My AWS Solution Architect Associate study guide
Tags: aws
Published: 2021-08-08 07:28:45

###### 1. My Study Guide for AWS Solution Architect Associate 


| No | Course        | Time  | Status |    Comments   | 
|:---|:--------------|:------|:------------------|:--------------|
| 1  | [A CLOUD GURU](https://acloudguru.com/)| 2 months |Completed								 |It took a very long time as I made notes| 	
| 2  | [Neal Davis on Udemy](https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-hands-on-labs/)  | 1 month |Completed			 |Similarly took a very long time as I made notes| 	
| 3  | [Stephane Maarek on Udemy] (https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-saa-c02/)  |  |Skipped| Any two courses from #1-3 in this table is sufficient for the exam | 	
| 4  | [Qwiklabs](https://amazon.qwiklabs.com/catalog?price%5B%5D=free) | 1 day | Completed								 || 	
| 5  | [Labs from A CLOUD GURU](https://acloudguru.com/)| 1 day |Completed								 || 	
| 6  | [Whizlabs](https://www.whizlabs.com/aws-solutions-architect-associate/)| 2 days |Completed								 |Any two labs from #4-6 in this table is sufficient for the exam | 	
| 7  | [Whitepapers] (https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certification-prep/?nc2=sb_ce_ep) | 7 days |Completed								 |A quick read of [AWS Well-Architected webpage (various whitepapers linked)](https://aws.amazon.com/architecture/well-architected/?ep=sec&sec=assoc_saa&wa-lens-whitepapers.sort-by=item.additionalFields.sortDate&wa-lens-whitepapers.sort-order=desc) should be sufficient| 	
| 8  | [FAQ's](https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certification-prep/?nc2=sb_ce_ep) ![FAQ's](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/srkqcz9ba923qyuxenh4.png) | 2 months |Completed|This is optional as the EC2 FAQ is very long [Amazon EC2](https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/faqs/?ep=sec&sec=assoc_saa), [Amazon S3](https://aws.amazon.com/s3/faqs/?ep=sec&sec=assoc_saa), [Amazon VPC](https://aws.amazon.com/vpc/faqs/?ep=sec&sec=assoc_saa),  [Amazon Route 53](https://aws.amazon.com/route53/faqs/?ep=sec&sec=assoc_saa), [Amazon RDS](https://aws.amazon.com/rds/faqs/?ep=sec&sec=assoc_saa), [Amazon SQS](https://aws.amazon.com/sqs/faqs/?ep=sec&sec=assoc_saa)| 	
| 9  | [Neal Davis Cheatsheets](https://digitalcloud.training/certification-training/aws-solutions-architect-associate/)| 15 days |Completed								 |Highly recommend|| 	
| 10  | [AWS Certified Solutions Architect Official Study Guide](https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/aws-certified-solutions/9781119138556/) | 3 days |Completed								 |Highly recommend| 
| 11  | [Tutorial Dojo Practice Exams](https://portal.tutorialsdojo.com/courses/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-practice-exams/)) | 15 days|Completed								 |Highly recommend| 
| 12  | [Neal  Davis practice exams](https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-practice-tests-k/)| 15 days |Completed								 |Highly recommend| 
| 13 | [Exam Readiness](https://www.aws.training/Details/Curriculum?id=20685&ep=sec&sec=assoc_saa) ![Exam Webinar](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/articles/qu5u5dfbpzaaze0fc1kx.png)|2 hours|Completed|Highly recommend as it is important to know the difference between high availability and fault-tolerant systems. Preferably [Find a webinar](https://aws.amazon.com/training/events/?ep=sec&sec=assoc_saa) | 	 	 	


###### Summary:
> 1. Watch at least two of the following courses from acloudguru, Neal Davis and Stephane Maarek

> 2. Complete at least two of the following labs from acloudguru, qwiklabs and Whizlabs

> 3. Read the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide

> 4. Try not to memorise the answers from Practice exams instead try to understand why the correct answer is correct and why the other answers were incorrect

> 5. Try to score close to 80% for Neal's Practice exams and close to 90% for Tutorial Dojo's exams

> 6. During the practise exams, if you find any areas that you seem to be weak in then read more about those services in AWS documentation

> 7. Note: Neal's exams are tougher when compared to Tutorial Dojo however, Tutorial Dojo's explanations are better when compared to Neal's. That is why it is important to do both.


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###### 2. AWS Solution Architect Associate Notes
{% github https://github.com/kasukur/AWS_CCP_Notes %} 

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###### 3. Preparation Time

> 1. It took me about 5 - 6 months as I prepared mostly on the weekends 

> 2. I spent more time as I got closer to the exam date (approximately 2-3 hours on weekdays and longer on the weekends)

> 3. I also took a week off from work just before the exam to focus on my final preparation

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###### 4. Exam Tips

> 1. During the exam, I marked the questions I was unsure of for review. I made sure that I didn't exceed 10 questions for review, as staying within this limit made me confident that I would pass. 

> 2. I rarely changed the answers during the review mode unless I strongly believed that my previous answer was incorrect.

> 3. I made sure that I didn't leave any questions unanswered as there is no negative marking.

> 4. There is a myth that 50%-60% of the exam questions are related to Networking/VPC. However the exam seems to cover most of the services and in some cases the question/answer might refer to multiple services

> 5. If English is your second language, you can request for ESL+30 mins before booking the exam from [certmetrics](https://www.certmetrics.com/amazon/) > Request Exam Accomodations and wait for the approval. It might take couple of days.

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###### 5. AWS Labs

[AWS Labs/Workshops](https://start.me/p/1kjb2D/new-page)

> 1. This is a list of labs which you can use for practice, using your own AWS account. This is optional as some of these labs are quite advanced.


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