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AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Cheat Sheet

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AWS solution architect Cheat Sheet

The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification is designed for individuals who have experience designing and deploying scalable, fault-tolerant, and cost-effective systems on Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud.

Preparing for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam encompasses studying the exam material and practicing with sample exams to become acquainted with the exam structure and question types. AWS offers various resources to aid in your exam preparation, such as training courses, whitepapers, and documentation.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Glossary

Here are some key terms and concepts you may encounter in the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification:

  • Amazon Web Services (AWS): A cloud computing platform that offers an array of services, including computing, storage, databases, and networking.
  • Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2): A web service that provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud.
  • Simple Storage Service (S3): A scalable object storage service that allows users to store and retrieve data.
  • Elastic Load Balancing (ELB): A service that distributes incoming traffic across multiple EC2 instances to improve availability and fault tolerance.
  • Auto Scaling: A service that autonomously scales the number of EC2 instances in response to fluctuations in demand.
  • Virtual Private Cloud (VPC): A virtual network that allows users to launch AWS resources into a defined virtual network.
  • Route 53: A DNS web service that allows users to manage domain names and routes traffic to AWS resources.
  • Relational Database Service (RDS): A managed database service that simplifies the process of configuring, operating, and scaling a relational database in the cloud.
  • Simple Queue Service (SQS): A fully managed message queuing service that enables decoupling and scaling microservices, distributed systems, and serverless applications.
  • Lambda: A serverless compute service that runs your code in response to events and automatically manages the computing resources for you.
  • Elastic Beanstalk: A service that makes it easy to deploy, manage, and scale web applications and services developed with Java, .NET, PHP, Node.js, Python, Ruby, Go, and Docker.
  • CloudFront: A content delivery network (CDN) service that delivers data, videos, applications, and APIs to customers globally with low latency, high transfer speeds, all within a developer-friendly environment.
  • Identity and Access Management (IAM): A service that enables you to manage access to AWS services and resources securely.
  • CloudWatch: A monitoring service for AWS resources and the applications you run on them.
  • CloudFormation: A service that enables you to use a template file to create and provision AWS resources in a consistent and repeatable way.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Study Guide

Here are some official resources provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) to help you prepare for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam:

  1. Exam guide: The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Exam Guide offers comprehensive insights into the exam, encompassing its structure, content, and domains. This resource is crucial for gaining a clear understanding of the exam’s subject matter and how to ready oneself for it. You can access the exam guide here: https://d1.awsstatic.com/training-and-certification/docs-sa-assoc/AWS-Certified-Solutions-Architect-Associate_Exam-Guide_EN.pdf
  2. Exam readiness training: AWS offers a range of training courses to help you prepare for the exam, including classroom training, virtual training, and e-learning courses. The exam readiness training is designed to help you learn about the exam format and content and to provide tips and strategies for taking the exam. You can access the exam readiness training here: https://aws.amazon.com/training/course-descriptions/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-exam-readiness/
  3. Sample questions: AWS offers sample questions to assist you in getting acquainted with the exam’s layout and the kinds of questions presented. These sample questions are designed to help you test your knowledge and identify areas where you may need to focus your study. You can access the sample questions here: https://d1.awsstatic.com/training-and-certification/docs-sa-assoc/AWS-Certified-Solutions-Architect-Associate_Sample-Questions.pdf
  4. Official study guide: The official study guide is a comprehensive resource that provides detailed information about the exam content, along with hands-on exercises, review questions, and sample scenarios. This guide is designed to help you build the knowledge and skills needed to pass the exam. You can access the official study guide here: https://www.amazon.com/Certified-Solutions-Architect-Official-Study/dp/111950421X

AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Exam Tips and Tricks

  • Understand the Exam Format: The AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Exam consists of 65 multiple-choice questions, and you have 130 minutes to complete them.
  • Study the AWS Whitepapers: AWS whitepapers are an excellent source of information for the exam, and it’s recommended to read the following whitepapers: AWS Well-Architected Framework, AWS Security Best Practices, AWS Cloud Adoption Framework, and AWS Storage Services Overview.
  • Understand the AWS Services: You need to understand the various AWS services, their capabilities, and limitations. It’s essential to know which services to use in specific situations, such as storage, compute, networking, and databases.
  • Practice with AWS Free Tier: AWS offers a free tier that you can use to experiment with different services, which can help you gain hands-on experience with the AWS platform.
  • Use AWS Documentation: The AWS documentation is an excellent resource that provides in-depth information about the various AWS services. Make sure to read and understand the documentation for the services covered in the exam.
  • Take Practice Tests: Practice tests are a valuable tool for evaluating your understanding and pinpointing areas that require enhancement. AWS provides sample questions on its official website, and numerous third-party practice tests are also accessible.
  • Understand Security Best Practices: AWS places a significant emphasis on security, and it’s crucial to understand security best practices and how to secure your AWS resources.
  • Manage Your Time: Make sure you manage your time effectively during the exam. You will have a total of 130 minutes to respond to 65 questions, which translates to approximately 2 minutes per question. If you encounter a challenging question, it’s advisable to proceed to the next one and return to it later if needed.

Quick Guide for AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate

For good preparation for the AWS certification exam, you will require a plan and the essential resources. So, here in this quick AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam guide, we will check the various resources from making a blueprint to understanding exam topics with essential study material. So, without wasting time, let’s get started with this to help you prepare and pass the exam.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate preparation guide

Step 1: Review the Exam Blueprint

Creating a blueprint with mentioning all the important details and topics will provide you benefits during the revision time. However, in this cheat sheet for the AWS exam, we have almost created an accurate blueprint that will help you. Further, this will also help you mark out the areas that you find difficult so that first you can revise them properly.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate online tutorials

Step 2: Understanding the Important Exam Concepts

This is an important part of the revision for the AWS certified solutions architect associate certification exam. Getting familiarity with the exam topics will not increase your knowledge but it will help you to understand the concepts instead of cramming it. Moreover, with this, you will get the confidence of giving the exam as almost every part is covered in the exam topics provided by AWS. Below, you can see the list of important topics with important subsections, just go through them.

New AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) Exam Course Outline

Domain 1: Design Secure Architectures
Task Statement 1: Design secure access to AWS resources.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 2: Design secure workloads and applications.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 3: Determine appropriate data security controls.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Domain 2: Design Resilient Architectures
Task Statement 1: Design scalable and loosely coupled architectures.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

  • Designing event-driven, microservice, and/or multi-tier architectures based on requirements (AWS Documentation: Event-Driven Architecture)
  • Determining scaling strategies for components used in an architecture design
  • Understanding Determining the AWS services required to achieve loose coupling based on requirements (AWS Documentation: Loosely Coupled Scenarios)
  • Determining when to use containers (AWS Documentation: Determining task size)
  • Determining when to use serverless technologies and patterns
  • Recommending appropriate compute, storage, networking, and database technologies based on requirements
  • Using purpose-built AWS services for workloads (AWS Documentation: Database)
Task Statement 2: Design highly available and/or fault-tolerant architectures.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

  • Determining automation strategies to ensure infrastructure integrity (AWS Documentation: Protecting Compute)
  • Determining the AWS services required to provide a highly available and/or fault-tolerant architecture across AWS Regions or Availability Zones (AWS Documentation: Architecture guidelines and decisions)
  • Identifying metrics based on business requirements to deliver a highly available solution
  • Implementing designs to mitigate single points of failure (AWS Documentation: Withstand Component Failures)
  • Implementing strategies to ensure the durability and availability of data (for example, backups)
  • Selecting an appropriate DR strategy to meet business requirements (AWS Documentation: Plan for Disaster Recovery (DR))
  • Using AWS services that improve the reliability of legacy applications and applications not built for the cloud (for example, when application changes are not possible)
  • Using purpose-built AWS services for workloads (AWS Documentation: Database)
Domain 3: Design High-Performing Architectures
Task Statement 1: Determine high-performing and/or scalable storage solutions.

Knowledge of:

  • Hybrid storage solutions to meet business requirements (AWS Documentation: Hybrid Cloud Storage)
  • Storage services with appropriate use cases (for example, Amazon S3, Amazon Elastic File System [Amazon EFS], Amazon Elastic Block Store [Amazon EBS]) (AWS Documentation: Storage)
  • Storage types with associated characteristics (for example, object, file, block)

Skills in:

  • Determining storage services and configurations that meet performance demands (AWS Documentation: Storage Architecture Selection)
  • Determining storage services that can scale to accommodate future needs (AWS Documentation: Storage)
Task Statement 2: Design high-performing and elastic compute solutions.

Knowledge of:

  • AWS compute services with appropriate use cases (for example, AWS Batch, Amazon EMR, Fargate) (AWS Documentation: AWS Batch on AWS Fargate, Compute Services)
  • Distributed computing concepts supported by AWS global infrastructure and edge services (AWS Documentation: Global infrastructure)
  • Queuing and messaging concepts (for example, publish/subscribe) (AWS Documentation: Pub/Sub Messaging)
  • Scalability capabilities with appropriate use cases (for example, Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling, AWS Auto Scaling) (AWS Documentation: Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling)
  • Serverless technologies and patterns (for example, Lambda, Fargate) (AWS Documentation: Serverless)
  • The orchestration of containers (for example, Amazon ECS, Amazon EKS) (AWS Documentation: Orchestrating the containers)

Skills in:

  • Decoupling workloads so that components can scale independently (AWS Documentation: Event-Driven Architecture)
  • Identifying metrics and conditions to perform scaling actions (AWS Documentation: Monitor CloudWatch metrics)
  • Selecting the appropriate compute options and features (for example, EC2 instance types) to meet business requirements (AWS Documentation: Amazon EC2 Instance Types)
  • Selecting the appropriate resource type and size (for example, the amount of Lambda memory) to meet business requirements
Task Statement 3: Determine high-performing database solutions.

Knowledge of:

  • AWS global infrastructure (for example, Availability Zones, AWS Regions) (AWS Documentation: Global infrastructure)
  • Caching strategies and services (for example, Amazon ElastiCache) (AWS Documentation: Caching strategies)
  • Data access patterns (for example, read-intensive compared with write-intensive) (AWS Documentation: Best practices for Amazon RDS)
  • Database capacity planning (for example, capacity units, instance types, Provisioned IOPS)
  • Understanding Database connections and proxies (AWS Documentation: Using Amazon RDS Proxy)
  • Database engines with appropriate use cases (for example, heterogeneous migrations, homogeneous migrations) (AWS Documentation: Heterogeneous database migration)
  • Learning Database replication (for example, read replicas) (AWS Documentation: Working with read replicas)
  • Database types and services (for example, serverless, relational compared with non-relational, in-memory) (AWS Documentation: Database)

Skills in:

  • Configuring read replicas to meet business requirements
  • Designing database architectures (AWS Documentation: Database Architecture Selection)
  • Understanding and Determining an appropriate database engine (for example, MySQL compared with PostgreSQL) (AWS Documentation: Best practices for Amazon RDS)
  • Determining an appropriate database type (for example, Amazon Aurora, Amazon DynamoDB)
  • Integrating caching to meet business requirements
Task Statement 4: Determine high-performing and/or scalable network architectures.

Knowledge of:

  • Edge networking services with appropriate use cases (for example, Amazon CloudFront, AWS Global Accelerator) (AWS Documentation: Edge networking with AWS)
  • How to design network architecture (for example, subnet tiers, routing, IP addressing) (AWS Documentation: VPC with public and private subnets (NAT))
  • Load balancing concepts (for example, Application Load Balancer) (AWS Documentation: Application Load Balancer)
  • Network connection options (for example, AWS VPN, Direct Connect, AWS PrivateLink) (AWS Documentation: AWS Direct Connect)

Skills in:

Task Statement 5: Determine high-performing data ingestion and transformation solutions.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Domain 4: Design Cost-Optimized Architectures
Task Statement 1: Design cost-optimized storage solutions.

Knowledge of:

  • Access options (for example, an S3 bucket with Requester Pays object storage) (AWS Documentation: Using Requester Pays buckets for storage transfers and usage)
  • AWS cost management service features (for example, cost allocation tags, multi-account billing) (AWS Documentation: Using Cost Allocation Tags)
  • Understanding AWS cost management tools with appropriate use cases (for example, AWS Cost Explorer, AWS Budgets, AWS Cost and Usage Report) (AWS Documentation: Analyzing your costs with AWS Cost Explorer)
  • AWS storage services with appropriate use cases (for example, Amazon FSx, Amazon EFS, Amazon S3, Amazon EBS) (AWS Documentation: Storage)
  • Backup strategies (AWS Documentation: AWS Backup)
  • Block storage options (for example, hard disk drive [HDD] volume types, solid state drive [SSD] volume types) (AWS Documentation: Amazon EBS volume types)
  • Data lifecycles (AWS Documentation: Amazon Data Lifecycle Manager)
  • Hybrid storage options (for example, DataSync, Transfer Family, Storage Gateway)
  • Storage access patterns
  • Learning about Storage tiering (for example, cold tiering for object storage) (AWS Documentation: Using Amazon S3 storage classes)
  • Storage types with associated characteristics (for example, object, file, block) (AWS Documentation: Storage)

Skills in:

Task Statement 2: Design cost-optimized compute solutions.

Knowledge of:

  • AWS cost management service features (for example, cost allocation tags, multi-account billing) (AWS Documentation: Using Cost Allocation Tags)
  • Understanding AWS cost management tools with appropriate use cases (for example, Cost Explorer, AWS Budgets, AWS Cost and Usage Report) (AWS Documentation: AWS Cost Explorer)
  • AWS global infrastructure (for example, Availability Zones, AWS Regions) (AWS Documentation: Global infrastructure)
  • AWS purchasing options (for example, Spot Instances, Reserved Instances, Savings Plans) (AWS Documentation: Instance purchasing options)
  • Distributed compute strategies (for example, edge processing) (AWS Documentation: Amazon SageMaker Distributed Training Libraries)
  • Hybrid compute options (for example, AWS Outposts, AWS Snowball Edge) (AWS Documentation: Compute Services)
  • Instance types, families, and sizes (for example, memory optimized, compute optimized, virtualization) (AWS Documentation: Memory optimized instances)
  • Optimization of compute utilization (for example, containers, serverless computing, microservices)
  • Scaling strategies (for example, auto scaling, hibernation) (AWS Documentation: Warm pools for Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling)

Skills in:

  • Determining an appropriate load balancing strategy (for example, Application Load Balancer [Layer 7] compared with Network Load Balancer [Layer 4] compared with Gateway Load Balancer) (AWS Documentation: Elastic Load Balancing FAQs)
  • Determining appropriate scaling methods and strategies for elastic workloads (for example, horizontal compared with vertical, EC2 hibernation) (AWS Documentation: Best practices for EC2 Spot)
  • Understanding and Determining cost-effective AWS compute services with appropriate use cases (for example, Lambda, Amazon EC2, Fargate)
  • Determining the required availability for different classes of workloads (for example, production workloads, non-production workloads) (AWS Documentation: Workloads)
  • Selecting the appropriate instance family for a workload
  • Selecting the appropriate instance size for a workload (AWS Documentation: Tips for Right Sizing)
Task Statement 3: Design cost-optimized database solutions.

Knowledge of:

  • AWS cost management service features (for example, cost allocation tags, multi-account billing) (AWS Documentation: Using Cost Allocation Tags)
  • Caching strategies (AWS Documentation: Caching strategies)
  • Data retention policies
  • Database capacity planning (for example, capacity units) (AWS Documentation: Read/write capacity mode)
  • Understanding Database engines with appropriate use cases (for example, heterogeneous migrations, homogeneous migrations) (AWS Documentation: Heterogeneous database migration)
  • Learning replication (for example, read replicas) (AWS Documentation: Working with read replicas)
  • Database types and services (for example, relational compared with non-relational, Aurora, DynamoDB) (AWS Documentation: Database)

Skills in:

  • Designing appropriate backup and retention policies (for example, snapshot frequency)
  • Determining an appropriate database engine (for example, MySQL compared with PostgreSQL) (AWS Documentation: Best practices for Amazon RDS)
  • Learning and Determining cost-effective AWS database services with appropriate use cases (for example, DynamoDB compared with Amazon RDS, serverless)
  • Determining cost-effective AWS database types (for example, time series format, columnar format) (AWS Documentation: AWS Cloud Databases)
  • Migrating database schemas and data to different locations and/or different database engines (AWS Documentation: Best practices for AWS Database Migration Service)
Task Statement 4: Design cost-optimized network architectures.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

  • Configuring appropriate NAT gateway types for a network (for example, a single shared NAT gateway compared with NAT gateways for each Availability Zone) (AWS Documentation: NAT gateways)
  • Understanding and Configuring appropriate network connections (for example, Direct Connect compared with VPN compared with internet) (AWS Documentation: AWS Direct Connect FAQs)
  • Configuring appropriate network routes to minimize network transfer costs (for example, Region to Region, Availability Zone to Availability Zone, private to public, Global Accelerator, VPC endpoints)
  • Determining strategic needs for content delivery networks (CDNs) and edge caching (AWS Documentation: Working with Content Delivery Networks (CDNs))
  • Reviewing existing workloads for network optimizations (AWS Documentation: Optimize over time)
  • Selecting an appropriate throttling strategy (AWS Documentation: Throttle API requests for better throughput)
  • Selecting the appropriate bandwidth allocation for a network device (for example, a single VPN compared with multiple VPNs, Direct Connect speed) (AWS Documentation: Site-to-Site VPN single and multiple connection)

Step 3: Exploring Amazon Web Services (AWS) Training

AWS provides training that helps you to build competence, confidence, and credibility through practical cloud skills. You have the option to undergo AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Training at your own convenience through online learning. This training is developed and instructed by accredited AWS experts. It helps individuals at different levels, whether you’re a beginner looking to build upon your existing IT skills or a seasoned professional with prior cloud knowledge. Enrolling in these AWS training programs can help address your queries and enhance your skill set.

Step 4: Using Reference Books

Books can offer distinct advantages when it comes to studying and retaining information, particularly during revision. They allow for a systematic approach where you can easily pick up where you left off and focus on specific areas of interest. When preparing for the AWS Solution Architect Associate exam, you’ll find a variety of books available online. Here are a few recommended options:

  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect – The Definitive Study Guide by Zeal Vora
  • Serverless Architectures on AWS by Peter
  • AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Complete Study Guide: 100+ Exam Practice Questions by IP Specialist

Step 5: Evaluating using Practice Tests

Practice tests play a crucial role in your preparation as they enable you to assess your strengths and weaknesses. Engaging in regular practice helps enhance your ability to answer questions efficiently, ultimately saving you valuable time during the actual exam. It is advisable to incorporate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate practice tests into your study routine, ideally after completing a full topic, as this serves as an effective revision strategy. By revising thoroughly and then evaluating your performance, you can increase your chances of success on the exam.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate practice tests

Enhance your AWS skills and become AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Now!

Pulkit Dheer
With a background in Engineering and a great enthusiasm for writing, Pulkit focuses on intensive research to create targeted content. He brings his years of learning and experience to his current role. With a zeal towards technological research and powerful use of words dedicated to inspire and help professionals onset their career.
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