I recently passed my AWS Certified Solutions Architect (SAA-C03) exam. In this article, How to Pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect. I want to share my learning and experiences with you, so you can get a better feeling on why you should go for the certification, and how the actual day of taking the test was for me.
How to Pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect: SAA-C03 Exam
This AWS Certified Solutions Architect certification path is intended for individuals who are looking to build and validate overall understanding of the AWS Cloud. This path is useful for individuals in technical, managerial, sales, purchasing, or financial roles who work with the AWS Cloud. Becoming an AWS Certified Solutions Architect is a recommended step toward achieving an AWS professional or Specialty certification.
AWS Cloud Practitioner exam is considered as the easiest of all AWS certification as it just focuses on fundamental knowledge on AWS and its services.
Whereas AWS Certified Solutions Architect is hard due to big syllabus and many AWS services. People with less exposure to AWS can get overwhelmed with deep study and many services at first. Recommendation is to go through video course twice.
AWS is boasting over 200+ services (growing every year)! Currently, there is a lot of information on the web about AWS like white papers, courses, books, and videos.
Even if you are working on AWS, it can be overwhelming as we don’t work on all AWS services. As a said earlier AWS has 200+ services and more. So it can be lot of theory, too many topic, overwhelming, confusing etc. But do not worry, take your time.
To solve that problem, I’ve created this AWS Certified Solutions Architect exam guide. In this guide, I’ve curated the right study materials based on my 8+ years of experience.
Let’s start! Here are the detailed steps to help you get prepared to pass the AWS Certified AWS Cloud Practitioner exam:
Who should take the AWS Certified Solutions Architect exam?
The ideal candidate will have at least one year of hands-on experience designing cloud solutions using AWS services.
To be successful at passing this exam, AWS recommends that you understand the following topics:
- The AWS Cloud and its basic global infrastructure
- AWS Cloud architectural principles
- The AWS Cloud value proposition
- Key AWS services along with their common use cases (for example, highly available web applications or data analysis)
- The basic security and compliance practices relating to the AWS platform and the shared security model.
- AWS billing, account management, and pricing models Documentation and technical assistance resources
- Basic characteristics for deploying and operating in the AWS Cloud.
How to prepare AWS Certified Solutions Architect Exam SAA-C03:
Format: 65 questions; either multiple choice or multiple response
Level: Associate
Length: 130 minutes to complete the exam
Your results for the exam are reported as a scaled score of 100–1,000. The minimum passing score is 720.
Exam overview
The exam consists of the following:
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect exam consists of 65 multiple-choice, multiple-answer questions.
You have 130 minutes to complete the exam.
It costs $150
The minimum passing score for this exam is 720 points
The exam is available in English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese.
As explained in the official AWS Certified Solutions Architect exam guide. The following topics are included in the exam including their weighted percentage:
Go through details from https://d1.awsstatic.com/training-and-certification/docs-sa-assoc/AWS-Certified-Solutions-Architect-Associate_Exam-Guide.pdf
How to Prepare for AWS Certified Solution Architect Associate Exam
1)Join an online course
Udemy Course: Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate SAA-C03 by Stephane Maarek. Stephane Maarek is best when it comes to learning AWS. [My opinion]
This is the ultimate course I recommend to anyone preparing for the AWS Solution architect associate level exam on Udemy. It’s created by Stephane Maarek, one of my favorite instructors and another AWS Certified Solutions Architect & Developer.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate 2022 by A Cloud Guru I am a massive fan of A Cloud Guru and Ryan Kroonenburg, and as the name suggests, they are really the gurus when it comes to cloud, serverless, and AWS certifications.
2) AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study material:
Everybody has their own preferred way of learning. I am giving recommendation from my personal point of view.
3) AWS Study guide:
I really like books to prepare for any certification, but with AWS, the problem is that Amazon has been kept changing AWS certification as well as AWS itself with high speed. That means any book will quickly become outdated with respect to consoles, functions, and services. This was my biggest issue for using any book for AWS certification.
For reading enthusiasts, I recommend the official AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide: SAA-C03 Exam.
Every topic in the exam is covered in this book and explained thoroughly for beginners. Especially useful are the hands-on exercises combined with the hundreds of practice questions.
The hands-on exercises give you a good understanding of how the AWS console works in combination with its services. The practice questions in the book are similar to what you can expect at the real exam, so it’s wise to finish the questions in the book.
Btw, if you are looking for a more up-to-date book to prepare for AWS Certified Solution Architected Associate, then you can also check AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide: Associate SAA-C01 Exam 2nd Edition by Ben Piper and David Clinton. The book also includes 2 Practice exams and 100 electronic flashcards for easy revision.
4) AWS Whitepaper:
Overview of Amazon Web Services – AWS Whitepaper
AWS pricing overview
AWS Support plans
5) Practice test – recommended:
Time needed: 2–3 days. Don’t do all tests in a day. Review the test and learn from incorrect answers provided.
Practice Exams | AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate (325 questions) – Stephane Maarek & Abhishek Singh. This Udemy course is an excellent collection of high-quality practice questions written from scratch with detailed explanations for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Exam. You can use them to prepare for your SAA-C03 exam.
Jon Bonson’s AWS Solution Architect Practice tests (390 questions) This course contains 6 practice tests of 65 questions each, go for your final preparation.
WhizLabs (620 questions)
Includes 6 full-length mock exams and 620 unique questions for AWS Solution architect associate exam practice. It has both full tests as well as topic wise tests to improve your weak areas. On top of that explanation for every question is provided, which further helps in your learning.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect (SAA-C03) – cheat sheet:
This is my personal cheat sheet used for AWS SAA-C03.
The Final Thought on How to Pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect: SAA-C03 Exam:
Thanks for reading! I hope that this article has helped you in your learning journey!
The AWS Certified Solutions Architect (SAA-C03) exam was certainly more difficult than I had anticipated. Learning more about AWS, and Cloud Computing in general, has given me a newfound appreciation for the mind-blowing progress that has been made in technology, and how fast things move in the industry.
I hope “How to Pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect: SAA-C03 Exam” article helped you at least a little bit with your preparation and gives you a nice overview. If you have scheduled an exam, I wish you all the best and good luck!
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