David Clinton - AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide

The second part of the book is a set of best practices and principles aimed at helping you design, implement, and operate systems in the cloud. Part IIfocuses on the following five pillars of good design:

Reliability

Performance efficiency

Security

Cost optimization

Operational excellence

Each chapter of Part IIrevisits the core AWS services in light of a different pillar. Also, because not every AWS service is large enough to warrant its own chapter, Part IIsimultaneously introduces other services that, although less well known, may still show up on the exam.

Achieving the right balance among these pillars is a key skill you need to develop as a solutions architect. Prior to beginning Part II, we encourage you to peruse the Well‐Architected Framework white paper, which is available for download at d0.awsstatic.com/whitepapers/architecture/AWS_Well-Architected_Framework.pdf.

This book covers topics you need to know to prepare for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam:

Chapter 1: Introduction to Cloud Computing and AWS This chapter provides an overview of the AWS Cloud computing platform and its core services and concepts.

Chapter 2: Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud and Amazon Elastic Block Store This chapter covers EC2 instances—the virtual machines that you can use to run Linux and Windows workloads on AWS. It also covers the Elastic Block Store service that EC2 instances depend on for persistent data storage.

Chapter 3: AWS Storage In this chapter, you'll learn about Simple Storage Service (S3) and Glacier, which provide unlimited data storage and retrieval for AWS services, your applications, and the Internet.

Chapter 4: Amazon Virtual Private Cloud This chapter explains Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC), a virtual network that contains network resources for AWS services.

Chapter 5: Database Services In this chapter, you will learn about some different managed database services offered by AWS, including Relational Database Service (RDS), DynamoDB, and Redshift.

Chapter 6: Authentication and Authorization—AWS Identity and Access Management This chapter covers AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), which provides the primary means for protecting the AWS resources in your account.

Chapter 7: CloudTrail, CloudWatch, and AWS Config In this chapter, you'll learn how to log, monitor, and audit your AWS resources.

Chapter 8: The Domain Name System and Network Routing: Amazon Route 53 and Amazon CloudFront This chapter focuses on the Domain Name System (DNS) and Route 53, the service that provides public and private DNS hosting for both internal AWS resources and the Internet. It also covers CloudFront, Amazon's global content delivery network.

Chapter 9: Simple Queue Service and Kinesis This chapter explains how to use the principle of loose coupling to create scalable and highly available applications. You'll learn how Simple Queue Service (SQS) and Kinesis fit into the picture.

Chapter 10: The Reliability Pillar This chapter will show you how to architect and integrate AWS services to achieve a high level of reliability for your applications. You'll learn how to plan around and recover from inevitable outages to keep your systems up and running.

Chapter 11: The Performance Efficiency Pillar This chapter covers how to build highly performing systems and use the AWS elastic infrastructure to rapidly scale up and out to meet peak demand.

Chapter 12: The Security Pillar In this chapter, you'll learn how to use encryption and security controls to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of your data and systems on AWS. You'll also learn about the various security services such as GuardDuty, Inspector, Shield, and Web Application Firewall.

Chapter 13: The Cost Optimization Pillar This chapter will show you how to estimate and control your costs in the cloud.

Chapter 14: The Operational Excellence Pillar In this chapter, you'll learn how to keep your systems running smoothly on AWS. You'll learn how to implement a DevOps mind‐set using CloudFormation, Systems Manager, and the AWS Developer Tools.

The authors have worked hard to provide some really great tools to help you with your certification process. The interactive online learning environment that accompanies the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide: Associate SAA‐C02 Exam, Third Edition provides a test bank with study tools to help you prepare for the certification exam—and increase your chances of passing it the first time! The test bank includes the following:

Sample Tests All the questions in this book are provided, including the assessment test at the end of this Introduction and the chapter tests that include the review questions at the end of each chapter. In addition, there are two practice exams with 50 questions each. Use these questions to test your knowledge of the study guide material. The online test bank runs on multiple devices.

Flashcards The online text banks include 100 flashcards specifically written to hit you hard, so don't get discouraged if you don't ace your way through them at first. They're there to ensure that you're really ready for the exam. And no worries—armed with the review questions, practice exams, and flashcards, you'll be more than prepared when exam day comes. Questions are provided in digital flashcard format (a question followed by a single correct answer). You can use the flashcards to reinforce your learning and provide last‐minute test prep before the exam.

Resources You'll find some AWS CLI and other code examples from the book for you to cut and paste for use in your own environment. A glossary of key terms from this book is also available as a fully searchable PDF.

Go to wiley.com/go/sybextestprepto register and gain access to this interactive online learning environment and test bank with study tools.

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam is intended for people who have experience in designing distributed applications and systems on the AWS platform. In general, you should have the following before taking the exam:

A minimum of one year of hands‐on experience designing systems on AWS

Hands‐on experience using the AWS services that provide compute, networking, storage, and databases

Ability to define a solution using architectural design principles based on customer requirements

Ability to provide implementation guidance

Ability to identify which AWS services meet a given technical requirement

An understanding of the five pillars of the Well‐Architected Framework

An understanding of the AWS global infrastructure, including the network technologies used to connect them

An understanding of AWS security services and how they integrate with traditional on‐premises security infrastructure

The exam covers five different domains, with each domain broken down into objectives.

The following table lists each domain and its weighting in the exam, along with the chapters in the book where that domain's objectives are covered.