AWS Certified Solutions Architect - A Complete Guide
You're under pressure. Deadlines are tight. Your team expects you to architect systems that scale, stay secure, and perform flawlessly under load. But AWS is vast. Overwhelming. And without a clear, proven path, you risk designing inefficient, costly solutions that invite scrutiny-or worse, failure. Every day you delay mastery, you're leaving career momentum on the table. The cloud market isn’t waiting. Employers are hiring Solutions Architects at record pace, offering six-figure salaries to those who can prove they can design right, deploy fast, and justify every architecture decision with confidence. AWS Certified Solutions Architect - A Complete Guide is the breakthrough resource that transforms uncertainty into clarity. This is not another theoretical overview. It's a battle-tested, step-by-step blueprint that takes you from foundational principles to advanced system design-equipping you to pass the certification exam and, more importantly, to deliver real-world architectures that earn respect and drive business outcomes. One recent learner, a senior systems engineer at a Fortune 500 bank, told us: “I’d failed the exam twice. After working through this guide, I passed on my third try-and was promoted within three months. My first cloud-native solution saved the company $280,000 in annual infrastructure costs.” This is what clarity looks like. This course delivers a transformation: from fragmented knowledge to architectural mastery. You’ll move from concept to board-ready design patterns in as little as 30 days, with full alignment to AWS best practices, security benchmarks, and cost-optimization strategies that real enterprises demand. You’ll gain not just certification eligibility but the authority to speak as an architect-not just in interviews, but in high-stakes meetings where decisions are made. Here’s how this course is structured to help you get there.Course Format & Delivery Details Self-Paced, Immediate, and Fully On-Demand Access
This course is designed for professionals with demanding schedules. You get self-paced learning with full online access from the moment you enroll. There are no fixed start dates, no required login times, and no deadlines that conflict with your workload. You progress at your own speed, on your own terms. Most learners complete the core curriculum in 6 to 8 weeks, dedicating 6–8 hours per week. Many report first-time success on the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate exam after just 4 weeks of consistent study. The pace is yours. The outcome is guaranteed. Lifetime Access with Continuous Updates at No Extra Cost
Enroll once, and you own this course for life. You’ll receive all future updates and content refreshes automatically, at no additional charge. AWS evolves rapidly, and so does this guide. When changes occur in services, exam blueprints, or best practices, you’ll have immediate access to revised materials-ensuring your knowledge stays current, relevant, and exam-ready. Access Anywhere, Anytime-Desktop or Mobile
Learn on the go. The entire course is optimized for mobile devices, tablets, and desktops. Whether you're reviewing design patterns on your commute or studying high-availability architectures during a lunch break, your progress syncs seamlessly across devices. 24/7 global access means your training fits your life-not the other way around. Direct Expert Support & Architect-Level Guidance
You’re not on your own. This course includes direct access to certified AWS architects via a dedicated support channel. Whether you’re stuck on a complex VPC topology, need feedback on a multi-region failover design, or want to validate your exam readiness, expert guidance is available. Responses are delivered within 24 business hours, with detailed, actionable feedback tailored to your learning path. Receive a Globally Recognised Certificate of Completion
Upon finishing the course, you’ll earn a formal Certificate of Completion issued by The Art of Service. This credential is recognised by employers, hiring managers, and IT leaders worldwide. It verifies your mastery of AWS architectural principles, your command of scalable system design, and your commitment to professional excellence. Add it to your LinkedIn, resume, or portfolio with confidence-it’s a signal of serious technical competence. Transparent, Upfront Pricing-No Hidden Fees
The price you see is the price you pay. There are no surprise charges, subscription traps, or hidden costs. What you get is exactly what’s outlined: lifetime access, all materials, expert support, and full certification preparation-all included. We accept all major payment methods, including Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal. Transactions are processed securely through PCI-compliant gateways, ensuring your financial data remains protected at all times. Risk-Free Enrollment: 30-Day Satisfied or Refunded Guarantee
We stand behind this course with complete confidence. If, within 30 days of enrollment, you find the content does not meet your expectations, simply request a full refund. No questions, no friction. This isn’t just a promise-it’s our commitment to delivering unmatched value. Immediate Next Steps After Enrollment
Shortly after registering, you’ll receive a confirmation email. Once your course access is activated, a separate email will deliver your login details and instructions for getting started. Your materials are prepared with care to ensure quality and accuracy-so while access is not instantaneous, it is delivered promptly and reliably. What If This Doesn’t Work for Me?
We hear you. You may be thinking: “I’ve tried other courses. I’m not good at exams. I learn slowly.” But this guide works even if you’ve failed the AWS exam before, even if you come from a non-traditional IT background, and even if you’ve struggled with cloud concepts in the past. Our learners include former helpdesk technicians who became cloud architects at AWS Partner organisations, mid-level developers promoted to lead roles, and offshore consultants who used this guide to break into senior U.S.-based teams. The structured, incremental approach breaks down complex architectures into clear, visual models and decision frameworks. You don’t need to memorise-you learn by applying. And with ongoing support, detailed explanations, and real-world design exercises, comprehension follows naturally. This course eliminates risk. It builds confidence. And it delivers results-no matter your starting point.
Module 1: Foundations of AWS Cloud Architecture - Understanding the AWS Global Infrastructure: Regions, Availability Zones, and Edge Locations
- Core AWS Services Overview: Compute, Storage, Database, and Networking
- The Shared Responsibility Model: Security Boundaries Between AWS and the Customer
- Building Blocks of AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
- Managing Users, Groups, Roles, and Policies in IAM
- Principle of Least Privilege and Policy Best Practices
- Introduction to the AWS Management Console, CLI, and SDKs
- Understanding AWS Pricing Models: On-Demand, Reserved, and Spot Instances
- Introduction to the AWS Free Tier and Cost Management Tools
- Setting Up Your First AWS Account with Security Best Practices
- Resource Tagging Strategies for Cost Allocation and Governance
- Overview of the AWS Well-Architected Framework and its Five Pillars
- Understanding Cloud Economics and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
- Defining Cloud Readiness and Assessing Organisational Maturity
- Architectural Design Principles: Scalability, Elasticity, and Agility
Module 2: Core Networking in AWS - Designing Virtual Private Clouds (VPC): Subnets, CIDR Blocks, and IP Addressing
- Public vs Private Subnets and Their Use Cases
- Internet Gateways and NAT Devices: Enabling Internet Access Securely
- Routing Tables and Route Propagation in VPC
- Creating and Managing VPC Peering Connections
- Introduction to AWS Transit Gateway and Hub-and-Spoke Topologies
- Security Groups vs Network ACLs: Differences and Best Practices
- Implementing Network Security Controls in Multi-Tier Architectures
- Understanding DNS in AWS: Route 53 Basics and Public Hosted Zones
- Private DNS and Resolution in VPC
- Configuring DHCP Options Sets for Custom Domain Names and NTP
- Using Elastic IP Addresses and Their Limitations
- Integrating On-Premises Networks with AWS via Site-to-Site VPN
- Overview of AWS Direct Connect and Its Use Cases
- Hybrid Cloud Design Patterns Using VPN and Direct Connect
- Bandwidth Planning and Latency Considerations in Network Design
Module 3: Compute Services and Scalability - Amazon EC2 Instance Types: General Purpose, Compute Optimised, Memory Optimised
- Selecting the Right Instance Type for Workload Requirements
- Instance Purchasing Options: On-Demand, Reserved, Spot, and Savings Plans
- Launch Templates and Their Role in Standardised Deployment
- User Data Scripts and EC2 Boot Configuration
- Amazon Machine Images (AMI): Creation, Sharing, and Management
- Auto Scaling Groups: Scaling Based on Load and Demand
- Scaling Policies: Target Tracking, Step, and Simple Scaling
- Cooldown Periods and Health Checks in Auto Scaling
- Elastic Load Balancing: Application, Network, and Gateway Load Balancers
- Load Balancer Listeners, Target Groups, and Health Monitoring
- Cross-Zone Load Balancing and High Availability
- Amazon EC2 Placement Groups: Cluster, Spread, and Partition Strategies
- Introduction to AWS Lambda and Serverless Computing
- Event-Driven Architecture and Lambda Triggers
- Power Tuning Lambda Functions for Cost and Performance
- Amazon ECS and EKS: Containers at Scale
- Fargate vs EC2 Launch Types in ECS
- Building Highly Available Compute Architectures Across AZs
- Designing for Fault Tolerance with Multi-AZ Deployments
Module 4: Storage and Data Management - Amazon S3: Core Concepts, Buckets, Objects, and Keys
- S3 Storage Classes: Standard, Intelligent Tiering, Glacier, and Deep Archive
- S3 Versioning, Lifecycle Policies, and Cross-Region Replication
- S3 Encryption: SSE-S3, SSE-KMS, and Client-Side Encryption
- Pre-Signed URLs and Secure Object Access
- Amazon EBS: Volumes, Snapshots, and Performance Tiers
- EBS Volume Types: gp3, io2, st1, sc1 and Their Use Cases
- Snapshot Strategies for Backup and Disaster Recovery
- Provisioned IOPS and Throughput Optimised Workloads
- Amazon EFS: Elastic File System for Shared Storage
- Mount Targets, Performance Modes, and Throughput Modes
- Amazon FSx: Windows and Lustre File Systems for Specialised Workloads
- Data Migration Strategies: AWS DataSync and S3 Transfer Acceleration
- Storage Gateway: File, Volume, and Tape Interfaces
- Lifecycle Management Across S3, EBS, and Glacier
- Backup and Restore Strategies Using AWS Backup
- Disaster Recovery Planning: Backup, Pilot Light, and Multi-Site Active/Active
- Designing for Data Durability, Availability, and Integrity
- Architecting for Data Governance and Compliance
- Storage Tiering and Cost-Optimisation Techniques
Module 5: Database Services and Architectural Patterns - Amazon RDS: Managed Relational Databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, MariaDB)
- Multi-AZ Deployments and Failover for High Availability
- Read Replicas and Scaling Read-Heavy Workloads
- RDS Proxy for Connection Management and Scalability
- Amazon Aurora: Performance, Scalability, and Replication Features
- Aurora Serverless v2 for Dynamic Workloads
- Global Databases for Low-Latency Cross-Region Replication
- Amazon DynamoDB: Key-Value and Document Database at Scale
- DynamoDB Capacity Modes: Provisioned and On-Demand
- Partition Keys, Sort Keys, and Composite Keys
- Global Tables and Multi-Region Replication
- DAX: DynamoDB Accelerator for Low-Latency Caching
- Time-to-Live (TTL) and Stream Processing with DynamoDB Streams
- Amazon Redshift: Data Warehousing and Analytics at Scale
- Redshift Spectrum for Querying Data in S3
- ElastiCache: Redis and Memcached for In-Memory Caching
- Database Migration Service (DMS): Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Migrations
- Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) for Cross-Engine Migrations
- Choosing the Right Database for Your Use Case
- Designing for High Availability, Backup, and Scalability
Module 6: Security, Identity, and Compliance - Deep Dive into IAM Policies: Managed, Inline, and Resource-Based
- Policy Variables and Condition Operators for Dynamic Access Control
- Service Control Policies (SCPs) in AWS Organizations
- Permissions Boundaries and Delegation Best Practices
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Strong Authentication
- IAM Roles for Cross-Account Access and Federation
- Integrating IAM with Active Directory via SAML and OIDC
- AWS Single Sign-On (SSO) for Centralised Access Management
- KMS: Key Management Service and Customer Managed Keys (CMKs)
- Envelope Encryption and Key Rotation Policies
- CloudTrail: Auditing API Activity and Event Logging
- Configuring CloudTrail for Multi-Region and Organisation-Wide Logging
- AWS Config: Evaluating Resource Compliance Over Time
- Managed Rules and Custom Rules for Compliance Checks
- GuardDuty: Threat Detection and Anomaly Monitoring
- Inspector: Vulnerability Assessment and Security Findings
- Security Hub: Aggregating Alerts and Compliance Status
- Macie: Discovering and Protecting Sensitive Data
- WAF and Shield: Protecting Web Applications from DDoS and OWASP Threats
- Compliance Standards: HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS, and SOC in AWS Context
Module 7: Application Integration and Messaging - Amazon SQS: Standard and FIFO Queues for Decoupling
- Visibility Timeout, Dead-Letter Queues, and Message Retention
- Amazon SNS: Pub/Sub Messaging for Notifications
- Topics, Subscriptions, and Message Filtering
- Event-Driven Architectures Using EventBridge
- Event Buses, Rules, and Targets for Routing Events
- Saas Connectors and Partner Events in EventBridge
- Step Functions: Coordinating Workflows Across Services
- State Machines: Pass, Choice, Wait, and Parallel States
- Integrating Lambda, ECS, and Batch with Step Functions
- Building Serverless Pipelines with Event-Driven Design
- Handling Errors, Retries, and Idempotency in Messaging
- Designing for Loose Coupling and Fault Isolation
- Asynchronous Processing Patterns for Scalability
- Message Ordering, Durability, and Delivery Guarantees
Module 8: Monitoring, Logging, and Observability - Amazon CloudWatch: Metrics, Alarms, and Dashboards
- Custom Metrics and Namespace Management
- Detailed Monitoring vs Basic Monitoring
- CloudWatch Logs: Aggregation, Retention, and Filtering
- Subscription Filters and Log Processing with Lambda
- CloudWatch Agent for On-Premises and EC2 Log Collection
- Service Logs Integration: RDS, Lambda, ECS, and API Gateway
- Setting Up Alerts and Automated Actions Based on Thresholds
- Using Math Expressions in CloudWatch for Derived Metrics
- Insights for Log Analysis and Pattern Discovery
- X-Ray: Distributed Tracing for Microservices and Serverless
- Sampling Rules, Trace Maps, and Service Lens
- Analysing Latency and Error Bottlenecks with X-Ray
- Operating with Full Observability Across Distributed Systems
- Creating Proactive Monitoring Strategies for Production Systems
Module 9: High Availability, Fault Tolerance, and Disaster Recovery - Defining High Availability vs Fault Tolerance vs Disaster Recovery
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
- Multi-AZ Design Patterns for Critical Services
- Active/Passive vs Active/Active Architectures
- Warm Standby, Pilot Light, and Multi-Site Active/Active Models
- DNS Failover and Routing Policies in Route 53
- Health Checks and Latency-Based Routing for Failover
- Automated Recovery Using CloudWatch Alarms and Lambda
- Backups and Snapshots Across Compute, Storage, and Databases
- Backup Vaults, Policies, and Compliance Reports in AWS Backup
- Testing DR Plans: Tabletop Exercises and Simulated Failovers
- Documenting and Auditing Recovery Procedures
- Architecting for Zero Downtime Deployments
- Blue/Green and Canary Deployments Using ELB and Route 53
- Rollback Strategies and Version Management
Module 10: Cost Optimisation and Performance Efficiency - Using the AWS Cost Explorer for Trend Analysis
- Understanding Billing Alarms and Budgets
- Identifying Cost Anomalies with Cost Anomaly Detection
- Trusted Advisor Cost Optimisation Checks
- Right-Sizing EC2 Instances Using Performance Data
- Leveraging Spot Instances for Fault-Tolerant, Batch Workloads
- Reserving Capacity with Reserved Instances and Savings Plans
- Comparing Savings Plans: EC2, Compute, and SageMaker
- Optimising Data Transfer Costs Across Regions and Services
- Using Caching Layers to Reduce Compute and Database Load
- Performance Efficiency Pillar of the Well-Architected Framework
- Choosing the Right Compute and Storage for Performance Needs
- Scaling Horizontally vs Vertically: Trade-offs and Use Cases
- Content Delivery with Amazon CloudFront and Edge Caching
- Origin Access Identities and Secure S3 Content Delivery
- Field-Level Caching and Query String Handling
- Monitoring Cache Hit Ratios and Latency Improvements
- Architecting for Cost-Performance Balance
- Using Tags and Chargeback Models for Cost Allocation
- Designing for Long-Term TCO Reduction
Module 11: Advanced Architectural Design Patterns - Serverless Architecture with Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB
- Microservices with ECS, EKS, and Service Mesh (App Mesh)
- Event-Driven Processing Pipelines with Kinesis and Firehose
- Real-Time Analytics with Kinesis Data Streams and Analytics
- Streaming Data Backup with Kinesis Data Firehose to S3
- Using MSK: Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka
- Hybrid Architectures: Extending On-Premises to the Cloud
- Lift-and-Shift vs Replatforming vs Refactoring vs Rebuilding
- Migration Strategies: 6 Rs Framework (Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, etc.)
- Designing for Zero Downtime Migrations
- Large-Scale Data Migration Using Snow Family Devices
- Building Multi-Tenant Architectures in AWS
- Isolation Strategies: Accounts, VPCs, IAM, and Resource Policies
- Using AWS Control Tower for Multi-Account Governance
- Landing Zone Design and Account Factory Patterns
- Service Catalog for Standardised Provisioning
- PrivateLink and VPC Endpoints for Secure Service Access
- Endpoint Policies and Traffic Isolation
- Building Global Applications with Route 53 and Latency Routing
- Architecting for Regulatory and Data Sovereignty Requirements
Module 12: Certification Preparation and Exam Strategy - Understanding the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate Exam Guide
- Exam Domains: Design Resilient, Secure, High-Performing, and Cost-Optimised Systems
- Weighting of Each Domain and Focus Areas
- Types of Exam Questions: Scenario-Based, Multiple Choice, and Multiple Response
- Time Management Strategies During the Exam
- Eliminating Wrong Answers and Identifying Best Practices
- Practising with Realistic Scenario-Based Questions
- How to Interpret Ambiguous or Complex Question Stems
- Common Exam Traps and How to Avoid Them
- Reviewing Key AWS Services and Integration Points
- Architecture Decision Frameworks for Complex Scenarios
- Designing Solutions That Balance Cost, Performance, and Security
- Using the Well-Architected Framework to Evaluate Answer Choices
- Practice Quizzes with Explanations and Rationale
- Final Review Checklist: What to Know Before Taking the Exam
- Scheduling Your Exam Through Pearson VUE
- Preparing for the Online Proctored Exam Environment
- Post-Exam Steps: Credential Validation and LinkedIn Listing
- Career Pathways After Certification: Jobs, Salaries, and Growth
- How to Use Your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service to Boost Visibility
- Understanding the AWS Global Infrastructure: Regions, Availability Zones, and Edge Locations
- Core AWS Services Overview: Compute, Storage, Database, and Networking
- The Shared Responsibility Model: Security Boundaries Between AWS and the Customer
- Building Blocks of AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM)
- Managing Users, Groups, Roles, and Policies in IAM
- Principle of Least Privilege and Policy Best Practices
- Introduction to the AWS Management Console, CLI, and SDKs
- Understanding AWS Pricing Models: On-Demand, Reserved, and Spot Instances
- Introduction to the AWS Free Tier and Cost Management Tools
- Setting Up Your First AWS Account with Security Best Practices
- Resource Tagging Strategies for Cost Allocation and Governance
- Overview of the AWS Well-Architected Framework and its Five Pillars
- Understanding Cloud Economics and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)
- Defining Cloud Readiness and Assessing Organisational Maturity
- Architectural Design Principles: Scalability, Elasticity, and Agility
Module 2: Core Networking in AWS - Designing Virtual Private Clouds (VPC): Subnets, CIDR Blocks, and IP Addressing
- Public vs Private Subnets and Their Use Cases
- Internet Gateways and NAT Devices: Enabling Internet Access Securely
- Routing Tables and Route Propagation in VPC
- Creating and Managing VPC Peering Connections
- Introduction to AWS Transit Gateway and Hub-and-Spoke Topologies
- Security Groups vs Network ACLs: Differences and Best Practices
- Implementing Network Security Controls in Multi-Tier Architectures
- Understanding DNS in AWS: Route 53 Basics and Public Hosted Zones
- Private DNS and Resolution in VPC
- Configuring DHCP Options Sets for Custom Domain Names and NTP
- Using Elastic IP Addresses and Their Limitations
- Integrating On-Premises Networks with AWS via Site-to-Site VPN
- Overview of AWS Direct Connect and Its Use Cases
- Hybrid Cloud Design Patterns Using VPN and Direct Connect
- Bandwidth Planning and Latency Considerations in Network Design
Module 3: Compute Services and Scalability - Amazon EC2 Instance Types: General Purpose, Compute Optimised, Memory Optimised
- Selecting the Right Instance Type for Workload Requirements
- Instance Purchasing Options: On-Demand, Reserved, Spot, and Savings Plans
- Launch Templates and Their Role in Standardised Deployment
- User Data Scripts and EC2 Boot Configuration
- Amazon Machine Images (AMI): Creation, Sharing, and Management
- Auto Scaling Groups: Scaling Based on Load and Demand
- Scaling Policies: Target Tracking, Step, and Simple Scaling
- Cooldown Periods and Health Checks in Auto Scaling
- Elastic Load Balancing: Application, Network, and Gateway Load Balancers
- Load Balancer Listeners, Target Groups, and Health Monitoring
- Cross-Zone Load Balancing and High Availability
- Amazon EC2 Placement Groups: Cluster, Spread, and Partition Strategies
- Introduction to AWS Lambda and Serverless Computing
- Event-Driven Architecture and Lambda Triggers
- Power Tuning Lambda Functions for Cost and Performance
- Amazon ECS and EKS: Containers at Scale
- Fargate vs EC2 Launch Types in ECS
- Building Highly Available Compute Architectures Across AZs
- Designing for Fault Tolerance with Multi-AZ Deployments
Module 4: Storage and Data Management - Amazon S3: Core Concepts, Buckets, Objects, and Keys
- S3 Storage Classes: Standard, Intelligent Tiering, Glacier, and Deep Archive
- S3 Versioning, Lifecycle Policies, and Cross-Region Replication
- S3 Encryption: SSE-S3, SSE-KMS, and Client-Side Encryption
- Pre-Signed URLs and Secure Object Access
- Amazon EBS: Volumes, Snapshots, and Performance Tiers
- EBS Volume Types: gp3, io2, st1, sc1 and Their Use Cases
- Snapshot Strategies for Backup and Disaster Recovery
- Provisioned IOPS and Throughput Optimised Workloads
- Amazon EFS: Elastic File System for Shared Storage
- Mount Targets, Performance Modes, and Throughput Modes
- Amazon FSx: Windows and Lustre File Systems for Specialised Workloads
- Data Migration Strategies: AWS DataSync and S3 Transfer Acceleration
- Storage Gateway: File, Volume, and Tape Interfaces
- Lifecycle Management Across S3, EBS, and Glacier
- Backup and Restore Strategies Using AWS Backup
- Disaster Recovery Planning: Backup, Pilot Light, and Multi-Site Active/Active
- Designing for Data Durability, Availability, and Integrity
- Architecting for Data Governance and Compliance
- Storage Tiering and Cost-Optimisation Techniques
Module 5: Database Services and Architectural Patterns - Amazon RDS: Managed Relational Databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, MariaDB)
- Multi-AZ Deployments and Failover for High Availability
- Read Replicas and Scaling Read-Heavy Workloads
- RDS Proxy for Connection Management and Scalability
- Amazon Aurora: Performance, Scalability, and Replication Features
- Aurora Serverless v2 for Dynamic Workloads
- Global Databases for Low-Latency Cross-Region Replication
- Amazon DynamoDB: Key-Value and Document Database at Scale
- DynamoDB Capacity Modes: Provisioned and On-Demand
- Partition Keys, Sort Keys, and Composite Keys
- Global Tables and Multi-Region Replication
- DAX: DynamoDB Accelerator for Low-Latency Caching
- Time-to-Live (TTL) and Stream Processing with DynamoDB Streams
- Amazon Redshift: Data Warehousing and Analytics at Scale
- Redshift Spectrum for Querying Data in S3
- ElastiCache: Redis and Memcached for In-Memory Caching
- Database Migration Service (DMS): Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Migrations
- Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) for Cross-Engine Migrations
- Choosing the Right Database for Your Use Case
- Designing for High Availability, Backup, and Scalability
Module 6: Security, Identity, and Compliance - Deep Dive into IAM Policies: Managed, Inline, and Resource-Based
- Policy Variables and Condition Operators for Dynamic Access Control
- Service Control Policies (SCPs) in AWS Organizations
- Permissions Boundaries and Delegation Best Practices
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Strong Authentication
- IAM Roles for Cross-Account Access and Federation
- Integrating IAM with Active Directory via SAML and OIDC
- AWS Single Sign-On (SSO) for Centralised Access Management
- KMS: Key Management Service and Customer Managed Keys (CMKs)
- Envelope Encryption and Key Rotation Policies
- CloudTrail: Auditing API Activity and Event Logging
- Configuring CloudTrail for Multi-Region and Organisation-Wide Logging
- AWS Config: Evaluating Resource Compliance Over Time
- Managed Rules and Custom Rules for Compliance Checks
- GuardDuty: Threat Detection and Anomaly Monitoring
- Inspector: Vulnerability Assessment and Security Findings
- Security Hub: Aggregating Alerts and Compliance Status
- Macie: Discovering and Protecting Sensitive Data
- WAF and Shield: Protecting Web Applications from DDoS and OWASP Threats
- Compliance Standards: HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS, and SOC in AWS Context
Module 7: Application Integration and Messaging - Amazon SQS: Standard and FIFO Queues for Decoupling
- Visibility Timeout, Dead-Letter Queues, and Message Retention
- Amazon SNS: Pub/Sub Messaging for Notifications
- Topics, Subscriptions, and Message Filtering
- Event-Driven Architectures Using EventBridge
- Event Buses, Rules, and Targets for Routing Events
- Saas Connectors and Partner Events in EventBridge
- Step Functions: Coordinating Workflows Across Services
- State Machines: Pass, Choice, Wait, and Parallel States
- Integrating Lambda, ECS, and Batch with Step Functions
- Building Serverless Pipelines with Event-Driven Design
- Handling Errors, Retries, and Idempotency in Messaging
- Designing for Loose Coupling and Fault Isolation
- Asynchronous Processing Patterns for Scalability
- Message Ordering, Durability, and Delivery Guarantees
Module 8: Monitoring, Logging, and Observability - Amazon CloudWatch: Metrics, Alarms, and Dashboards
- Custom Metrics and Namespace Management
- Detailed Monitoring vs Basic Monitoring
- CloudWatch Logs: Aggregation, Retention, and Filtering
- Subscription Filters and Log Processing with Lambda
- CloudWatch Agent for On-Premises and EC2 Log Collection
- Service Logs Integration: RDS, Lambda, ECS, and API Gateway
- Setting Up Alerts and Automated Actions Based on Thresholds
- Using Math Expressions in CloudWatch for Derived Metrics
- Insights for Log Analysis and Pattern Discovery
- X-Ray: Distributed Tracing for Microservices and Serverless
- Sampling Rules, Trace Maps, and Service Lens
- Analysing Latency and Error Bottlenecks with X-Ray
- Operating with Full Observability Across Distributed Systems
- Creating Proactive Monitoring Strategies for Production Systems
Module 9: High Availability, Fault Tolerance, and Disaster Recovery - Defining High Availability vs Fault Tolerance vs Disaster Recovery
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
- Multi-AZ Design Patterns for Critical Services
- Active/Passive vs Active/Active Architectures
- Warm Standby, Pilot Light, and Multi-Site Active/Active Models
- DNS Failover and Routing Policies in Route 53
- Health Checks and Latency-Based Routing for Failover
- Automated Recovery Using CloudWatch Alarms and Lambda
- Backups and Snapshots Across Compute, Storage, and Databases
- Backup Vaults, Policies, and Compliance Reports in AWS Backup
- Testing DR Plans: Tabletop Exercises and Simulated Failovers
- Documenting and Auditing Recovery Procedures
- Architecting for Zero Downtime Deployments
- Blue/Green and Canary Deployments Using ELB and Route 53
- Rollback Strategies and Version Management
Module 10: Cost Optimisation and Performance Efficiency - Using the AWS Cost Explorer for Trend Analysis
- Understanding Billing Alarms and Budgets
- Identifying Cost Anomalies with Cost Anomaly Detection
- Trusted Advisor Cost Optimisation Checks
- Right-Sizing EC2 Instances Using Performance Data
- Leveraging Spot Instances for Fault-Tolerant, Batch Workloads
- Reserving Capacity with Reserved Instances and Savings Plans
- Comparing Savings Plans: EC2, Compute, and SageMaker
- Optimising Data Transfer Costs Across Regions and Services
- Using Caching Layers to Reduce Compute and Database Load
- Performance Efficiency Pillar of the Well-Architected Framework
- Choosing the Right Compute and Storage for Performance Needs
- Scaling Horizontally vs Vertically: Trade-offs and Use Cases
- Content Delivery with Amazon CloudFront and Edge Caching
- Origin Access Identities and Secure S3 Content Delivery
- Field-Level Caching and Query String Handling
- Monitoring Cache Hit Ratios and Latency Improvements
- Architecting for Cost-Performance Balance
- Using Tags and Chargeback Models for Cost Allocation
- Designing for Long-Term TCO Reduction
Module 11: Advanced Architectural Design Patterns - Serverless Architecture with Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB
- Microservices with ECS, EKS, and Service Mesh (App Mesh)
- Event-Driven Processing Pipelines with Kinesis and Firehose
- Real-Time Analytics with Kinesis Data Streams and Analytics
- Streaming Data Backup with Kinesis Data Firehose to S3
- Using MSK: Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka
- Hybrid Architectures: Extending On-Premises to the Cloud
- Lift-and-Shift vs Replatforming vs Refactoring vs Rebuilding
- Migration Strategies: 6 Rs Framework (Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, etc.)
- Designing for Zero Downtime Migrations
- Large-Scale Data Migration Using Snow Family Devices
- Building Multi-Tenant Architectures in AWS
- Isolation Strategies: Accounts, VPCs, IAM, and Resource Policies
- Using AWS Control Tower for Multi-Account Governance
- Landing Zone Design and Account Factory Patterns
- Service Catalog for Standardised Provisioning
- PrivateLink and VPC Endpoints for Secure Service Access
- Endpoint Policies and Traffic Isolation
- Building Global Applications with Route 53 and Latency Routing
- Architecting for Regulatory and Data Sovereignty Requirements
Module 12: Certification Preparation and Exam Strategy - Understanding the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate Exam Guide
- Exam Domains: Design Resilient, Secure, High-Performing, and Cost-Optimised Systems
- Weighting of Each Domain and Focus Areas
- Types of Exam Questions: Scenario-Based, Multiple Choice, and Multiple Response
- Time Management Strategies During the Exam
- Eliminating Wrong Answers and Identifying Best Practices
- Practising with Realistic Scenario-Based Questions
- How to Interpret Ambiguous or Complex Question Stems
- Common Exam Traps and How to Avoid Them
- Reviewing Key AWS Services and Integration Points
- Architecture Decision Frameworks for Complex Scenarios
- Designing Solutions That Balance Cost, Performance, and Security
- Using the Well-Architected Framework to Evaluate Answer Choices
- Practice Quizzes with Explanations and Rationale
- Final Review Checklist: What to Know Before Taking the Exam
- Scheduling Your Exam Through Pearson VUE
- Preparing for the Online Proctored Exam Environment
- Post-Exam Steps: Credential Validation and LinkedIn Listing
- Career Pathways After Certification: Jobs, Salaries, and Growth
- How to Use Your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service to Boost Visibility
- Amazon EC2 Instance Types: General Purpose, Compute Optimised, Memory Optimised
- Selecting the Right Instance Type for Workload Requirements
- Instance Purchasing Options: On-Demand, Reserved, Spot, and Savings Plans
- Launch Templates and Their Role in Standardised Deployment
- User Data Scripts and EC2 Boot Configuration
- Amazon Machine Images (AMI): Creation, Sharing, and Management
- Auto Scaling Groups: Scaling Based on Load and Demand
- Scaling Policies: Target Tracking, Step, and Simple Scaling
- Cooldown Periods and Health Checks in Auto Scaling
- Elastic Load Balancing: Application, Network, and Gateway Load Balancers
- Load Balancer Listeners, Target Groups, and Health Monitoring
- Cross-Zone Load Balancing and High Availability
- Amazon EC2 Placement Groups: Cluster, Spread, and Partition Strategies
- Introduction to AWS Lambda and Serverless Computing
- Event-Driven Architecture and Lambda Triggers
- Power Tuning Lambda Functions for Cost and Performance
- Amazon ECS and EKS: Containers at Scale
- Fargate vs EC2 Launch Types in ECS
- Building Highly Available Compute Architectures Across AZs
- Designing for Fault Tolerance with Multi-AZ Deployments
Module 4: Storage and Data Management - Amazon S3: Core Concepts, Buckets, Objects, and Keys
- S3 Storage Classes: Standard, Intelligent Tiering, Glacier, and Deep Archive
- S3 Versioning, Lifecycle Policies, and Cross-Region Replication
- S3 Encryption: SSE-S3, SSE-KMS, and Client-Side Encryption
- Pre-Signed URLs and Secure Object Access
- Amazon EBS: Volumes, Snapshots, and Performance Tiers
- EBS Volume Types: gp3, io2, st1, sc1 and Their Use Cases
- Snapshot Strategies for Backup and Disaster Recovery
- Provisioned IOPS and Throughput Optimised Workloads
- Amazon EFS: Elastic File System for Shared Storage
- Mount Targets, Performance Modes, and Throughput Modes
- Amazon FSx: Windows and Lustre File Systems for Specialised Workloads
- Data Migration Strategies: AWS DataSync and S3 Transfer Acceleration
- Storage Gateway: File, Volume, and Tape Interfaces
- Lifecycle Management Across S3, EBS, and Glacier
- Backup and Restore Strategies Using AWS Backup
- Disaster Recovery Planning: Backup, Pilot Light, and Multi-Site Active/Active
- Designing for Data Durability, Availability, and Integrity
- Architecting for Data Governance and Compliance
- Storage Tiering and Cost-Optimisation Techniques
Module 5: Database Services and Architectural Patterns - Amazon RDS: Managed Relational Databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, MariaDB)
- Multi-AZ Deployments and Failover for High Availability
- Read Replicas and Scaling Read-Heavy Workloads
- RDS Proxy for Connection Management and Scalability
- Amazon Aurora: Performance, Scalability, and Replication Features
- Aurora Serverless v2 for Dynamic Workloads
- Global Databases for Low-Latency Cross-Region Replication
- Amazon DynamoDB: Key-Value and Document Database at Scale
- DynamoDB Capacity Modes: Provisioned and On-Demand
- Partition Keys, Sort Keys, and Composite Keys
- Global Tables and Multi-Region Replication
- DAX: DynamoDB Accelerator for Low-Latency Caching
- Time-to-Live (TTL) and Stream Processing with DynamoDB Streams
- Amazon Redshift: Data Warehousing and Analytics at Scale
- Redshift Spectrum for Querying Data in S3
- ElastiCache: Redis and Memcached for In-Memory Caching
- Database Migration Service (DMS): Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Migrations
- Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) for Cross-Engine Migrations
- Choosing the Right Database for Your Use Case
- Designing for High Availability, Backup, and Scalability
Module 6: Security, Identity, and Compliance - Deep Dive into IAM Policies: Managed, Inline, and Resource-Based
- Policy Variables and Condition Operators for Dynamic Access Control
- Service Control Policies (SCPs) in AWS Organizations
- Permissions Boundaries and Delegation Best Practices
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Strong Authentication
- IAM Roles for Cross-Account Access and Federation
- Integrating IAM with Active Directory via SAML and OIDC
- AWS Single Sign-On (SSO) for Centralised Access Management
- KMS: Key Management Service and Customer Managed Keys (CMKs)
- Envelope Encryption and Key Rotation Policies
- CloudTrail: Auditing API Activity and Event Logging
- Configuring CloudTrail for Multi-Region and Organisation-Wide Logging
- AWS Config: Evaluating Resource Compliance Over Time
- Managed Rules and Custom Rules for Compliance Checks
- GuardDuty: Threat Detection and Anomaly Monitoring
- Inspector: Vulnerability Assessment and Security Findings
- Security Hub: Aggregating Alerts and Compliance Status
- Macie: Discovering and Protecting Sensitive Data
- WAF and Shield: Protecting Web Applications from DDoS and OWASP Threats
- Compliance Standards: HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS, and SOC in AWS Context
Module 7: Application Integration and Messaging - Amazon SQS: Standard and FIFO Queues for Decoupling
- Visibility Timeout, Dead-Letter Queues, and Message Retention
- Amazon SNS: Pub/Sub Messaging for Notifications
- Topics, Subscriptions, and Message Filtering
- Event-Driven Architectures Using EventBridge
- Event Buses, Rules, and Targets for Routing Events
- Saas Connectors and Partner Events in EventBridge
- Step Functions: Coordinating Workflows Across Services
- State Machines: Pass, Choice, Wait, and Parallel States
- Integrating Lambda, ECS, and Batch with Step Functions
- Building Serverless Pipelines with Event-Driven Design
- Handling Errors, Retries, and Idempotency in Messaging
- Designing for Loose Coupling and Fault Isolation
- Asynchronous Processing Patterns for Scalability
- Message Ordering, Durability, and Delivery Guarantees
Module 8: Monitoring, Logging, and Observability - Amazon CloudWatch: Metrics, Alarms, and Dashboards
- Custom Metrics and Namespace Management
- Detailed Monitoring vs Basic Monitoring
- CloudWatch Logs: Aggregation, Retention, and Filtering
- Subscription Filters and Log Processing with Lambda
- CloudWatch Agent for On-Premises and EC2 Log Collection
- Service Logs Integration: RDS, Lambda, ECS, and API Gateway
- Setting Up Alerts and Automated Actions Based on Thresholds
- Using Math Expressions in CloudWatch for Derived Metrics
- Insights for Log Analysis and Pattern Discovery
- X-Ray: Distributed Tracing for Microservices and Serverless
- Sampling Rules, Trace Maps, and Service Lens
- Analysing Latency and Error Bottlenecks with X-Ray
- Operating with Full Observability Across Distributed Systems
- Creating Proactive Monitoring Strategies for Production Systems
Module 9: High Availability, Fault Tolerance, and Disaster Recovery - Defining High Availability vs Fault Tolerance vs Disaster Recovery
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
- Multi-AZ Design Patterns for Critical Services
- Active/Passive vs Active/Active Architectures
- Warm Standby, Pilot Light, and Multi-Site Active/Active Models
- DNS Failover and Routing Policies in Route 53
- Health Checks and Latency-Based Routing for Failover
- Automated Recovery Using CloudWatch Alarms and Lambda
- Backups and Snapshots Across Compute, Storage, and Databases
- Backup Vaults, Policies, and Compliance Reports in AWS Backup
- Testing DR Plans: Tabletop Exercises and Simulated Failovers
- Documenting and Auditing Recovery Procedures
- Architecting for Zero Downtime Deployments
- Blue/Green and Canary Deployments Using ELB and Route 53
- Rollback Strategies and Version Management
Module 10: Cost Optimisation and Performance Efficiency - Using the AWS Cost Explorer for Trend Analysis
- Understanding Billing Alarms and Budgets
- Identifying Cost Anomalies with Cost Anomaly Detection
- Trusted Advisor Cost Optimisation Checks
- Right-Sizing EC2 Instances Using Performance Data
- Leveraging Spot Instances for Fault-Tolerant, Batch Workloads
- Reserving Capacity with Reserved Instances and Savings Plans
- Comparing Savings Plans: EC2, Compute, and SageMaker
- Optimising Data Transfer Costs Across Regions and Services
- Using Caching Layers to Reduce Compute and Database Load
- Performance Efficiency Pillar of the Well-Architected Framework
- Choosing the Right Compute and Storage for Performance Needs
- Scaling Horizontally vs Vertically: Trade-offs and Use Cases
- Content Delivery with Amazon CloudFront and Edge Caching
- Origin Access Identities and Secure S3 Content Delivery
- Field-Level Caching and Query String Handling
- Monitoring Cache Hit Ratios and Latency Improvements
- Architecting for Cost-Performance Balance
- Using Tags and Chargeback Models for Cost Allocation
- Designing for Long-Term TCO Reduction
Module 11: Advanced Architectural Design Patterns - Serverless Architecture with Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB
- Microservices with ECS, EKS, and Service Mesh (App Mesh)
- Event-Driven Processing Pipelines with Kinesis and Firehose
- Real-Time Analytics with Kinesis Data Streams and Analytics
- Streaming Data Backup with Kinesis Data Firehose to S3
- Using MSK: Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka
- Hybrid Architectures: Extending On-Premises to the Cloud
- Lift-and-Shift vs Replatforming vs Refactoring vs Rebuilding
- Migration Strategies: 6 Rs Framework (Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, etc.)
- Designing for Zero Downtime Migrations
- Large-Scale Data Migration Using Snow Family Devices
- Building Multi-Tenant Architectures in AWS
- Isolation Strategies: Accounts, VPCs, IAM, and Resource Policies
- Using AWS Control Tower for Multi-Account Governance
- Landing Zone Design and Account Factory Patterns
- Service Catalog for Standardised Provisioning
- PrivateLink and VPC Endpoints for Secure Service Access
- Endpoint Policies and Traffic Isolation
- Building Global Applications with Route 53 and Latency Routing
- Architecting for Regulatory and Data Sovereignty Requirements
Module 12: Certification Preparation and Exam Strategy - Understanding the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate Exam Guide
- Exam Domains: Design Resilient, Secure, High-Performing, and Cost-Optimised Systems
- Weighting of Each Domain and Focus Areas
- Types of Exam Questions: Scenario-Based, Multiple Choice, and Multiple Response
- Time Management Strategies During the Exam
- Eliminating Wrong Answers and Identifying Best Practices
- Practising with Realistic Scenario-Based Questions
- How to Interpret Ambiguous or Complex Question Stems
- Common Exam Traps and How to Avoid Them
- Reviewing Key AWS Services and Integration Points
- Architecture Decision Frameworks for Complex Scenarios
- Designing Solutions That Balance Cost, Performance, and Security
- Using the Well-Architected Framework to Evaluate Answer Choices
- Practice Quizzes with Explanations and Rationale
- Final Review Checklist: What to Know Before Taking the Exam
- Scheduling Your Exam Through Pearson VUE
- Preparing for the Online Proctored Exam Environment
- Post-Exam Steps: Credential Validation and LinkedIn Listing
- Career Pathways After Certification: Jobs, Salaries, and Growth
- How to Use Your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service to Boost Visibility
- Amazon RDS: Managed Relational Databases (MySQL, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, MariaDB)
- Multi-AZ Deployments and Failover for High Availability
- Read Replicas and Scaling Read-Heavy Workloads
- RDS Proxy for Connection Management and Scalability
- Amazon Aurora: Performance, Scalability, and Replication Features
- Aurora Serverless v2 for Dynamic Workloads
- Global Databases for Low-Latency Cross-Region Replication
- Amazon DynamoDB: Key-Value and Document Database at Scale
- DynamoDB Capacity Modes: Provisioned and On-Demand
- Partition Keys, Sort Keys, and Composite Keys
- Global Tables and Multi-Region Replication
- DAX: DynamoDB Accelerator for Low-Latency Caching
- Time-to-Live (TTL) and Stream Processing with DynamoDB Streams
- Amazon Redshift: Data Warehousing and Analytics at Scale
- Redshift Spectrum for Querying Data in S3
- ElastiCache: Redis and Memcached for In-Memory Caching
- Database Migration Service (DMS): Homogeneous and Heterogeneous Migrations
- Schema Conversion Tool (SCT) for Cross-Engine Migrations
- Choosing the Right Database for Your Use Case
- Designing for High Availability, Backup, and Scalability
Module 6: Security, Identity, and Compliance - Deep Dive into IAM Policies: Managed, Inline, and Resource-Based
- Policy Variables and Condition Operators for Dynamic Access Control
- Service Control Policies (SCPs) in AWS Organizations
- Permissions Boundaries and Delegation Best Practices
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) and Strong Authentication
- IAM Roles for Cross-Account Access and Federation
- Integrating IAM with Active Directory via SAML and OIDC
- AWS Single Sign-On (SSO) for Centralised Access Management
- KMS: Key Management Service and Customer Managed Keys (CMKs)
- Envelope Encryption and Key Rotation Policies
- CloudTrail: Auditing API Activity and Event Logging
- Configuring CloudTrail for Multi-Region and Organisation-Wide Logging
- AWS Config: Evaluating Resource Compliance Over Time
- Managed Rules and Custom Rules for Compliance Checks
- GuardDuty: Threat Detection and Anomaly Monitoring
- Inspector: Vulnerability Assessment and Security Findings
- Security Hub: Aggregating Alerts and Compliance Status
- Macie: Discovering and Protecting Sensitive Data
- WAF and Shield: Protecting Web Applications from DDoS and OWASP Threats
- Compliance Standards: HIPAA, GDPR, PCI-DSS, and SOC in AWS Context
Module 7: Application Integration and Messaging - Amazon SQS: Standard and FIFO Queues for Decoupling
- Visibility Timeout, Dead-Letter Queues, and Message Retention
- Amazon SNS: Pub/Sub Messaging for Notifications
- Topics, Subscriptions, and Message Filtering
- Event-Driven Architectures Using EventBridge
- Event Buses, Rules, and Targets for Routing Events
- Saas Connectors and Partner Events in EventBridge
- Step Functions: Coordinating Workflows Across Services
- State Machines: Pass, Choice, Wait, and Parallel States
- Integrating Lambda, ECS, and Batch with Step Functions
- Building Serverless Pipelines with Event-Driven Design
- Handling Errors, Retries, and Idempotency in Messaging
- Designing for Loose Coupling and Fault Isolation
- Asynchronous Processing Patterns for Scalability
- Message Ordering, Durability, and Delivery Guarantees
Module 8: Monitoring, Logging, and Observability - Amazon CloudWatch: Metrics, Alarms, and Dashboards
- Custom Metrics and Namespace Management
- Detailed Monitoring vs Basic Monitoring
- CloudWatch Logs: Aggregation, Retention, and Filtering
- Subscription Filters and Log Processing with Lambda
- CloudWatch Agent for On-Premises and EC2 Log Collection
- Service Logs Integration: RDS, Lambda, ECS, and API Gateway
- Setting Up Alerts and Automated Actions Based on Thresholds
- Using Math Expressions in CloudWatch for Derived Metrics
- Insights for Log Analysis and Pattern Discovery
- X-Ray: Distributed Tracing for Microservices and Serverless
- Sampling Rules, Trace Maps, and Service Lens
- Analysing Latency and Error Bottlenecks with X-Ray
- Operating with Full Observability Across Distributed Systems
- Creating Proactive Monitoring Strategies for Production Systems
Module 9: High Availability, Fault Tolerance, and Disaster Recovery - Defining High Availability vs Fault Tolerance vs Disaster Recovery
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
- Multi-AZ Design Patterns for Critical Services
- Active/Passive vs Active/Active Architectures
- Warm Standby, Pilot Light, and Multi-Site Active/Active Models
- DNS Failover and Routing Policies in Route 53
- Health Checks and Latency-Based Routing for Failover
- Automated Recovery Using CloudWatch Alarms and Lambda
- Backups and Snapshots Across Compute, Storage, and Databases
- Backup Vaults, Policies, and Compliance Reports in AWS Backup
- Testing DR Plans: Tabletop Exercises and Simulated Failovers
- Documenting and Auditing Recovery Procedures
- Architecting for Zero Downtime Deployments
- Blue/Green and Canary Deployments Using ELB and Route 53
- Rollback Strategies and Version Management
Module 10: Cost Optimisation and Performance Efficiency - Using the AWS Cost Explorer for Trend Analysis
- Understanding Billing Alarms and Budgets
- Identifying Cost Anomalies with Cost Anomaly Detection
- Trusted Advisor Cost Optimisation Checks
- Right-Sizing EC2 Instances Using Performance Data
- Leveraging Spot Instances for Fault-Tolerant, Batch Workloads
- Reserving Capacity with Reserved Instances and Savings Plans
- Comparing Savings Plans: EC2, Compute, and SageMaker
- Optimising Data Transfer Costs Across Regions and Services
- Using Caching Layers to Reduce Compute and Database Load
- Performance Efficiency Pillar of the Well-Architected Framework
- Choosing the Right Compute and Storage for Performance Needs
- Scaling Horizontally vs Vertically: Trade-offs and Use Cases
- Content Delivery with Amazon CloudFront and Edge Caching
- Origin Access Identities and Secure S3 Content Delivery
- Field-Level Caching and Query String Handling
- Monitoring Cache Hit Ratios and Latency Improvements
- Architecting for Cost-Performance Balance
- Using Tags and Chargeback Models for Cost Allocation
- Designing for Long-Term TCO Reduction
Module 11: Advanced Architectural Design Patterns - Serverless Architecture with Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB
- Microservices with ECS, EKS, and Service Mesh (App Mesh)
- Event-Driven Processing Pipelines with Kinesis and Firehose
- Real-Time Analytics with Kinesis Data Streams and Analytics
- Streaming Data Backup with Kinesis Data Firehose to S3
- Using MSK: Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka
- Hybrid Architectures: Extending On-Premises to the Cloud
- Lift-and-Shift vs Replatforming vs Refactoring vs Rebuilding
- Migration Strategies: 6 Rs Framework (Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, etc.)
- Designing for Zero Downtime Migrations
- Large-Scale Data Migration Using Snow Family Devices
- Building Multi-Tenant Architectures in AWS
- Isolation Strategies: Accounts, VPCs, IAM, and Resource Policies
- Using AWS Control Tower for Multi-Account Governance
- Landing Zone Design and Account Factory Patterns
- Service Catalog for Standardised Provisioning
- PrivateLink and VPC Endpoints for Secure Service Access
- Endpoint Policies and Traffic Isolation
- Building Global Applications with Route 53 and Latency Routing
- Architecting for Regulatory and Data Sovereignty Requirements
Module 12: Certification Preparation and Exam Strategy - Understanding the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate Exam Guide
- Exam Domains: Design Resilient, Secure, High-Performing, and Cost-Optimised Systems
- Weighting of Each Domain and Focus Areas
- Types of Exam Questions: Scenario-Based, Multiple Choice, and Multiple Response
- Time Management Strategies During the Exam
- Eliminating Wrong Answers and Identifying Best Practices
- Practising with Realistic Scenario-Based Questions
- How to Interpret Ambiguous or Complex Question Stems
- Common Exam Traps and How to Avoid Them
- Reviewing Key AWS Services and Integration Points
- Architecture Decision Frameworks for Complex Scenarios
- Designing Solutions That Balance Cost, Performance, and Security
- Using the Well-Architected Framework to Evaluate Answer Choices
- Practice Quizzes with Explanations and Rationale
- Final Review Checklist: What to Know Before Taking the Exam
- Scheduling Your Exam Through Pearson VUE
- Preparing for the Online Proctored Exam Environment
- Post-Exam Steps: Credential Validation and LinkedIn Listing
- Career Pathways After Certification: Jobs, Salaries, and Growth
- How to Use Your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service to Boost Visibility
- Amazon SQS: Standard and FIFO Queues for Decoupling
- Visibility Timeout, Dead-Letter Queues, and Message Retention
- Amazon SNS: Pub/Sub Messaging for Notifications
- Topics, Subscriptions, and Message Filtering
- Event-Driven Architectures Using EventBridge
- Event Buses, Rules, and Targets for Routing Events
- Saas Connectors and Partner Events in EventBridge
- Step Functions: Coordinating Workflows Across Services
- State Machines: Pass, Choice, Wait, and Parallel States
- Integrating Lambda, ECS, and Batch with Step Functions
- Building Serverless Pipelines with Event-Driven Design
- Handling Errors, Retries, and Idempotency in Messaging
- Designing for Loose Coupling and Fault Isolation
- Asynchronous Processing Patterns for Scalability
- Message Ordering, Durability, and Delivery Guarantees
Module 8: Monitoring, Logging, and Observability - Amazon CloudWatch: Metrics, Alarms, and Dashboards
- Custom Metrics and Namespace Management
- Detailed Monitoring vs Basic Monitoring
- CloudWatch Logs: Aggregation, Retention, and Filtering
- Subscription Filters and Log Processing with Lambda
- CloudWatch Agent for On-Premises and EC2 Log Collection
- Service Logs Integration: RDS, Lambda, ECS, and API Gateway
- Setting Up Alerts and Automated Actions Based on Thresholds
- Using Math Expressions in CloudWatch for Derived Metrics
- Insights for Log Analysis and Pattern Discovery
- X-Ray: Distributed Tracing for Microservices and Serverless
- Sampling Rules, Trace Maps, and Service Lens
- Analysing Latency and Error Bottlenecks with X-Ray
- Operating with Full Observability Across Distributed Systems
- Creating Proactive Monitoring Strategies for Production Systems
Module 9: High Availability, Fault Tolerance, and Disaster Recovery - Defining High Availability vs Fault Tolerance vs Disaster Recovery
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
- Multi-AZ Design Patterns for Critical Services
- Active/Passive vs Active/Active Architectures
- Warm Standby, Pilot Light, and Multi-Site Active/Active Models
- DNS Failover and Routing Policies in Route 53
- Health Checks and Latency-Based Routing for Failover
- Automated Recovery Using CloudWatch Alarms and Lambda
- Backups and Snapshots Across Compute, Storage, and Databases
- Backup Vaults, Policies, and Compliance Reports in AWS Backup
- Testing DR Plans: Tabletop Exercises and Simulated Failovers
- Documenting and Auditing Recovery Procedures
- Architecting for Zero Downtime Deployments
- Blue/Green and Canary Deployments Using ELB and Route 53
- Rollback Strategies and Version Management
Module 10: Cost Optimisation and Performance Efficiency - Using the AWS Cost Explorer for Trend Analysis
- Understanding Billing Alarms and Budgets
- Identifying Cost Anomalies with Cost Anomaly Detection
- Trusted Advisor Cost Optimisation Checks
- Right-Sizing EC2 Instances Using Performance Data
- Leveraging Spot Instances for Fault-Tolerant, Batch Workloads
- Reserving Capacity with Reserved Instances and Savings Plans
- Comparing Savings Plans: EC2, Compute, and SageMaker
- Optimising Data Transfer Costs Across Regions and Services
- Using Caching Layers to Reduce Compute and Database Load
- Performance Efficiency Pillar of the Well-Architected Framework
- Choosing the Right Compute and Storage for Performance Needs
- Scaling Horizontally vs Vertically: Trade-offs and Use Cases
- Content Delivery with Amazon CloudFront and Edge Caching
- Origin Access Identities and Secure S3 Content Delivery
- Field-Level Caching and Query String Handling
- Monitoring Cache Hit Ratios and Latency Improvements
- Architecting for Cost-Performance Balance
- Using Tags and Chargeback Models for Cost Allocation
- Designing for Long-Term TCO Reduction
Module 11: Advanced Architectural Design Patterns - Serverless Architecture with Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB
- Microservices with ECS, EKS, and Service Mesh (App Mesh)
- Event-Driven Processing Pipelines with Kinesis and Firehose
- Real-Time Analytics with Kinesis Data Streams and Analytics
- Streaming Data Backup with Kinesis Data Firehose to S3
- Using MSK: Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka
- Hybrid Architectures: Extending On-Premises to the Cloud
- Lift-and-Shift vs Replatforming vs Refactoring vs Rebuilding
- Migration Strategies: 6 Rs Framework (Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, etc.)
- Designing for Zero Downtime Migrations
- Large-Scale Data Migration Using Snow Family Devices
- Building Multi-Tenant Architectures in AWS
- Isolation Strategies: Accounts, VPCs, IAM, and Resource Policies
- Using AWS Control Tower for Multi-Account Governance
- Landing Zone Design and Account Factory Patterns
- Service Catalog for Standardised Provisioning
- PrivateLink and VPC Endpoints for Secure Service Access
- Endpoint Policies and Traffic Isolation
- Building Global Applications with Route 53 and Latency Routing
- Architecting for Regulatory and Data Sovereignty Requirements
Module 12: Certification Preparation and Exam Strategy - Understanding the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate Exam Guide
- Exam Domains: Design Resilient, Secure, High-Performing, and Cost-Optimised Systems
- Weighting of Each Domain and Focus Areas
- Types of Exam Questions: Scenario-Based, Multiple Choice, and Multiple Response
- Time Management Strategies During the Exam
- Eliminating Wrong Answers and Identifying Best Practices
- Practising with Realistic Scenario-Based Questions
- How to Interpret Ambiguous or Complex Question Stems
- Common Exam Traps and How to Avoid Them
- Reviewing Key AWS Services and Integration Points
- Architecture Decision Frameworks for Complex Scenarios
- Designing Solutions That Balance Cost, Performance, and Security
- Using the Well-Architected Framework to Evaluate Answer Choices
- Practice Quizzes with Explanations and Rationale
- Final Review Checklist: What to Know Before Taking the Exam
- Scheduling Your Exam Through Pearson VUE
- Preparing for the Online Proctored Exam Environment
- Post-Exam Steps: Credential Validation and LinkedIn Listing
- Career Pathways After Certification: Jobs, Salaries, and Growth
- How to Use Your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service to Boost Visibility
- Defining High Availability vs Fault Tolerance vs Disaster Recovery
- Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and Recovery Point Objective (RPO)
- Multi-AZ Design Patterns for Critical Services
- Active/Passive vs Active/Active Architectures
- Warm Standby, Pilot Light, and Multi-Site Active/Active Models
- DNS Failover and Routing Policies in Route 53
- Health Checks and Latency-Based Routing for Failover
- Automated Recovery Using CloudWatch Alarms and Lambda
- Backups and Snapshots Across Compute, Storage, and Databases
- Backup Vaults, Policies, and Compliance Reports in AWS Backup
- Testing DR Plans: Tabletop Exercises and Simulated Failovers
- Documenting and Auditing Recovery Procedures
- Architecting for Zero Downtime Deployments
- Blue/Green and Canary Deployments Using ELB and Route 53
- Rollback Strategies and Version Management
Module 10: Cost Optimisation and Performance Efficiency - Using the AWS Cost Explorer for Trend Analysis
- Understanding Billing Alarms and Budgets
- Identifying Cost Anomalies with Cost Anomaly Detection
- Trusted Advisor Cost Optimisation Checks
- Right-Sizing EC2 Instances Using Performance Data
- Leveraging Spot Instances for Fault-Tolerant, Batch Workloads
- Reserving Capacity with Reserved Instances and Savings Plans
- Comparing Savings Plans: EC2, Compute, and SageMaker
- Optimising Data Transfer Costs Across Regions and Services
- Using Caching Layers to Reduce Compute and Database Load
- Performance Efficiency Pillar of the Well-Architected Framework
- Choosing the Right Compute and Storage for Performance Needs
- Scaling Horizontally vs Vertically: Trade-offs and Use Cases
- Content Delivery with Amazon CloudFront and Edge Caching
- Origin Access Identities and Secure S3 Content Delivery
- Field-Level Caching and Query String Handling
- Monitoring Cache Hit Ratios and Latency Improvements
- Architecting for Cost-Performance Balance
- Using Tags and Chargeback Models for Cost Allocation
- Designing for Long-Term TCO Reduction
Module 11: Advanced Architectural Design Patterns - Serverless Architecture with Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB
- Microservices with ECS, EKS, and Service Mesh (App Mesh)
- Event-Driven Processing Pipelines with Kinesis and Firehose
- Real-Time Analytics with Kinesis Data Streams and Analytics
- Streaming Data Backup with Kinesis Data Firehose to S3
- Using MSK: Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka
- Hybrid Architectures: Extending On-Premises to the Cloud
- Lift-and-Shift vs Replatforming vs Refactoring vs Rebuilding
- Migration Strategies: 6 Rs Framework (Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, etc.)
- Designing for Zero Downtime Migrations
- Large-Scale Data Migration Using Snow Family Devices
- Building Multi-Tenant Architectures in AWS
- Isolation Strategies: Accounts, VPCs, IAM, and Resource Policies
- Using AWS Control Tower for Multi-Account Governance
- Landing Zone Design and Account Factory Patterns
- Service Catalog for Standardised Provisioning
- PrivateLink and VPC Endpoints for Secure Service Access
- Endpoint Policies and Traffic Isolation
- Building Global Applications with Route 53 and Latency Routing
- Architecting for Regulatory and Data Sovereignty Requirements
Module 12: Certification Preparation and Exam Strategy - Understanding the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate Exam Guide
- Exam Domains: Design Resilient, Secure, High-Performing, and Cost-Optimised Systems
- Weighting of Each Domain and Focus Areas
- Types of Exam Questions: Scenario-Based, Multiple Choice, and Multiple Response
- Time Management Strategies During the Exam
- Eliminating Wrong Answers and Identifying Best Practices
- Practising with Realistic Scenario-Based Questions
- How to Interpret Ambiguous or Complex Question Stems
- Common Exam Traps and How to Avoid Them
- Reviewing Key AWS Services and Integration Points
- Architecture Decision Frameworks for Complex Scenarios
- Designing Solutions That Balance Cost, Performance, and Security
- Using the Well-Architected Framework to Evaluate Answer Choices
- Practice Quizzes with Explanations and Rationale
- Final Review Checklist: What to Know Before Taking the Exam
- Scheduling Your Exam Through Pearson VUE
- Preparing for the Online Proctored Exam Environment
- Post-Exam Steps: Credential Validation and LinkedIn Listing
- Career Pathways After Certification: Jobs, Salaries, and Growth
- How to Use Your Certificate of Completion from The Art of Service to Boost Visibility
- Serverless Architecture with Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB
- Microservices with ECS, EKS, and Service Mesh (App Mesh)
- Event-Driven Processing Pipelines with Kinesis and Firehose
- Real-Time Analytics with Kinesis Data Streams and Analytics
- Streaming Data Backup with Kinesis Data Firehose to S3
- Using MSK: Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka
- Hybrid Architectures: Extending On-Premises to the Cloud
- Lift-and-Shift vs Replatforming vs Refactoring vs Rebuilding
- Migration Strategies: 6 Rs Framework (Rehost, Replatform, Refactor, etc.)
- Designing for Zero Downtime Migrations
- Large-Scale Data Migration Using Snow Family Devices
- Building Multi-Tenant Architectures in AWS
- Isolation Strategies: Accounts, VPCs, IAM, and Resource Policies
- Using AWS Control Tower for Multi-Account Governance
- Landing Zone Design and Account Factory Patterns
- Service Catalog for Standardised Provisioning
- PrivateLink and VPC Endpoints for Secure Service Access
- Endpoint Policies and Traffic Isolation
- Building Global Applications with Route 53 and Latency Routing
- Architecting for Regulatory and Data Sovereignty Requirements