AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam and the new AWS CSA Certification Track
Tags: aws, certification, training, security
Published: 2021-01-28 19:40:02

Hi and welcome!! I am Julie, and today we are going to take a deep dive into preparing for the **AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate certification exam** and cover the new certification track I created to help you ACE this exam!

Is it time to dive deep in your CSA studies?  **YES, IT IS!!!**


I created a new [AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Certification Track] (https://acloudguru.com/blog/engineering/aws-solutions-architect-associate-exam-blueprint-6-areas-to-master?utm_source=linkedin&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=conf_1120reinvent) that will help you to prepare and pass the new updated AWS Certified Solutions Architect associate exam.

But you may be asking, "*Why would I take a certification track when I can just take a certification course*?”"

Well, the six courses I created in the new AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate certification track will give you the knowledge and skills you need to pass the newly released and updated AWS Certified Solutions Architect SAA-C02 and (**bonus**) prepare you to work as a solutions architect in the real world. (*That’s a big bonus since the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate cert is one of the top-paying cloud certifications out there*.)

I split the certification track into 6 essential courses:

The first course is [Designing Resilient Architectures](https://learn.acloud.guru/course/2f2f600d-5ffe-4bd7-8406-fd04d29de611/dashboard) and this course covers AWS fundamentals including AWS accounts, IAM, and core services too!

The second course is covers [Networking and Compute](https://learn.acloud.guru/course/1ea506a0-9e59-461f-840b-d9ba1ce98d8d/dashboard) and the new updated exam has a heavy focus on network and compute questions!

The third course covers [Storage, Databases, and Migration](https://acloud.guru/overview/cab21320-af77-4089-905b-cd91842b2998?_ga=2.215495060.2036575159.1611860588-1559496533.1597531996) and when I sat for the beta exam I had a lot of questions around S3, especially questions dealing with performance and security, as well as questions on FSx and a lot of questions on Aurora and how to design highly available regional and global architectures!

Now the fourth covers [High Availability and Scalability](https://acloud.guru/overview/59d0a824-d6b4-44aa-b37f-d8e32810b970?_ga=2.50125349.2036575159.1611860588-1559496533.1597531996) which we touch on in the first course under AWS Fundamentals and I saw a lot more questions around Elastic Load Balancers, CloudFront, and Route 53!

The fifth course covers [AWS Application Services](https://acloud.guru/overview/3cccfd2f-3a1a-434d-a1bf-f5312697f73a?_ga=2.240123136.2036575159.1611860588-1559496533.1597531996), but also explores deployments and hybrid environments!

And to wrap up the certification track we have the sixth course covering [Logging and Security](https://acloud.guru/overview/af59ec1e-7cbf-4e2f-b13a-06ace26f9f0f?_ga=2.239074819.2036575159.1611860588-1559496533.1597531996)!

And I saw a huge focus on AWS **security** in my beta exam as well as the AWS Key Management Service, WAF, and especially **cost optimization** and I added in cost optimization to each course to make sure we get a solid understanding of how to build a cost optimized environment.

So overall I did see a shift in the design of the questions and the focus of the exam and built this certification track with that focus in mind. 

If you’re a student like myself, trying to learn all the things, come join me! 

As a former and current student, I’m also excited to help others prepare for the updated SAA C02 certification exam!!! We can do it together!

Please let me know what you think of this new certification track and the supporting courses. 

And let me know: Are you a newbie like me, or are you years beyond me? 

Our team here at A Cloud Guru prides itself on learning all the things. And wherever you are in your learning journey, come join us in learning all the things!

Check out [A Cloud Guru](http://www.acloudguru.com) for more AWS training and also check out [AWS Julie](http://www.awsjulie.com/tag/aws-julie/) too!