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Is the AWS Solutions Architect Associate Certificate worth it?

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Is the AWS Solutions Architect Associate Certificate worth it?

An AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate is someone who has been certified by Amazon in the creation, design, and deployment of secure and dependable applications in AWS. Someone with the title of AWS Solutions Architect – Associate can be trusted to find the right tools for the job – they can be trusted to get to the bottom of a tricky technical implementation problem and make it work. Earning the AWS Solutions Architect – Associate certification validates your AWS expertise.

Let us know if the AWS Solutions Architect Associate Certificate is worthy!

Before we move on to access the worth of this certification, allow us to brief a little more about what the certification is all about.

About AWS Solutions Architect Associate

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam is intended for candidates who have the ability and skills to perform the role of solutions architect. They must have at least one year of hands-on experience on AWS designing available, cost-effective, fault-tolerant, and scalable distributed systems. This exam validates candidates’ ability to architect and deploy secure and robust applications on AWS technologies. Furthermore, it increases your earning potential because the AWS Certified Solutions Architect’s Associate salary is $118,266 on average per year.

Recommended AWS Knowledge

Before you proceed to preparing for the exam you must know about the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate prerequisites :

  • Candidates must have at least one year of hands-on experience on AWS designing available, cost-effective, fault-tolerant, and scalable distributed systems.
  • They should have practical experience with AWS compute, networking, storage, and database services, as well as AWS deployment and management services.
  • Candidates must be capable of identifying and defining technical requirements for an AWS-based application.
  • They must be able to determine which AWS services meet a specific technical requirement.
  • They should be familiar with recommended best practises for developing secure and dependable applications on the AWS platform.
  • Candidates must also understand the fundamental architectural principles of building in the AWS Cloud. This includes understanding and knowledge of AWS global infrastructure and network technologies.

Exam Format

The questions on the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam are in multiple-choice format. Furthermore, this exam consists of 65 questions that must be answered in 130 minutes. The exam is offered in English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese. Furthermore, the following types of questions can be understood:

  • Multiple-choice questions require you to choose one correct option from a list of four.
  • Multiple-choice questions: There may be multiple correct answers from the options provided.

Furthermore, the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam costs $150 USD. To pass the exam, you must obtain a score of 70-75 percent. This exam is valid for three years.

To know more about the exam you can visit the online tutorials!

Course Outline

Domain 1: Design Secure Architectures (30%)
Task Statement 1: Design secure access to AWS resources.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 2: Design secure workloads and applications.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 3: Determine appropriate data security controls.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Domain 2: Design Resilient Architectures (26%)
Task Statement 1: Design scalable and loosely coupled architectures.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

  • Designing event-driven, microservice, and/or multi-tier architectures based on requirements (AWS Documentation: Event-Driven Architecture)
  • Determining scaling strategies for components used in an architecture design
  • Determining the AWS services required to achieve loose coupling based on requirements (AWS Documentation: Loosely Coupled Scenarios)
  • Determining when to use containers (AWS Documentation: Determining task size)
  • Determining when to use serverless technologies and patterns
  • Recommending appropriate compute, storage, networking, and database technologies based on requirements
  • Using purpose-built AWS services for workloads (AWS Documentation: Database)
Task Statement 2: Design highly available and/or fault-tolerant architectures.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

  • Determining automation strategies to ensure infrastructure integrity (AWS Documentation: Protecting Compute)
  • Determining the AWS services required to provide a highly available and/or fault-tolerant architecture across AWS Regions or Availability Zones (AWS Documentation: Architecture guidelines and decisions)
  • Identifying metrics based on business requirements to deliver a highly available solution
  • Implementing designs to mitigate single points of failure (AWS Documentation: Withstand Component Failures)
  • Implementing strategies to ensure the durability and availability of data (for example, backups)
  • Selecting an appropriate DR strategy to meet business requirements (AWS Documentation: Plan for Disaster Recovery (DR))
  • Using AWS services that improve the reliability of legacy applications and applications not built for the cloud (for example, when application changes are not possible)
  • Using purpose-built AWS services for workloads (AWS Documentation: Database)
Domain 3: Design High-Performing Architectures (24%)
Task Statement 1: Determine high-performing and/or scalable storage solutions.

Knowledge of:

  • Hybrid storage solutions to meet business requirements (AWS Documentation: Hybrid Cloud Storage)
  • Storage services with appropriate use cases (for example, Amazon S3, Amazon Elastic File System [Amazon EFS], Amazon Elastic Block Store [Amazon EBS]) (AWS Documentation: Storage)
  • Storage types with associated characteristics (for example, object, file, block)

Skills in:

  • Determining storage services and configurations that meet performance demands (AWS Documentation: Storage Architecture Selection)
  • Determining storage services that can scale to accommodate future needs (AWS Documentation: Storage)
Task Statement 2: Design high-performing and elastic compute solutions.

Knowledge of:

  • AWS compute services with appropriate use cases (for example, AWS Batch, Amazon EMR, Fargate) (AWS Documentation: AWS Batch on AWS Fargate, Compute Services)
  • Distributed computing concepts supported by AWS global infrastructure and edge services (AWS Documentation: Global infrastructure)
  • Queuing and messaging concepts (for example, publish/subscribe) (AWS Documentation: Pub/Sub Messaging)
  • Scalability capabilities with appropriate use cases (for example, Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling, AWS Auto Scaling) (AWS Documentation: Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling)
  • Serverless technologies and patterns (for example, Lambda, Fargate) (AWS Documentation: Serverless)
  • The orchestration of containers (for example, Amazon ECS, Amazon EKS) (AWS Documentation: Orchestrating the containers)

Skills in:

  • Decoupling workloads so that components can scale independently (AWS Documentation: Event-Driven Architecture)
  • Identifying metrics and conditions to perform scaling actions (AWS Documentation: Monitor CloudWatch metrics)
  • Selecting the appropriate compute options and features (for example, EC2 instance types) to meet business requirements (AWS Documentation: Amazon EC2 Instance Types)
  • Selecting the appropriate resource type and size (for example, the amount of Lambda memory) to meet business requirements
Task Statement 3: Determine high-performing database solutions.

Knowledge of:

  • AWS global infrastructure (for example, Availability Zones, AWS Regions) (AWS Documentation: Global infrastructure)
  • Caching strategies and services (for example, Amazon ElastiCache) (AWS Documentation: Caching strategies)
  • Data access patterns (for example, read-intensive compared with write-intensive) (AWS Documentation: Best practices for Amazon RDS)
  • Database capacity planning (for example, capacity units, instance types, Provisioned IOPS)
  • Database connections and proxies (AWS Documentation: Using Amazon RDS Proxy)
  • Database engines with appropriate use cases (for example, heterogeneous migrations, homogeneous migrations) (AWS Documentation: Heterogeneous database migration)
  • Database replication (for example, read replicas) (AWS Documentation: Working with read replicas)
  • Database types and services (for example, serverless, relational compared with non-relational, in-memory) (AWS Documentation: Database)

Skills in:

  • Configuring read replicas to meet business requirements
  • Designing database architectures (AWS Documentation: Database Architecture Selection)
  • Determining an appropriate database engine (for example, MySQL compared with PostgreSQL) (AWS Documentation: Best practices for Amazon RDS)
  • Determining an appropriate database type (for example, Amazon Aurora, Amazon DynamoDB)
  • Integrating caching to meet business requirements
Task Statement 4: Determine high-performing and/or scalable network architectures.

Knowledge of:

  • Edge networking services with appropriate use cases (for example, Amazon CloudFront, AWS Global Accelerator) (AWS Documentation: Edge networking with AWS)
  • How to design network architecture (for example, subnet tiers, routing, IP addressing) (AWS Documentation: VPC with public and private subnets (NAT))
  • Load balancing concepts (for example, Application Load Balancer) (AWS Documentation: Application Load Balancer)
  • Network connection options (for example, AWS VPN, Direct Connect, AWS PrivateLink) (AWS Documentation: AWS Direct Connect)

Skills in:

Task Statement 5: Determine high-performing data ingestion and transformation solutions.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Domain 4: Design Cost-Optimized Architectures (20%)
Task Statement 1: Design cost-optimized storage solutions.

Knowledge of:

  • Access options (for example, an S3 bucket with Requester Pays object storage) (AWS Documentation: Using Requester Pays buckets for storage transfers and usage)
  • AWS cost management service features (for example, cost allocation tags, multi-account billing) (AWS Documentation: Using Cost Allocation Tags)
  • AWS cost management tools with appropriate use cases (for example, AWS Cost Explorer, AWS Budgets, AWS Cost and Usage Report) (AWS Documentation: Analyzing your costs with AWS Cost Explorer)
  • AWS storage services with appropriate use cases (for example, Amazon FSx, Amazon EFS, Amazon S3, Amazon EBS) (AWS Documentation: Storage)
  • Backup strategies (AWS Documentation: AWS Backup)
  • Block storage options (for example, hard disk drive [HDD] volume types, solid state drive [SSD] volume types) (AWS Documentation: Amazon EBS volume types)
  • Data lifecycles (AWS Documentation: Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager)
  • Hybrid storage options (for example, DataSync, Transfer Family, Storage Gateway)
  • Storage access patterns
  • Storage tiering (for example, cold tiering for object storage) (AWS Documentation: Using Amazon S3 storage classes)
  • Storage types with associated characteristics (for example, object, file, block) (AWS Documentation: Storage)

Skills in:

Task Statement 2: Design cost-optimized compute solutions.

Knowledge of:

  • AWS cost management service features (for example, cost allocation tags, multi-account billing) (AWS Documentation: Using Cost Allocation Tags)
  • AWS cost management tools with appropriate use cases (for example, Cost Explorer, AWS Budgets, AWS Cost and Usage Report) (AWS Documentation: AWS Cost Explorer)
  • AWS global infrastructure (for example, Availability Zones, AWS Regions) (AWS Documentation: Global infrastructure)
  • AWS purchasing options (for example, Spot Instances, Reserved Instances, Savings Plans) (AWS Documentation: Instance purchasing options)
  • Distributed compute strategies (for example, edge processing) (AWS Documentation: Amazon SageMaker Distributed Training Libraries)
  • Hybrid compute options (for example, AWS Outposts, AWS Snowball Edge) (AWS Documentation: Compute Services)
  • Instance types, families, and sizes (for example, memory optimized, compute optimized, virtualization) (AWS Documentation: Memory optimized instances)
  • Optimization of compute utilization (for example, containers, serverless computing, microservices)
  • Scaling strategies (for example, auto scaling, hibernation) (AWS Documentation: Warm pools for Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling)

Skills in:

  • Determining an appropriate load balancing strategy (for example, Application Load Balancer [Layer 7] compared with Network Load Balancer [Layer 4] compared with Gateway Load Balancer) (AWS Documentation: Elastic Load Balancing FAQs)
  • Determining appropriate scaling methods and strategies for elastic workloads (for example, horizontal compared with vertical, EC2 hibernation) (AWS Documentation: Best practices for EC2 Spot)
  • Determining cost-effective AWS compute services with appropriate use cases (for example, Lambda, Amazon EC2, Fargate)
  • Determining the required availability for different classes of workloads (for example, production workloads, non-production workloads) (AWS Documentation: Workloads)
  • Selecting the appropriate instance family for a workload
  • Selecting the appropriate instance size for a workload (AWS Documentation: Tips for Right Sizing)
Task Statement 3: Design cost-optimized database solutions.

Knowledge of:

  • AWS cost management service features (for example, cost allocation tags, multi-account billing) (AWS Documentation: Using Cost Allocation Tags)
  • AWS cost management tools with appropriate use cases (for example, Cost Explorer, AWS Budgets, AWS Cost and Usage Report) (AWS Documentation: AWS Cost Explorer)
  • Caching strategies (AWS Documentation: Caching strategies)
  • Data retention policies
  • Database capacity planning (for example, capacity units) (AWS Documentation: Read/write capacity mode)
  • Database connections and proxies (AWS Documentation: Using Amazon RDS Proxy)
  • Database engines with appropriate use cases (for example, heterogeneous migrations, homogeneous migrations) (AWS Documentation: Heterogeneous database migration)
  • Database replication (for example, read replicas) (AWS Documentation: Working with read replicas)
  • Database types and services (for example, relational compared with non-relational, Aurora, DynamoDB) (AWS Documentation: Database)

Skills in:

  • Designing appropriate backup and retention policies (for example, snapshot frequency)
  • Determining an appropriate database engine (for example, MySQL compared with PostgreSQL) (AWS Documentation: Best practices for Amazon RDS)
  • Determining cost-effective AWS database services with appropriate use cases (for example, DynamoDB compared with Amazon RDS, serverless)
  • Determining cost-effective AWS database types (for example, time series format, columnar format) (AWS Documentation: AWS Cloud Databases)
  • Migrating database schemas and data to different locations and/or different database engines (AWS Documentation: Best practices for AWS Database Migration Service)
Task Statement 4: Design cost-optimized network architectures.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

  • Configuring appropriate NAT gateway types for a network (for example, a single shared NAT gateway compared with NAT gateways for each Availability Zone) (AWS Documentation: NAT gateways)
  • Configuring appropriate network connections (for example, Direct Connect compared with VPN compared with internet) (AWS Documentation: AWS Direct Connect FAQs)
  • Configuring appropriate network routes to minimize network transfer costs (for example, Region to Region, Availability Zone to Availability Zone, private to public, Global Accelerator, VPC endpoints)
  • Determining strategic needs for content delivery networks (CDNs) and edge caching (AWS Documentation: Working with Content Delivery Networks (CDNs))
  • Reviewing existing workloads for network optimizations (AWS Documentation: Optimize over time)
  • Selecting an appropriate throttling strategy (AWS Documentation: Throttle API requests for better throughput)
  • Selecting the appropriate bandwidth allocation for a network device (for example, a single VPN compared with multiple VPNs, Direct Connect speed) (AWS Documentation: Site-to-Site VPN single and multiple connection)

Now that we know about the exam, let us delve into the main point of the article –

Is the AWS Solutions Architect Associate Certificate worth it?

It’s a safe bet that the AWS Solutions Architect – Associate certification is well worth the time; effort, and money required to obtain it. While it may not be ideal for highly experienced and specialized.

Because the certification is essentially a test of your knowledge of everything AWS, studying and preparing for the AWS Solutions Architect – Associate exam – SAA-C02 – is a great way to identify which areas of AWS you’re familiar with and which areas you may be lacking in.

Another obvious reason people obtain certifications is to demonstrate or validate their expertise in a particular field. The AWS Solutions Architect – Associate certification is an industry-standard for confirming someone’s proficiency as an AWS operator. The exam covers every aspect of planning and implementing AWS services for a wide range of problems. With the certification, you’ll be recognized as a dependable AWS expert.

IT professionals, it is an excellent certification for architects or sysadmins who work or could work with AWS on a daily basis. If you already solve problems and implement solutions using AWS Cloud, this is one of the best certs for ensuring – and clearly stating – that you understand every aspect of AWS’ many tools and services.

Let us now go through the resources which can help you ace the exam –

Official AWS Training

The Official AWS Training will assist you in passing your AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification tests on the first attempt. Furthermore, there are numerous options for studying for your AWS CSS Exam on your own time and at your own pace. AWS also provides a plethora of preparation and training materials on its website. The courses there will help you prepare for the exam by researching the domains and planning your study accordingly.

AWS Whitepapers

AWS whitepapers are an excellent source of information on fundamental topics such as security, architecture, and economics. Some of the most highly recommended AWS Whitepapers are as follows:

  • Firstly, Architecting for the Cloud: AWS Best Practices whitepaper, Feb 2016.
  • Secondly, AWS Well-Architected web page (various whitepapers linked)

Online Tutorial

The AWS Solutions Architect Associate online tutorials are another important learning resource for passing the exam and gaining expertise. As an AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate, these tutorials provide a well-elaborated study guide that will assist you in gaining hands-on proficiency in applying the concepts of the AWS Security platform in practical scenarios.

Practice Tests

Using AWS Solutions Architect Exam Papers to practice will help you understand where you need to improve in your preparation. Practice papers, on the other hand, can come from a variety of sources. So, remember that the more you put yourself to the test, the better you’ll become.

Conclusion

The AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam assesses an aspirant’s knowledge of cloud computing, design, and networking on the AWS platform, as well as identifying its technicalities and balance. It’s worth it because of the market value and demand. So, what are you holding out for? Begin practicing right away.

Anandita Doda
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