New AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty Exam Updates

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New AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty Exam

The AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty exam is intended for candidates who possess the knowledge and skills required to perform complex networking tasks. This exam validates candidates’ abilities in the following areas:

  • AWS cloud-based solution design, development, and deployment
  • Implementing AWS core services using best practices in basic architecture
  • Upkeep and design network architecture for all AWS services
  • Making use of tools to automate AWS networking tasks

Prerequisites

There are a few prerequisites for AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty. Candidates applying for the exam must have the following knowledge and experience:

  • Candidates should have an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification or a current Associate-level certification in one of the following areas: AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, AWS Certified Developer – Associate, or AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate.
  • They must be well-versed in AWS networking concepts and technologies.
  • Candidates must have at least five years of hands-on experience designing and implementing network solutions.
  • They should understand advanced networking architectures and interconnectivity options (for example, IP VPN, MPLS/VPLS), as well as networking technologies within the OSI model and how they influence implementation decisions.
  • It is recommended that you are familiar with CIDR and subnetting (IPv4 and IPv6), as well as the IPv6 transition challenges.
  • Candidates must be familiar with generic network security solutions such as WAF, IDS, IPS, DDoS protection, and Economic Denial of Service/Sustainability (EDoS).
  • They should be familiar with the creation of automation scripts and tools for routing architectures (both static and dynamic), multi-region solutions for a global enterprise, and highly available connectivity solutions (e.g., DX, VPN).

In January 2022, the new AWS ANS-C01 exam for the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty certification was released (as beta version).

What is the same?

The beta exam had more questions and was longer in length than the ANS-C00, but this is standard for beta exams as AWS collects data to help improve the final exam.

However, the number of questions (65) and a passing score (75 percent) are the same in the ANS-C01 exam guide. The time allocation is also expected to be the same (170 minutes). The exam’s price will most likely remain the same at $300 USD.

There are no exam labs or hands-on exercises to complete, and the exam can be taken in a testing center or online. The exam is entirely made up of multiple-choice and multiple-response questions.

What are the differences?

The ANS-C01 exam guide contains four domains of knowledge, whereas the ANS-C00 exam guide contains six domains.

ANS-C00 DomainsANS-C01 Domains
Domain 1: Design and implement hybrid IT network architectures at scaleDomain 1: Network Design
Domain 2: Design and implement AWS networksDomain 1: Network Design
Domain 3: Automate AWS tasksDomain 2: Network Implementation
Domain 4: Configure network integration with application servicesDomain 2: Network Implementation
Domain 5: Design and implement for security and complianceDomain 4:  Network Security, Compliance, and Governance
Domain 6: Manage, optimize, and troubleshoot the networkDomain 3: Network Management and Operation

Exam Details: AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty

There will be multiple-choice and multiple-answer questions on the AWS Advanced Networking Specialty (ANS-C01) Exam. Candidates will only have 170 minutes to complete the exam. This exam will cost USD 300 and will be available in English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese. The AWS certification, on the other hand, is only valid for three years.

Detailed Course outline

Updated AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty (ANS-C01) Course outline
Domain 1: Network Design (30%)

Task Statement 1.1: Design a solution that incorporates edge network services to optimize user performance and traffic management for global architectures.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 1.2: Design DNS solutions that meet public, private, and hybrid requirements.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 1.3: Design solutions that integrate load balancing to meet high availability, scalability,
and security requirements.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 1.4: Define logging and monitoring requirements across AWS and hybrid networks.
Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 1.5: Design a routing strategy and connectivity architecture between on-premises
networks and the AWS Cloud.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 1.6: Design a routing strategy and connectivity architecture that includes multiple AWS
accounts, AWS Regions, and VPCs to support different connectivity patterns.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Domain 2: Network Implementation (26%)

Task Statement 2.1: Implement routing and connectivity between on-premises networks and the AWS Cloud.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 2.2: Implement routing and connectivity across multiple AWS accounts, Regions, and VPCs to support different connectivity patterns.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 2.3: Implement complex hybrid and multi-account DNS architectures.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 2.4: Automate and configure network infrastructure.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Domain 3: Network Management and Operations (20%)

Task Statement 3.1: Maintain routing and connectivity on AWS and hybrid networks.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 3.2: Monitor and analyze network traffic to troubleshoot and optimize connectivity patterns.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 3.3: Optimize AWS networks for performance, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

  • Optimizing for network throughput (AWS Documentation: Amazon EC2 instance network bandwidth)
  • Selecting the right network interface for the best performance (for example, elastic network interface, Elastic Network Adapter [ENA], Elastic Fabric Adapter [EFA]) (AWS Documentation: Elastic Fabric Adapter)
  • Choosing between VPC peering, proxy patterns, or a transit gateway connection based on analysis of the network requirements provided (AWS Documentation: Transit gateway design best practices, Automate the setup of inter-Region peering)
  • Implementing a solution on an appropriate network connectivity service (for example, VPC peering, Transit Gateway, VPN connection) to meet network requirements (AWS Documentation: Transit VPC solution)
  • Implementing a multicast capability within a VPC and on-premises environments (AWS Documentation: Working with multicast)
  • Creating Route 53 public hosted zones and private hosted zones and records to optimize application availability (for example, private zonal DNS entry to route traffic to multiple Availability Zones)
  • Updating and optimizing subnets for auto-scaling configurations to support the increased application load (AWS Documentation: UpdateAutoScalingGroup)
  • Updating and optimizing subnets to prevent the depletion of available IP addresses within a VPC (for example, secondary CIDR) (AWS Documentation: Subnets for your VPC)
  • Configuring jumbo frame support across connection types (AWS Documentation: Network maximum transmission unit (MTU) for your EC2 instance)
  • Optimizing network connectivity by using Global Accelerator to improve network performance and application availability (AWS Documentation: AWS Global Accelerator)
Domain 4: Network Security, Compliance, and Governance (24%)

Task Statement 4.1: Implement and maintain network features to meet security and compliance needs and requirements.

Knowledge of:

  • Different threat models based on application architecture
  • Common security threats (AWS Documentation: Security and compliance)
  • Mechanisms to secure different application flows
  • AWS network architecture that meets security and compliance requirements

Skills in:

  • Securing inbound traffic flows into AWS (for example, AWS WAF, AWS Shield, Network Firewall) (AWS Documentation: AWS WAF, AWS Shield, and AWS Firewall Manager)
  • Securing outbound traffic flows from AWS (for example, Network Firewall, proxies, Gateway Load Balancers) (AWS Documentation: AWS Network Firewall example architectures with routing)
  • Securing inter-VPC traffic within an account or across multiple accounts (for example, security groups, network ACLs, VPC endpoint policies) (AWS Documentation: Internetwork traffic privacy in Amazon VPC)
  • Implementing an AWS network architecture to meet security and compliance requirements (for example, untrusted network, perimeter VPC, three-tier architecture) (AWS Documentation: Architecture)
  • Developing a threat model and identifying appropriate mitigation strategies for a given network architecture
  • Testing compliance with the initial requirements (for example, failover test, resiliency) (AWS Documentation: AWS Direct Connect Failover Test)
  • Automating security incident reporting and alerting using AWS (AWS Documentation: Automating Incident Response)

Task Statement 4.2: Validate and audit security by using network monitoring and logging services.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Task Statement 4.3: Implement and maintain the confidentiality of data and communications of the network.

Knowledge of:

Skills in:

Let us now look at some resources that will help you ace the exam in one try –

AWS Official Page

Amazon recommends that candidates have sufficient hands-on experience with relevant AWS products and services before taking the AWS certification exam. Amazon also provides its own preparation courses and sample tests. Candidates can take readiness training and practice exams to put their knowledge to the test in a timed environment. These can also be found on the official website. Candidates should, however, gather all exam-related information from the official website.

AWS Training

AWS offers training to candidates to help them develop competence, confidence, and credibility through practical cloud skills. Candidates can choose to learn online at their own pace or from an accredited AWS instructor built by AWS experts. This will be useful for both beginners who are enhancing their existing IT skills and professionals with cloud knowledge.

Whitepapers

Candidates preparing for the AWS can use AWS whitepapers to help them. These are genuine study resources that can aid candidates in their understanding of AWS services. However, whitepapers are essentially pdf versions of the topics found on the official Amazon certifications page. Whitepapers not only strengthen your preparation process but also assist you in developing a strong strategy to focus on. AWS provides sample papers to help candidates gain additional knowledge and skills in order to prepare for certification exams.

Exam Practice Tests

Finally, we arrive at the most crucial stage of your preparations: the AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty Practice Tests. This is a critical component that will assist you in better preparing for the exam. That is to say, practice tests are important because they allow you to assess your own weaknesses and strengths. So, by practicing, you will be able to improve your answering skills, resulting in significant time savings.

Furthermore, the best time to begin doing practice tests is after you have completed one full topic, as this will serve as a revision component for you. So, make certain to locate the best practice sources. Begin practising right away!

AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty Free Practice tests
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