Step‑by‑Step AWS Course Syllabus for Solutions Architect Exam

If you want to start a career in cloud computing, the AWS Cloud Solutions Architect certification is the perfect starting point for you. According to Amazon Web Services, there were over 1.31 million active AWS certifications as of February 2024. 

Resumes with certifications in them are preferred by recruiters than the ones without them. If you want to qualify the exam to become an AWS certified Solutions Architect, it is important to take the exam. In order to take the certification exam, it is crucial to follow the structured AWS course syllabus.

This blog is the perfect piece of information on a step-by-step roadmap on AWS course syllabus to follow if you want to become an AWS Certified Solutions Architect.

Who is an AWS Solutions Architect?

An AWS Solution Architect Certification Training is a professional who is responsible for designing, secure, scalable and cost-effective cloud architectures with the help of Amazon Web Services. The goal is to create design of cost and performance optimized solutions.

The role of an AWS Solutions Architect is to do the following:

• Researching and translating business requirements into technology solutions.

• Recommend which AWS services (compute, storage, networking, databases, and security) should be used to achieve cost and performance requirements.

• Design work that ensures disaster recovery, fault tolerance, and high availability.

• Implements best practice in security, such as IAM Policy, encryption, and compliance.

• Minimizing costs through correct resource allocation and pricing methods.

• Orchestrating deployment and maintenance of cloud apps with the development, DevOps, and security teams.

What are the Different Certification Levels of AWS Solutions Architect?

There are majorly 4 types of AWS certification levels:

• Foundational

• Associate 

• Professional 

• Specialty

The Solutions Architect certifications comes into two levels:

• Associate

• Professional

Let’s understand the difference between the two:

What are the Key Domains of the AWS SAA-C03 exam?

There are four main key domains that are covered in the AWS SAA-C03 exam. These are mentioned as follows:

1. Design Secure Architectures (30%)

• Implementing IAM solutions

• Designing secure workloads and data protection strategies

2. Design Resilient Architectures (26%)

• Building fault-tolerant, highly available architectures

• Choosing appropriate disaster recovery solutions

3. Design High-Performing Architectures (24%)

• Selecting scalable compute, database, and storage solutions

• Optimizing performance for specific workloads

4. Design Cost-Optimized Architectures (20%)

• Selecting cost-effective services

• Managing resource allocation and pricing strategies

What are the Prerequisites Before Starting the AWS Course?

The following are the main prerequisites before starting the AWS course:

• Basic cloud computing knowledge

You must be familiar with the basics of cloud computing concepts such as AWS core services. These services include concepts like AWS S3, EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud), CloudFormation, AWS Lambda which is serverless computing, Amazon RDS (Relational Database), etc.

• Familiarity with Linux/Windows

It is crucial to have a good understanding of an Operating System (OS). you can either learn about a customizable OS like Linux or Windows. 

• Networking Fundamentals

Before learning about Cloud, you must be good with on-premise infrastructure. You should also be familiar with networking concepts like TCP/IP suite, OSI model, routing protocols, switching, subnetting, IPv4 and IPv6 addressing, network automation, etc.

• Database Concepts

Being familiar with basic database concepts like management, scaling and creation of databases is quite helpful. It further helps you understand data warehousing in Amazon RDS.

Step‑by‑Step AWS Course Syllabus

The following syllabus is covered step-by-step . It is mentioned as follows:

1. Cloud Basics & AWS Global Infrastructure

• Cloud models (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS)

• AWS regions, availability zones and edge locations

2. Identity, Access and Security (IAM)

• IAM users, groups, roles, and policies.

• Best practices in cloud security

• Basics of encryption

3. Compute Services

• Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2)

• EC2 instances types

• Auto scaling

• Elastic load balancers (ELB)

• Pricing models

4. Storage Solutions

• S3 buckets

• Versioning

• Lifecycle policies

• EBS and EFS

• Glacier

5. Networking and Content Delivery

• Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)

• Subnets

• Routing tables

• NAT

• Internet Gateways

• Route 53 DNS

• CloudFront for Content Delivery

6. Database and Analytics

• RDS

• DynamoDB

• Aurora

• Basics of RedShift

• Data migration

7. Monitoring and Logging

• cloudWatch metrics

• Logs

• Alarms

• CloudTrail

• AWS Config.

8. Serverless and Application Services

• AWS Lambda

• API Gateway

• SQS

• SNS

9. Cost Management and Billing

• AWS pricing calculator

• Cost explorer

• Budgets

• Tagging best practices

10. Hands-On Labs and Real-World Scenarios

• Building architectures using the AWS Free Tier

• Practical projects

• Mock exams

Some Additional Tips for Exam Success

The following are some of the additional tips you must follow to become a successful AWS professional:

• Use official AWS whitepapers

AWS has a pool of whitepapers to learn from. You can check them out here: https://aws.amazon.com/whitepapers/

• Take practice tests frequently

You can take practice tests in order to sharpen your skills and become prepared for the online certification exam for AWS.

• Join AWS Forums or Study Groups

Joining study groups or forums can help you kickstart your journey as you get peer help and motivation.

Conclusion

The Aws certification course online is a valuable credential for building a career in cloud computing, offering structured learning and validation of key skills. Following a step-by-step syllabus and gaining hands-on experience are crucial for exam success. Consistent practice, using official resources, and engaging with study communities further enhance your chances of becoming a certified AWS professional.

FAQs:

1. Who should pursue the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate certification?

The Associate-level certification is ideal for individuals with 1–2 years of cloud experience who want to learn fundamental AWS architecture concepts such as VPCs, IAM, EC2, and S3.

2. What are the key domains covered in the AWS SAA-C03 exam?

The exam focuses on four main areas:

• Designing Secure Architectures (30%)

• Designing Resilient Architectures (26%)

• Designing High-Performing Architectures (24%)

• Designing Cost-Optimized Architectures (20%)

3. What prerequisites should I have before starting the AWS Solutions Architect course?

You should have a basic understanding of cloud computing, familiarity with Linux or Windows operating systems, networking fundamentals (TCP/IP, subnetting, routing), and basic database concepts.

4. What are some important AWS services I need to learn for the certification?

The key services of AWS include EC2, S3, VPC, IAM, RDS, Lambda, CloudFront, CloudWatch, and Route 53 among others related to compute, storage, networking, security, and monitoring.

5. How can I best prepare for the AWS Solutions Architect certification exam?

Use official AWS whitepapers, take frequent practice tests, participate in study groups or forums, complete hands-on labs with AWS Free Tier, and work on real-world scenario projects to strengthen your skills.