How to become an AWS Certified Solutions Architect?

Are you the one with experience in designing, architecting, and implementing large-scale networks but you want to review and verify it? If yes, then the AWS Solutions Architect certification is for you. Your skills and expertise in deploying, operating infrastructure and applications, and designing will be substantiated through this course. The Solutions Architect course can prove to be a great foundation for other certifications offered by Amazon Web Services. The certification is more about architecture rather than implementation. The training is equipped with Amazon-designated practices that would help you to easily pass the exam.

What are the key features of the AWS Solutions Architect certification?

During the certification, you will master the architectural principles for AWS and other services such as IAM, EC2, EBS, VPC and you will also be able to elevate your career to the cloud and beyond. Some of the additional features of this certification are:

• Best practices of AWS architecture would be taught to the candidate
• Comprehensive knowledge of AWS solutions planning would be imparted
• After the certification, the candidate would be able to design pliant AWS implementations
• You will also know about AWS cost estimation

AWS Solutions Architect certification verifies your technical abilities. Have a look below:

• Yow will successfully be able to showcase knowledge on how to deploy secure and robust applications on the technologies of the AWS
• You will efficiently architect and define solutions based on the design principles of architecture depending upon the requirements of the customer
• You will be able to effectively execute your guidance in the organization based on best practices, during the life cycle of the project

The step-by-step guide

To become an AWS Certified Solutions Architect you must follow the below-given steps:

Step 1: Complete the AWS training program so that you can enhance your technical skills with the AWS platform.

Step 2:  Review guides and take up sample questions to analyze your knowledge.

Step 3: Review the whitepapers by AWS from various sources so as to get a developed knowledge and to have a deeper understanding.

Step 4: Take a practice test online

Step 5: Register and sit for the AWS Solutions Architect examination 

The Training and Exam

The training process will help you to effortlessly pass the exam which can either be taken online or offline. During the training process, you are taught through short lectures. A broad overview of the AWS platform is given to the candidates. You do not require any programming or coding language, which makes this course ideal for beginners.

The exam for the AWS Solution Architecture takes place in one of the AWS Kryterion testing centers that have 750 locations throughout the world. You have to register to secure an appointment for your exam. In order to schedule, choose a location and register for the exam, you must go the AWS training website and click on ‘AWS Certification Account,’ following which you have to choose the ‘Schedule and Manage Exams’ dialog box. Then, you can fill in the name of your city and the ZIP code to choose the exam location. You can also sit for the online proctored exam. There are 60 multiple-choice based questions and to get the certification, you must have a minimum score of 65%. You will get 130 minutes to complete the test. The cost for the exam for this exam is $150. The exam is available in the English, Korean, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese

The 60 questions in the examination are divided into four sections:

• Design a highly available, fault-tolerant, scalable, and cost-efficient system. This section makes 60% of the entire paper
• Deployment/ Implementation is the second part. This section has 10% of the questions from the entire paper.
• Data security is the third section and incorporates 20% of the questions.
• Lastly, 10% of the questions are based on troubleshooting

The first section of the exam is the most crucial. Here, questions about building a cloud-based system using AWS can be asked. Real-world instances are used to introduce a problem and then it has to be solved. The second and the fourth section can be considered as the easiest. Basic facts and problems related to AWS are asked. The third section i.e. data security can be considered as the most tricky. It is imperative to have a good understanding of the security processes to crack this section.

Eligibility

To get this certification, you must be eligible in one of the following criterion:

• Be an existing Solutions Architect or a programmer interested in deploying applications on AWS.
• DevOps professionals or cloud developer or software engineers can take up this certification
• AWS absolute beginners can also opt for this certification
• If you are interested in hosting a highly scalable and fault-tolerant application on the AWS cloud, then also you can take up this certified course.

Pre-requisites

If you fit the eligibility criteria, you must also have related experience and knowledge. Some of the essentials are as follows:

• Must have an experience with AWS networking, storage, compute and database
• Should be able to define and identify technical needs of an application that is AWS based
• Should have a first-hand experience with management and deployment services
• Should have an aptness in identifying the technical requirements and its corresponding AWS service
• Knowledge of best practices to make reliable and secured applications for the AWS platform is required
• Must have a basic understanding of the basic principles of architecture
• Understanding of the AWS global structure is a must
• Should know network technologies as they are a key feature of AWS
• Familiarity with tools and security features which are provided by AWS would be helpful during the course

The AWS Solutions Architect certification will not only validate your skills but will also review your knowledge about AWS and its security. It will also enable you to understand AWS internally. With this certification under the belt, many employers would want to hire you and you can also expect a hike in your salary. So, don’t delay anymore and become a Cloud Guru today!