Congratulations! You've embarked on a new and exciting journey to pursue and pass the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam. This certification marks a significant milestone in your cloud computing career and demonstrates your foundational knowledge of AWS services and concepts. In this blog post, we'll delve into the key aspects of the exam, providing insights into what to focus on, how the questions are structured, and effective ways to prepare for success. Let's dive in!
Understanding the Exam Structure
So, how does the exam work? The AWS Cloud Practitioner exam is designed to validate your understanding of AWS cloud computing fundamentals, it's the stepping stone into world of AWS. Here are some important aspects to know about the exam structure:
Format: The exam consists of two types of multiple choice questions. Single answer questions, and multiple answer questions.
Duration: You will have 90 minutes to complete the exam.
Question Structure: Questions are generally scenario-based, testing your ability to apply AWS concepts to real-world scenarios.
Question Content: The exam covers four main domains; Cloud Concepts, Security and Compliance, Technology, and Billing and Pricing. It's essential to allocate study time accordingly to cover each domain thoroughly.
Question distribution: The amount of questions is not evenly distributed between the 4 domains. Cloud Concepts takes up 26%, Security and Compliance takes up 25%, Technology takes up 33%, and Billing and Pricing takes up the remaining 16%.
Scoring: There is a total of 65 questions, however you're only marked on 50 of them, and you must score 700 out of 1000 points - so thats 70%.
Focusing on Key Exam Topics
To prepare effectively for the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam, you should pay more attention to the four key domains mentioned above, but any AWS knowledge you learn is good knowledge. A good place to start is by focusing and doing some research on these key areas:
Cloud Computing Basics: Understand the fundamental concepts of cloud computing, such as the advantages of cloud, different deployment models (public, private, hybrid), and different service models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS).
AWS Global Infrastructure: Familiarise yourself with AWS regions, availability zones, and edge locations. Comprehend how these components contribute to high availability and scalability, and how user experience can be improved with services like CloudFront and Amazon Elasticache.
AWS Services: Gain knowledge of core AWS services, including EC2, S3, IAM, VPC, and CloudWatch. Understand their purpose, features, and how they are used in different scenarios.
Database Services: I would recommend having a basic understanding of what databases are, and the different types that are used by companies. This will help when it comes to understanding the various database services that AWS offers, like RDS, DynamoDB, and Amazon Neptune. From personally experience questions on which database service will be the best option appear quite frequently.
Security and Compliance: Learn about AWS security best practices, identity and access management, encryption, and compliance frameworks like GDPR and HIPAA. Also what services AWS offers to help keep track of your security and compliance, like AWS Inspector and Amazon GuardDuty.
Pricing and Billing: Get acquainted with AWS pricing models, cost optimisation strategies, and billing concepts like Reserved Instances, On-Demand instances, and AWS Cost Explorer. Also in which scenarios you would want to use a Spot Instance to save up to 90%.
Architectural Best Practices
To build secure, high-performing, resilient, and efficient architectures on AWS, it is essential to follow architectural best practices. Two frameworks that provide valuable guidance in this regard, and that you can guarantee will come up in the exam, are the Well-Architected Framework and The Cloud Adoption Framework. So be sure to learn these, here's an overview on what they are:
Well-Architected Framework: this is a set of best practices designed to help architects build highly functional, secure, and efficient systems on AWS. It provides a structured approach to evaluate architectures against five key pillars, including operational excellence, security, reliability, performance efficiency, and cost optimisation. By following the Well-Architected Framework, you can ensure that your AWS solutions align with industry best practices and meet the desired outcomes.
The Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF): this is a comprehensive guide that helps organisations design and implement effective cloud strategies. It provides a structured approach for planning, deploying, and managing cloud solutions, aligning them with business objectives and driving successful cloud adoption. The six perspectives that are focused on in this are: Business, People, Governance, Platform, Security, and Operations.
Effective Revision Strategies
Preparing for the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam requires a combination of theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience. Here are some effective study techniques to help you succeed:
AWS Training Platform: Leverage the official AWS Training platform, which offers a variety of learning paths, digital courses, and practice exams. It covers all the exam domains and provides hands-on labs to reinforce your understanding.
Documentation and Whitepapers: Explore the extensive AWS documentation and whitepapers, such as the AWS Well-Architected Framework, Security Best Practices, and Pricing Overview. These resources provide in-depth insights and real-world examples.
Online Tutorials and YouTube: Supplement your studies by watching video tutorials and educational content, YouTube and ExamPro have some great resources. Here's some links to get you going: YouTube, ExamPro.
Practice Exams: Take advantage of practice exams available online to simulate the exam environment and assess your knowledge. These exams are a great way to identify weak areas and familiarise yourself with the question format. Heres a link to resource with some great practice exams: Udemy.
Get Hands On: Don't be afraid to try out some of the AWS services yourself, a lot of people worry they may incur unwanted costs, but once you have a basic understanding of the services you'll know which are completely free to try out, like IAM and AWS Pricing Calculator. Most services also offer a free tier, either in the form of 12 months free, always free, or short term trials - so once you understand those you're 'free' to explore.
Conclusion
Passing the AWS Cloud Practitioner exam opens up a world of opportunities in the cloud computing industry. By focusing on the exam structure, key topics, and leveraging effective revision strategies, you can confidently approach the exam and succeed. Remember to allocate ample time for studying, practice answering scenario-based questions, and make use of the extensive resources provided by AWS and the online community. Good luck on your cloud practitioner journey, and may your certification be the stepping stone to a rewarding AWS career!
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