AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional - Passed Today
jayc71
Member Posts: 112 ■■■■□□□□□□
That was a tough but fair exam. 77 Questions in 170 minutes, I finished with about 35 minutes to go. There is a LOT of reading involved and it definitely requires that you've actually set up the services in the console and understand how they function. That's 4/5, now I get to decide how badly I want that DevOps Pro cert... (probably not that bad 
)
Studying: I've been working with AWS since 2012, it's been my primary focus since 2014. I've worked with most of the services in the scope of this exam, but I still went back and re-read the AWS documentation on them prior to the test. You won't pass this exam without having worked with the core services in the AWS console and understanding them well. Use the free tier if you have to, walk through service deployment and configurations. Understand sizing (throughput, IOPS, EBS performance) and pricing also, aka which services cost more or less than others, some questions will present several technically correct options and ask you which is the most cost effective. Understand IAM and authentication very well. I used CloudAcademy and watched all of the architecture-focused re:Invent youtube videos I could find. Here are some whitepapers (must read), articles and sites I found useful:
AWS Well Architected Framework
AWS Security Best Practices
AWS VPC for on-premise Network Engineers (great explanation of how VPC networking functions)
AWS Cert **** Sheet <--Great for a quick refresh
I also took the Architecting on AWS and Advanced Architecting on AWS courses from Amazon, those are helpful but will not prepare you to take the certification exams.
)Studying: I've been working with AWS since 2012, it's been my primary focus since 2014. I've worked with most of the services in the scope of this exam, but I still went back and re-read the AWS documentation on them prior to the test. You won't pass this exam without having worked with the core services in the AWS console and understanding them well. Use the free tier if you have to, walk through service deployment and configurations. Understand sizing (throughput, IOPS, EBS performance) and pricing also, aka which services cost more or less than others, some questions will present several technically correct options and ask you which is the most cost effective. Understand IAM and authentication very well. I used CloudAcademy and watched all of the architecture-focused re:Invent youtube videos I could find. Here are some whitepapers (must read), articles and sites I found useful:
AWS Well Architected Framework
AWS Security Best Practices
AWS VPC for on-premise Network Engineers (great explanation of how VPC networking functions)
AWS Cert **** Sheet <--Great for a quick refresh
I also took the Architecting on AWS and Advanced Architecting on AWS courses from Amazon, those are helpful but will not prepare you to take the certification exams.
CISSP, CCSP, CCSK, Sec+, AWS CSA/Developer/Sysops Admin Associate, AWS CSA Pro, AWS Security - Specialty, ITILv3, Scrummaster, MS, BS, AS, my head hurts.
Comments
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SkyBlue
Member Posts: 73 ■■□□□□□□□□
jayc71. Great achievement.
Can you please provide more detail information about how you prepared for the exam?
---Study Materials
---Lab
---Practice questions
---etc
I believe this will help a lot to the future test takers who are thinking or preparing for the exam.
Regards -
JoJoCal19
Mod Posts: 2,835 Mod
Congrats on the pass! What type of role are you in right now?Have: CISSP, CISM, CISA, CRISC, eJPT, GCIA, GSEC, CCSP, CCSK, AWS CSAA, AWS CCP, OCI Foundations Associate, ITIL-F, MS Cyber Security - USF, BSBA - UF, MSISA - WGU
Currently Working On: Python, OSCP Prep
Next Up: OSCP
Studying: Code Academy (Python), Bash Scripting, Virtual Hacking Lab Coursework -
jayc71
Member Posts: 112 ■■■■□□□□□□
jayc71. Great achievement.
Can you please provide more detail information about how you prepared for the exam?
---Study Materials
---Lab
---Practice questions
---etc
I believe this will help a lot to the future test takers who are thinking or preparing for the exam.
Regards
Updated.Congrats on the pass! What type of role are you in right now?
AWS solutions/security architectCISSP, CCSP, CCSK, Sec+, AWS CSA/Developer/Sysops Admin Associate, AWS CSA Pro, AWS Security - Specialty, ITILv3, Scrummaster, MS, BS, AS, my head hurts. -
averageguy72
Member Posts: 323 ■■■■□□□□□□
Congrats!CISSP / CCSP / CCSK / CRISC / CISM / CISA / CASP / Security+ / Network+ / A+ / CEH / eNDP / AWS Certified Advanced Networking - Specialty / AWS Certified Security - Specialty / AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional / AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Professional / AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate / AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate / AWS Certified Developer - Associate / AWS Cloud Practitioner
