
- AWS network services
Skills in:
- Identifying the components of a VPC (for example, subnets, gateways) (AWS Documentation: What is Amazon VPC?)
- Understanding security in a VPC (for example, network ACLs, security groups) (AWS Documentation: Control traffic to subnets using network ACLs)
- Understanding the purpose of Amazon Route 53 (AWS Documentation: What is Amazon Route 53?)
- Identifying edge services (for example, CloudFront, Global Accelerator) (AWS Documentation: AWS services for edge computing)
- Identifying network connectivity options to AWS (for example AWS VPN, Direct Connect) (AWS Documentation: Network-to-Amazon VPC connectivity options)
Task Statement 3.6: Identify AWS storage services.
Knowledge of:
- AWS storage services
Skills in:
- Identifying the uses for object storage (AWS Documentation: Amazon S3 objects overview)
- Recognizing the differences in Amazon S3 storage classes (AWS Documentation: Using Amazon S3 storage classes)
- Identifying block storage solutions (for example, Amazon Elastic Block Store [Amazon EBS], instance store) (AWS Documentation: Storage options for your Amazon EC2 instances)
- Identifying file services (for example, Amazon Elastic File System [Amazon EFS], Amazon FSx) (AWS Documentation: What is Amazon Elastic File System?)
- Identifying cached file systems (for example, AWS Storage Gateway) (AWS Documentation: Managing local disks for your gateway)
- Understanding use cases for lifecycle policies (AWS Documentation: Managing your storage lifecycle)
- Understanding use cases for AWS Backup
Task Statement 3.7: Identify AWS artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) services and analytics services.
Knowledge of:
- AWS AI/ML services
- AWS analytics services
Skills in:
- Understanding the different AI/ML services and the tasks that they accomplish (for example, Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Lex, Amazon Kendra) (AWS Documentation: Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI))
- Identifying the services for data analytics (for example, Amazon Athena, Amazon Kinesis, AWS Glue, Amazon QuickSight) (AWS Documentation: Overview of Amazon Web Services)
Task Statement 3.8: Identify services from other in-scope AWS service categories.
Knowledge of:
- Application integration services of Amazon EventBridge, Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS), and Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS)
- Business application services of Amazon Connect and Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES)
- Customer engagement services of AWS Activate for Startups, AWS IQ, AWS Managed Services (AMS), and AWS Support
- Developer tool services and capabilities of AWS AppConfig, AWS Cloud9, AWS CloudShell, AWS CodeArtifact, AWS CodeBuild, AWS CodeCommit, AWS CodeDeploy, AWS CodePipeline, AWS CodeStar, and AWS X-Ray
- End-user computing services of Amazon AppStream 2.0, Amazon WorkSpaces, and Amazon WorkSpaces Web
- Frontend web and mobile services of AWS Amplify and AWS AppSync
- IoT services of AWS IoT Core and AWS IoT Greengrass
Skills in:
- Choosing the appropriate service to deliver messages and to send alerts and notifications (AWS Documentation: Mobile text messaging (SMS))
- Choosing the appropriate service to meet business application needs (AWS Documentation: Business applications)
- Choosing the appropriate service for AWS customer support (AWS Documentation: Getting started with AWS Support)
- Choosing the appropriate option for business support assistance
- Identifying the tools to develop, deploy, and troubleshoot applications (AWS Documentation: Developer tools)
- Identifying the services that can present the output of virtual machines (VMs) on end-user machines (AWS Documentation: Compute services)
- Identifying the services that can create and deploy frontend and mobile services (AWS Documentation: Front-end web and mobile services)
- Identifying the services that manage IoT devices (AWS Documentation: Managing devices with AWS IoT)
Domain 4: Billing and Pricing 12%
Task Statement 4.1: Compare AWS pricing models.
Knowledge of:
- Compute purchasing options (for example, On-Demand Instances, Reserved Instances, Spot Instances, Savings Plans, Dedicated Hosts, Dedicated Instances, Capacity Reservations)
- Data transfer charges
- Storage options and tiers
Skills in:
- Identifying and comparing when to use various compute purchasing options (AWS Documentation: Instance purchasing options)
- Describing Reserved Instance flexibility (AWS Documentation: How Reserved Instances are applied)
- Describing Reserved Instance behavior in AWS Organizations (AWS Documentation: Reserved Instances)
- Understanding incoming data transfer costs and outgoing data transfer costs (for example, from one Region to another Region, within the same Region) (AWS Documentation: Understanding data transfer charges)
- Understanding different pricing options for various storage options and tiers
Task Statement 4.2: Understand resources for billing, budget, and cost management.
Knowledge of:
- Billing support and information
- Pricing information for AWS services
- AWS Organizations
- AWS cost allocation tags
Skills in:
- Understanding the appropriate uses and capabilities of AWS Budgets, AWS Cost Explorer, and AWS Billing Conductor (AWS Documentation: Cloud Financial Management)
- Understanding the appropriate uses and capabilities of AWS Pricing Calculator (AWS Documentation: What is AWS Pricing Calculator?)
- Understanding AWS Organizations consolidated billing and allocation of costs (AWS Documentation: Consolidated billing for AWS Organizations)
- Understanding various types of cost allocation tags and their relation to billing reports (for example, AWS Cost and Usage Report) (AWS Documentation: Using AWS cost allocation tags)
Task Statement 4.3: Identify AWS technical resources and AWS Support options.
Knowledge of:
- Resources and documentation available on official AWS websites
- AWS Support plans
- Role of the AWS Partner Network, including independent software vendors
and system integrators - AWS Support Center
Skills in:
- Locating AWS whitepapers, blogs, and documentation on official AWS websites
- Identifying and locating AWS technical resources (for example AWS Prescriptive Guidance, AWS Knowledge Center, AWS re:Post) (AWS Documentation: AWS Prescriptive Guidance Patterns)
- Identifying AWS Support options for AWS customers (for example, customer service and communities, AWS Developer Support, AWS Business Support, AWS Enterprise On-Ramp Support, AWS Enterprise Support)
- Identifying the role of Trusted Advisor, AWS Health Dashboard, and the AWS Health API to help manage and monitor environments for cost optimization (AWS Documentation: AWS Trusted Advisor)
- Identifying the role of the AWS Trust and Safety team to report abuse of AWS resources
- Understanding the role of AWS Partners (for example AWS Marketplace, independent software vendors, system integrators) (AWS Documentation: What is AWS Marketplace?)
- Identifying the benefits of being an AWS Partner (for example, partner training and certification, partner events, partner volume discounts) (AWS Documentation: Benefits for AWS Specialization Partners)
- Identifying the key services that AWS Marketplace offers (for example, cost management, governance and entitlement)
- Identifying technical assistance options available at AWS (for example, AWS Professional Services, AWS Solutions Architects)
Since this a foundation-level Exam, hence the Course Outline mentioned above is petite. Certainly, this is an advantage for you. So, now it’s time for you to buckle up and pay attention to the part you’ve been waiting for.
Preparatory Guide for AWS Cloud Practitioner
Just to clarify, the CLF-C02 Exam is not a difficult exam. That clearly implies that you can easily clear the exam and acquire the certification. However, not prepping for the exam will unquestionably result in a tragedy for obvious reasons. Therefore, we highly recommend going through our step by step routine for an excellent result.
1. Review all Exam Objectives
Before, venturing on any journey, one must have a clear idea of what he/she is putting themselves into. With that being said, reviewing each and every exam objective becomes the most important part of your preparation. So, make sure you visit the Official website of AWS, to have a clear view. Since it is the most authentic site to provide any information regarding the CLF-C02 Exam. After you’ve gone through the basic exam details. It’s time to hit the AWS Cloud Practitioner Study Guide.
2. Exploring AWS Learning Paths
Now that you have downloaded the course outline, it’s time for you to go through AWS Learning Paths. This particular step will ensure that you have a great foundation before real learning begins. In other words, acquiring prior knowledge will be like groundwork. Therefore, make sure to go through the following AWS Cloud Practitioner training paths-
3. AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials (Classroom)
This is fundamental-level, one-day, instructor-led classroom course. After this, the candidate learn the following –
- First thing first, defining what the cloud is and how it works
- Secondly, differentiate between cloud computing and deployment models
- Subsequently, describe the AWS Cloud value proposition
- Also, describe the basic global infrastructure of the cloud
- Further, compare the different methods of interacting with AWS
- And, describe and differentiate between AWS service domains
- Not to mention, identify an appropriate solution using AWS Cloud services
- Moreover, describe the Well-Architected Framework
- Additionally, describe basic AWS Cloud architectural principles
- Furthermore, Explain the Shared Responsibility model
- In the same vein, describe security services with the AWS cloud
- Further, define the billing, account management, and pricing models for the AWS platform
- Lastly, identify future services and developments built on the cloud
4. AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials (Second Edition)
This is a free digital course to understand the fundamentals of the AWS Cloud, build cloud skills, and prepare for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam. After this, the candidate will learn to do the following-
- Firstly, define what the AWS Cloud is and the basic global infrastructure
- Secondly, describe the key services on the AWS platform and their common use cases
- Thirdly, describe basic AWS Cloud architectural principles
- Subsequently, describe basic security and compliance aspects of the AWS platform and the shared security model
- Consequently, define the billing, account management, and pricing models
- And, identify sources of documentation or technical assistance (e.g., whitepapers, support tickets)
- Also, describe the AWS Cloud value proposition
- Furthermore, describe basic/core characteristics of deploying and operating in the AWS Cloud
5. Recommended AWS Knowledge
It is recommended that candidates must have at least 6 months of experience with the AWS Cloud in any role. Further, this includes traditional and non-traditional candidates, educators, and individuals exploring the AWS Cloud, including project managers, IT managers, sales managers, decision-makers, and marketers, as well as those working in finance, procurement, and legal departments.
Apart from this, a candidate must have a general IT Knowledge. This includes, having a basic understanding of IT services and their uses in the AWS Cloud platform.
AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty Study Guide
6. Online Courses
If a candidate wishes to join an Online Course for the same. There are various courses available online. In fact, the internet is cluttered with so many courses. So, makes sure to find a suitable course, which is available in your price range. These courses provide you with online video study material, that can get digested easily. Also, they even provide the candidate with sample papers. So, you can try them out.
7. Read AWS Whitepapers
After, this you must go through AWS whitepapers. With these, you will expand your knowledge of the cloud with AWS technical content. Also, you’ll find various technical whitepapers, technical guides, reference material, and reference architecture diagrams. But, we have narrowed it down to the following. So, make sure to go through the following-
- Overview of Amazon Web Services
- Architecting for the Cloud: AWS Best Practices
- How AWS Pricing Works
- Compare AWS Support Plans
8. AWS Reference Books
There are many reference books that are available for the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification Exam. And, the few good ones are,
- The Beginners Guide to Amazon Web Services book by Dennis Hutten
- AWS Cloud Practitioner Study Guide book by Ben Piper, David Clinton
- AWS Basics: Beginner’s Guide book by Gordon Wong
- Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification Guide book by Todd Montgomery
- Amazon Web Services for Dummies-by Bernard Golden
9. Join the Community/ Online Forum
Online forums and study groups are a great way to prepare for the certification exam. Therefore, feel free to get in touch with other candidates through study forums or online groups to ask a question related to the topic you’re having difficulty with.
However, it’s not something you have to join. It’s just something very subjective. Not to mention, these online groups help you stay equated with the other people who are also walking through the same path as yours. Moreover, you can also ask a question related to the topic you’re having difficulty with.
10. Self-evaluation Time
Finally, we’re on the last step for the preparatory guide. Further, this final step will give the candidate the exact insight of the topics in which they’re lacking. So, make sure you’re going through sample tests after you have gone through the entire syllabus. Most importantly, all the practice tests are designed to encounter the real exam environment around you. However, practice papers can be from various sources. Above all, remember the more you test yourself the better you’re going to become. SO START PRACTICING NOW!
Tips and Tricks directly from Experts:
Taking the certification exam is no fun. There’s a reason it’s a common nightmare for anyone that’s ever been in university, even briefly. This goes double for AWS exams which are a big investment in terms of time and preparation.
- First of all, understand, never use brain dumps. Make sure to avoid brain dumps. They won’t help you with the preparation.
- Secondly, make sure to memorize the exam objectives. Further, this will provide you with a clear vision.
- Subsequently, while preparing for the examination, make sure you understand what type of learner you are. No two individuals are the same, therefore understand your learning habits.
- Moreover, make sure you go through as much practice sets as possible. This help you learn better.
- Not to mention, if possible try to join an online community. Mark our words, this will be worth it.
- Also, try to plan your time according to your schedule. So that you have enough time on your hand and there are no gap between your preparation.
- Consequently, make sure to view at the multiple-choice question tricks.
- Last but not least, make sure to treat yourself well on the day of the exam.
Closing Thoughts
In the end, we would like to mention that the certifications are designed to identify the candidate’s ability to assist management. Also, their ability to improve the quality of information systems within the specialization. And, the framework of any profession is the body of knowledge what a candidate possesses.
As for the preparation part, candidates should avoid last-minute cramming sessions as it is rarely beneficial in the long term. If your experience is minimal or is limited to only certain areas of those related knowledge domains, then you should go for the study materials mentioned above in the guide to broaden your knowledge. And, we’re sure that you will be able to qualify the examination in the very first attempt.
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