The popular cloud platform for e-commerce, Amazon Web Services (AWS), has become an important component of its entire business plan. It has evolved in recent years as the leading cloud platform and has demonstrated to have a considerable competitive advantage. However, becoming an AWS Cloud Practitioner is on the to-do list for the majority of people and professionals who want to succeed in the cloud industry. And these days, obtaining a certification is comparable to receiving a key that opens the door to more advanced career opportunities, whether in the workplace or in business.
According to the research, the average base income for an AWS cloud practitioner is $1,48,623, making the salary one of the top ten best-paid IT qualifications in the country. Additionally, salaries for AWS cloud practitioners in India range from ₹1,297K to ₹1,416K.
With all of this in mind, we will focus on different study techniques and ideas in this blog post to assist you in becoming a cloud practitioner.
What is the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam?
One of the most basic exams to get started in the field of cloud computing is the AWS Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) Exam.
The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner is an entry-level exam designed to validate a candidate’s overall understanding of the AWS Cloud. The exam covers a range of topics, including:
- Cloud concepts: covers the fundamental concepts of cloud computing, including the benefits and drawbacks of cloud computing.
- Security: covers security measures, security services, and encryption in the AWS Cloud.
- Technology: covers the services offered by AWS and how they can be used to build and deploy applications.
- Billing and pricing: covers the AWS pricing models, cost optimization strategies, and how to manage costs.
- AWS Architecture: covers the design principles, best practices, and architecture patterns used in the AWS Cloud.
The exam is intended for those who can effectively demonstrate a general understanding of the AWS Cloud, independent of a specific job function. The test examines your ability in the following areas:
- Describing the benefits of the AWS Cloud.
- Recognizing and describing the shared responsibility model used by AWS.
- Recognizing optimal practices for security.
- Understanding the pricing, economics, and billing procedures of the AWS Cloud.
- Describing and positioning the key AWS services, including computing, network, databases, and storage.
- Describing the AWS services for common use scenarios.
Knowledge Required For The Exam:
Anyone with a foundational understanding of the AWS platform is eligible to become an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner. But to be sure, we recommend that you have the following before taking this test:
- Experience in the design, development, and/or operations of the AWS Cloud over the period of six months.B
- Basic knowledge of IT services, including how to use them in well-designed AWS Cloud solutions.
- Understanding the fundamental AWS services, use cases, billing, pricing, security, and how the cloud affects your business
- Knowledge of basic AWS services, security and compliance inside the AWS Cloud, and the AWS Cloud’s economics.
Basic Exam Details:
AWS Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C02) is a fundamental level exam. There will be a 90-minute time limit to complete 65 questions of type multiple-choice or multiple-response. And, the minimum score to pass the exam is 700. The exam will cost $100 USD and can be taken either in person at a testing center or online under a proctor.
The following language versions of this test are available: English, French (France), German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese (Brazil), Simplified Chinese, and Spanish (Latin America). Spanish (Spain) and Traditional Chinese are additional languages that are exclusively available through Pearson Vue.
We’ve covered the essential information for the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam, but if you want to pass it on your first try, you’ll need to study properly. Without it, you won’t be able to pass any AWS exams. Let’s check the preparation steps!
Steps to pass AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam
Taking the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam would be a great place to start if you are just starting started in the cloud world. The associate-level certification examinations for AWS are thought of as an originating point of this exam. But we are all aware of how difficult it is to be ready for any certification course. We must stick to the suggested test preparation strategy if we want to pass an exam. Here are some strategies and study resources for passing the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam.
1. Understanding the Topics using the Exam Study Guide
If you want to be completely familiar with the exam’s topic, you must begin your exam preparation by utilizing the AWS study guide. You can better comprehend the exam’s core concepts and objectives with the help of this guide. You will receive a thorough overview of the topics you should concentrate on when preparing for the exam from this guide. Moreover, you will be able to comprehend all exam subjects and learn about preparation tips. To succeed on the certification exam, all you have to do is adhere to them attentively. The topics are:
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)
2. Begin with AWS Training
You will be able to grasp the exam topics and have better knowledge using the AWS training. This includes:
– Exam Prep: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner:
You will learn how to evaluate your readiness for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam in this foundational-level course from Amazon Web Services (AWS). You need to show a general understanding of the AWS Cloud, regardless of your intended employment role. This course will help you examine many topic categories of the test and see how they relate to both the jobs of AWS Cloud practitioners and to certain fields of study. By analyzing the ideas that are being examined on the exam, you will also study example certification questions for each area.
– AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials:
Reference: https://aws.amazon.com/training/digital/aws-cloud-practitioner-essentials/?cp=sec&sec=prep
This updated digital course is intended for anybody, regardless of technical role, who wants to get a fundamental grasp of the AWS Cloud. To expand your understanding of AWS Cloud, you’ll study fundamental AWS services, security, architecture, pricing, and support.
– AWS Power Hour: Cloud Practitioner:
Develop your foundational understanding of AWS Cloud or get ready to take the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam. Learn the crucial facts you need to construct your future in the AWS Cloud by watching the interactive series. The hosts will lead you through the content with demonstrations and actual-world examples over the course of six episodes. Explore helpful materials, such as hints, documentation, and practice questions, conveniently organized by each episode. The episodes are:
- Intro to Cloud
- Global Infrastructure and Networking
- Storage and Databases
- Security
- Well-Architected Framework
– AWS Cloud Essentials for Business Leaders:
Reference: https://aws.amazon.com/training/classroom/aws-cloud-essentials-for-business-leaders/
Business executives who want a comprehensive knowledge of cloud computing’s core ideas should take this course. Find out how a cloud strategy may help you achieve your company goals. Through client examples, an examination of market trends, and the Cloud Value Framework, which helps in your comprehension of the business value of developing on AWS, the course dives deep into the business value of the cloud.
– AWS Technical Essentials:
Reference: https://aws.amazon.com/training/classroom/aws-technical-essentials/
You will gain knowledge of AWS products, services, and typical solutions in this introductory course. So that you can choose IT solutions depending on your company’s needs, you will learn the foundations of recognizing AWS services. You will learn the:
- Concepts related to the AWS platform
- Process of navigating the AWS Management Console
- Concepts of AWS security measures and AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
3. Use the AWS Whitepapers
The AWS whitepapers are published and produced by the officials to inform the audience about certain topics and to quicken the development of particular approaches. This may be an excellent resource for knowledge and information on fundamental subjects like security, architecture, and economics. Below are a few of the well-known AWS Whitepapers that might most likely assist you in getting ready for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification exam:
4. Start Taking Practice Tests
This is yet another essential component of the study guide that will not only assist you in identifying your weak areas but also in building a solid level of revision. To put it another way, you can improve your answer skills and save a tonne of time by using the practice examinations. To start with AWS Cloud Practitioner practice exams, there are a number of free sample examinations available. After you’ve reviewed a section or a few subjects, you can take practice examinations as part of your study.
5. Join Online Study Groups/Communities
Online study groups are a good resource for getting ready for the certification exam. They enable you to be surrounded by people taking the same exam as you. You can learn concepts and ideas that can assist in understanding the content more quickly. You may discover more study guides and other resources that can help in your understanding of the exam’s concepts properly. As part of the debate, you can share your questions and doubts related to the exam.
Some tips for the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam:
Here are some tips to help you prepare for and pass the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam:
- Review the official AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam Guide and AWS Whitepapers to understand the scope of the exam.
- Familiarize yourself with the AWS Management Console and get hands-on experience with the various AWS services.
- Study the AWS Glossary and make sure you understand the terminology used in the exam.
- Take advantage of the free AWS training courses and videos available online.
- Use practice exams and study materials to test your knowledge and identify areas that need improvement.
- Make sure you understand the pricing and cost optimization strategies for the various AWS services.
- Join online communities and forums to stay current on the latest developments in AWS.
- Get hands-on experience with real-world scenarios to reinforce your understanding of the concepts covered in the exam.
- Make sure you understand the AWS Well-Architected Framework and the five pillars of the AWS Cloud.
- Give yourself enough time to study and prepare, and make sure to take the exam when you feel confident and ready.
Final Words
To pass the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam on your first try, you must start preparing for it. Your entry into the world of cloud computing will come through this certification, which also qualifies you for a number of various professions. To further your preparation, create a study schedule and routine using the information above. After that, spend some time reviewing by appearing for practice tests. Successfully complete the exam, pass it, and become an AWS Cloud Practitioner.
