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What is AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate?

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AWS Solutions Architect Associate Exam

Do you wish to become a Certified as a Solutions Architect Associate? Then, AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification exam is definitely the right choice for you. Also, from the past few years, AWS demand has rapidly grown in the market. Not to mention, the top-notch companies are also in search of Solution Architect. Due to this, companies are in search of certified candidates.

Moreover, this has created a buzz among individuals. Therefore, you may find plenty of content regarding the AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam. However, it’s quite a challenge to gather and organize all the valuable content or mark everything. But, we’ve got you covered. Before we delve into comprehending all the details about the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Exam, let’s initially grasp who a Solution Architect is and what tasks they handle.

Who is a Solutions Architect?

A solution architect is in charge of planning how one or multiple applications or services work in a company. They’re often on a team that creates solutions. They need to understand both technology and business. They also collaborate with an enterprise architect for big-picture strategies. They focus on the technical choices for the solution. They play a big role in business results, which is why AWS professionals with these skills are highly wanted.

Responsibilities of Solutions Architect Associate

A Solution Architect’s main duties are:

  • First, they need to understand how to use technology to solve business issues.
  • Second, they must design a solution based on the needed framework, platform, or technology.
  • Next, they consider the appearance of the application, its components, and how they work together.
  • They also ensure the solution can grow in the future and be managed well.
  • Furthermore, they analyze the risks in using external frameworks or platforms.
  • Lastly, they work on finding solutions for business problems.

You may also Read: How to become AWS Solutions Architect Associate?

AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate: Exam Overview

As previously stated, a Solutions Architect is someone who really knows cloud design principles. These principles are crucial for creating and setting up strong, dependable, and scalable business solutions in the cloud. The AWS certifications for Solutions Architects are valuable for learning, confirming, proving, and showcasing your skill in designing. Plus, it’s beneficial for setting up strong and safe applications on the AWS platform. Because of this, Amazon Web Services offers two AWS Architecting certifications –

  • Firstly, AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate.
  • Secondly, AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional

As mentioned earlier, we’ll discuss all the resources you need for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam in this article. Now, let’s begin by taking the initial step and getting acquainted with the exam’s fundamental details.

Exam Details

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam is designed for individuals who will work as Solutions Architects. This exam confirms the candidate’s capability in:

Firstly, creating a solution using architectural design rules to meet customer needs.

Then, offering advice to the organization for implementing best practices during the entire project journey.

The questions in the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam come in Multiple Choice format. You’ll have to answer 65 questions within 130 minutes. The exam fee is 150 USD. It’s crucial to note that the exam is available in English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese languages only. Therefore, being skilled in at least one of these languages is important. Additionally, the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification is valid for 3 years.

AWS Solutions Architect Associate – Exam Format

AWS Solutions Architect Associate – Course Outline

We will now provide a list containing all the modules covered in the AWS Certified Solution Architect Associate exam. Below illustrates a brief overview of the course outline

New AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) Exam Course Outline

Domain 1: Design Secure Architectures
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
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
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
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 all the domains are very clear to you. Let’s move on and understand how will this exam be beneficial to you. 

Benefits of AWS Certification

Now that you’re prepared to become AWS certified, here’s an extra reward for you. These numbers might amaze you, so get ready for a surprise.

  • Firstly, numerous major companies are embracing multi-cloud plans, leading to a rise in AWS Certifications.
  • Secondly, AWS certified experts receive digital badges. These badges showcase your certification success.
  • Next, AWS Certified individuals tend to earn higher salaries compared to those without certifications.
  • Lastly, if you’re a freelancer, having an AWS certification adds more project opportunities to your list!

Now that you have a fair idea about the AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam, we will move on to the Learning resources to prepare for the exam.

Preparatory Guide for AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Exam

Let’s prepare you as you’ve never prepared before!

As the saying goes, “Work smarter, not harder.” With this in mind, we’ve created a study guide that will assist you in acing the certification with great success. Our detailed preparation guide offers a step-by-step approach to help you get ready systematically. The illustration below presents the path to achievement. Stick to your AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam guide and excel in the exam!

Must Read: How to Clear AWS Solutions Architect Associate Exam ?

Learning Resource 1 – Reference Books

To begin, let’s talk about books. As we’re aware, reference books are a valuable source. There are several options of books for the AWS Solutions Architect Professional exam.

  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect Official Study Guide: Associate Exam (Aws Certified Solutions Architect Official: Associate Exam) by Joe Baron  
  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide: Associate SAA–C01 by Ben Piper  and David Clinton  

Learning Resources 2 – Amazon Web Services (AWS) Training

AWS offers training to enhance your practical cloud skills, boosting your capability, self-assurance, and reliability. With the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Training, you have the option to learn online at your own speed. They provide an authorized AWS instructor, designed by AWS experts. This training suits beginners building on their IT skills and experts with cloud knowledge. So, you can go through these AWS training sessions to clarify uncertainties and improve your abilities.

Learning Resource 3 – AWS Whitepaper

You’ve probably come across the term “white papers.” Well, AWS whitepapers are fantastic sources of information that discuss essential subjects like security, architecture, and economics. To make things easier for you, we’re sharing some well-liked AWS whitepapers:

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

Learning Resource 4 – Exam Practice sets

Self-study is a vital part of getting ready for any exam. Ensure you evaluate yourself by practicing as much as possible. Using AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate practice tests will reveal where you need more preparation. Just remember, practice papers can come from different places. So, remember the more you test yourself the better you’re going to become. Start preparing with AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate free practice tests

Now that you have the preparation guide, focus on getting ready for the exam. We’re cheering for your success. If you’re someone who feels nervous before exams, take a look at the following section. We’re confident it will be beneficial.

Keep calm and crush exam anxiety

First and foremost, gather yourself. Control your thoughts and concentrate on the exam. Everything will be alright. Just give your best effort. But if you’re feeling anxious, here are some tips for your exam day.

  • To begin with, get all your things ready the night before to avoid any morning chaos.
  • Then, on the day, wake up early and read something short and concise. This will help warm up your mind and body before the exam.
  • Furthermore, have a nourishing meal before attempting the exam.
  • And if you’re still stressed, try meditating.
  • Lastly, stay calm and don’t overthink. You’ll be alright.

Experts Corner

We know it’s not easy to stay concentrated, but keep in mind that great job opportunities are within reach through certification. It’s no longer sufficient for IT experts to simply ‘understand computers.’ The worth of certifications has increased threefold recently. Plus, the added skills certified professionals offer are highly valued by companies. Although the value of certification is clear now, there was doubt about its importance a few years back. So, don’t hesitate – go and get certified today.

Get ready to boost your learning and prepare for AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Exam with real-time exam questions and expert guidance.

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