About this Course

Get introduced to the course.

Get introduced to the course.

What this course offers

This course does not read like a traditional book. It will include raw, point-to-point discussion of facts. For ease of understanding, it will also include diagrams and tables that summarize information in a clean format.

For easy navigation, the information on each AWSAmazon Web Services service in this document is organized into the same categories as it is in the AWS Management Console.

The scope of coverage of services and what information is included for each service is based on feedback from a pool of over 50,000 students who have taken the exam, as well as our own experience.

To test your understanding, we have added a total of 80 quiz questions. You will find them at the end of the major chapters.

Prerequisites

This course is intended for individuals with at least one year of hands-on experience with AWS. We expect you to be familiar with common AWS features and services. This course will go over all the technologies that the exam tests; however, we will keep it as brief as possible.

The AWS exam blueprint

The exam requires you to demonstrate knowledge of how to define a solution using architectural design principles based on customer requirements and to provide implementation guidance based on best practices to the organization throughout the project’s lifecycle. In the official Exam Guide for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect, the following AWS knowledge is recommended:

  • One year of hands-on experience designing available, cost-efficient, fault-tolerant, and scalable distributed systems on AWS.
  • Hands-on experience using compute, networking, storage, and database AWS services.
  • Hands-on experience with AWS deployment and management services.
  • Ability to identify and define technical requirements for an AWS-based application. Ability to identify which AWS services meet a given technical requirement.
  • Knowledge of recommended best practices for building secure and reliable applications on the AWS platform.
  • An understanding of the basic architectural principles of building on the AWS cloud.
  • An understanding of the AWS global infrastructure.
  • An understanding of network technologies as they relate to AWS.
  • An understanding of security features and tools that AWS provides and how they relate to traditional services.

The exam includes 65 questions and has a time limit of 130 minutes. You need to score a minimum of 720 out of 1000 points to pass the exam.

The exam’s question format is multiple-choice (one correct response from four options) and multiple responses (two or more correct responses from five or more options). All the questions are scenario-based, with most scenarios being just a few lines long.

You will find there are often multiple correct answers, and you must select the answer that best fits the scenario. For instance, you may be asked to select the most secure, most cost-effective, best architecture, or least complex option.

Important: Be very careful while reading the wording of the question to ensure you select the correct answer option. Sometimes, small details can be easily missed that change the answer, so take your time when taking the exam.