AWS Solutions Architect Associate Cheat Sheet

Along with enhancing your current skill set, the AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification can be your key to better job prospects and higher salaries. However, the certification exam can be a tough nut to crack.

It is a scenario-based exam, and thus, going through a bunch of practice papers will not do the trick. Additionally, the exam syllabus is vast, requiring you to follow a systematic method in order to cover all the important aspects. For that, you need to know the AWS Solutions Architect Associate cheat sheet.

Keep reading to learn more!

What is an AWS Solutions Architect Associate Cheat Sheet?

An AWS Solutions Architect Associate cheat sheet is a guide for helping you identify and remember the most important parts of the exam syllabus. This negates the need for you to go through the entire syllabus, thus enabling you to allocate more time towards the essential aspects.

Such cheat sheets are crafted by experts as per the latest AWS syllabus. They serve as an effective guide, enabling you to cover the entire syllabus, thereby increasing your chances of passing the test. For additional knowledge, you can consider going for the best Cloud Computing certification courses. By doing so, you can ensure that you have all the skills and knowledge needed to ace this test.

AWS Solutions Architect Associate Domain Cheat Sheets

Below, you will find the various aspects of the AWS Solutions Architect Associate cheat sheet as per the latest Amazon Web Services syllabus:

1. EC2 Instances

AWS provides a web service called Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), which facilitates resizable compute capacity. Users can avail of this service to launch virtual servers (instances) on the cloud.

There are more than 300 EC2 instances on the AWS platform. They span across 5 instance families, each having different resources and performance focuses. Their names are as follows:

• Memory-optimized
• General purpose family
• Compute-optimized
• Accelerated computing
• Storage-optimized

Now, EC2 instances have different placement groups and purchasing options which individuals can use as per their requirements. Furthermore, there are several rules to scaling and launching instances, which you need to learn in detail.

2. Amazon S3

Amazon S3 is an object storage service which allows users to store and retrieve data from anywhere using the internet. It is infinitely scalable, and individuals can upload files ranging from 0 bytes to 5 TB.

In S3, data consists of the following components – key (name), value (data), version ID, metadata and access control lists. Data objects are stored redundantly across multiple devices in several locations.

S3 also has a wide range of additional capabilities which can help users perform several tasks. They are as follows:

• S3 Object Lambda
• Transfer Acceleration
• Storage Lens
• Requester Pays
• Events
• Tags
• Storage Class Analysis
• BitTorrent
• Static Web Hosting

Typical use cases for Amazon S3 include the following:

• Running static websites
• Hosting software delivery
• Backup and storage
• Media and application hosting

3. Amazon RDS

Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) facilitates the launching and managing of relational databases on the AWS platform. They are made for use as transactional databases and are suitable for storing structured and relational data.

These databases have automatic patching and backup systems, which are operational during customer-specified maintenance windows. They also feature scaling, redundancy and replication at the simple push of a button.

Being a managed service, users do not have access to its underlying EC2 instances. However, to gain access to the underlying operating system, individuals can use Amazon RDS Custom.

4. Amazon VPC

Amazon virtual personal cloud (VPC) enables users to gain access to a logically isolated section on the AWS cloud, where they can launch AWS resources in a defined virtual network. Individuals can gain complete control over their virtual networking environments, like configuring route tables and gateways, selecting IP ranges and creating subnets.

All VPCs are logically isolated from other VPCs on the Amazon Web Services platform. Users can connect their VPCs to their corporate networks through hardware VPNs. They are available in every AWS region, and users get to create a maximum of 5 VPCs/region by default. 

5. Elastic Load Balancing

As the name suggests, elastic load balancing is responsible for distributing incoming application traffic. This feature is applicable for multiple aspects like IP addresses, Amazon EC2 instances and containers.

Elastic load balancers are usually of four types:

• Gateway Load Balancer (GLB): Gateway load balancers are layer 3 and 4 load balancers, which are used for virtual appliances like IDS/IPS systems and firewalls.
• Classic Load Balancer (CLB): It provides basic load balancing at layers 4 and 7.
• Network Load Balancer (NLB): This is a layer 4 load balancer which routes connections depending on IP protocol data.
• Application Load Balancer (ALB): It is a layer 7 load balancer which routes connections depending on the premise of the request.

6. Auto Scaling

Auto-scaling is a feature which monitors all applications within a virtual server and adjusts its capacity automatically in order to maintain a predictable and stable performance. AWS has several auto-scaling services which take care of this function. They are as follows:

1. Amazon DynamoDB
2. Amazon EC2
3. Amazon Aurora
4. Amazon ECS

There are also various scaling options which users can choose as per their needs:

1. Scheduled: As the name suggests, this option scales (increases/decreases) the number of instances depending on a schedule.
2. Manual: Users can set a maximum, minimum or set number of instances as per their requirements.
3. Predictive: This scaling option leverages machine learning algorithms to schedule the correct number of EC2 instances with respect to changes in traffic.
4. Dynamic: The dynamic option scales the number of instances by taking into account the real-time system metrics.
5. Maintain: Just like its name, Maintain keeps a set number of instances running all the time.

7. Identity and Access Management (IAM)

This service allows individuals to easily manage their identities, along with access to AWS services and resources.

Its use cases are as follows:

• Create access permissions based on user attributes like team name, department and job role.
• Manage access across a single account or all accounts and applications within a company.
• Grant temporary access to workloads which need access to AWS resources.
• Set preventive guardrails on all the AWS accounts in an organization.
• Simplify permission management and grant the right permissions as requirements change. 

8. Security Best Practices

In this part of the AWS Solutions Architect Associate exam cheat sheet, you will get a concise overview of the best cloud security practices. They are as follows:

• Using the principle of least privilege and providing appropriate authorization access for each of the AWS resources.
• Centralization of identity management with an aim to mitigate the dependence on long-term static credentials.
• Real-time monitoring, alerting and auditing changes and actions in the AWS environment.
• Integrating log and metric collection within systems in order to facilitate automatic investigation and action.
• Applying a defensive approach consisting of multiple security controls to all layers.
• Automate software security-related mechanisms in order to improve their scalability and cost-effectiveness.
• Creating secure architectures with defined controls and manageable as code in version-controlled templates.
• Classifying data across various sensitivity levels and using mechanisms like access control, tokenization, encryption, etc., wherever necessary.
• Implementing tools and mechanisms to eliminate or reduce dependence on direct access and manual data processing.
• Creating investigation and incident management strategies as per the company's requirements and implementing them in simulations in order to stay prepared for security threats. 

9. AWS Global Infrastructure

AWS global infrastructure refers to the platform’s network of cloud infrastructure, which facilitates the availability of Amazon Web Services to its customers. It consists of the following components:

1. Availability Zones (AZs): Availability Zones are areas which have physical AWS data centers. They host the database, storage, compute and network databases which users avail in their virtual private clouds.
2. Regions: Regions are groups of availability zones which are located close to each other within a geographical area. AWS has several regions all across the globe in order to facilitate low-latency connections to its customers. 
3. Edge Locations: These are AWS sites present in highly populated areas or major cities. They are used for deploying AWS services like AWS Lambda@Edge and AWS CloudFront, which help reduce latency and cache data for end-users.
4. Regional Edge Caches: As the name suggests, regional edge caches are used for caching data. They come between edge locations and CloudFront Origin servers and retain data when it expires from the edge locations’ caches. This system was introduced in November 2016 to facilitate faster data retrieval by acting as an intermediary between edge locations and the origin servers.
5. Local Zones: AWS local zones are infrastructure-supporting services like database, computing, networking and storage in major cities which do not have a nearby AWS Region. This system was launched in 2022 and allows users to avail single-digit millisecond latency.
6. Wavelength Zones: Similar to local zones, wavelength zones also facilitate the core AWS services in regions with large user bases. However, they are only embedded in 5G mobile broadband networks and deployed in the data centers belonging to large telecommunication companies. It allows end users to connect to resources like EBS volumes, EC2 instances and VPC subnets without leaving their mobile networks. AWS wavelength zones are available through Vodafone in Germany and UK, Bell in Canada, Verizon in the USA, SK Telecom in South Korea and KDDI in Japan. 
7. Outposts: Outposts are responsible for bringing the benefits of the AWS cloud platform to a company's on-premises data center. It includes the exact hardware which AWS uses in its data centers, allowing clients to use the native AWS services, tools and APIs.

Customers can connect to AWS Outposts via a VPN or Direct Connect. They can run services like EMR, RDS, S3, EKS, ECS and EC2. Additionally, AWS Outposts facilitate private and secure connections to other resources and services like DynamoDB.

Apart from this, it features multiple storage options for local instance storage, local disks and EBS volumes. It also has available a wide array of EC2 instance types like R5, C5 and M5.

Commonly Used Acronyms & Abbreviations in AWS Solutions Architect Associate Exams

While preparing for this exam, you will encounter various acronyms for commonly used terms. In this AWS Solutions Architect Associate cheat sheet, we have covered some of the most widely used ones:

Acronyms	Full Forms
AZ	Availability Zone
AWS	Amazon Web Services
ASG	Auto Scaling Group
AMI	Amazon Machine Image
Amazon SWF	Amazon Simple Workflow Service
ALB	Application Load Balancer
AES	Advanced Encryption Standard
ACM	AWS Certificate Manager
ACL	Access Control List
BGP	Border Gateway Protocol
CSV	Comma-separated Values
CSM	Cloud Security Model
CSA	Cloud Security Alliance
CRR	Cross-regional Replication
CNAME	Canonical Name Record
CLI	Command-line Interface
CJIS	Criminal Justice Information Services
CIDR	Classless Inter-Domain Routing
CDN	Content Delivery Network
CAA	Certification Authority Authorization
DHCP	Dynamic Host Configuration
DDoS	Distributed Denial of Service
DDL	Data Definition Language
DBMS	Database Management System

Using AWS Solutions Architect Associate Cheat Sheets

Here are some of the ways you can use the AWS Solutions Architect Associate cheat sheet to prepare for your certification exam:

• Exam Preparation Tips: Such cheat sheets highlight and cover all the important aspects of the AWS solutions architect syllabus. They also concisely explain each aspect, enabling you to use them as tips which can help you prepare for the test.
• Last-Minute Review Strategies: You can mark those parts of the cheat sheet that you think need an additional last-minute brush-up. By doing so, you can ensure that your preparation is top-notch before taking the exam. 
• Incorporating Cheat Sheets into Study Routine: The AWS solutions architect syllabus is huge. Thus, you can use the cheat sheet as a kind of reduced syllabus while planning your study routine. Now, experts always recommend covering the entire syllabus to increase the chances of passing the test. However, you can consider allocating more time to the parts highlighted in the cheat sheet in order to effectively plan out your study routine. 

Additional Resources

Mentioned below are some additional resources you can use along with the AWS Solutions Architect Associate cheat sheet: 

A. Recommended Books and Study Materials

These are some books which experts recommend for the AWS Solutions Architect Associate certification exam:

1. AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide: Associate (SAA-C03 Exam)

This book is an all-in-one guide that comes with chapter summaries, test banks, additional key terms and bonus questions. Moreover, the Kindle version of this book comes with electronic flashcards. It is an excellent choice when it comes to preparing for the exam, as well as brushing up on the concepts. 

2. AWS Certified Solutions Architect Official Study Guide

Written by AWS experts, this book provides detailed knowledge of AWS architecture as well as chapter review questions and exam essentials. Furthermore, it covers all the questions which can be asked during the AWS solutions architect test and is thus one of the best books to help you prepare for this certification exam.

3. Learning AWS

If you already have a basic understanding of cloud computing and programming, Learning AWS is the book for you. It includes learning how to automate infrastructures, set up monitoring tasks, use tools like CloudFoundation and CloudWatch, etc. This book is available in both paperback and Kindle versions.

4. AWS Web Services for Dummies

In case you have no prior idea of the Amazon Web Services platform, AWS Web Services for Dummies is the best choice. It introduces all the basic concepts of AWS like its services, tools, storage, data management, receiving payments and more. Furthermore, you can learn how to increase productivity using AWS, reduce costs and improve operational efficiency.

5. Amazon Web Services in Action

Amazon Web Services in Action is a practical guide which can help you gain a clear understanding of AWS networking, storage and computing. It is also an excellent book for understanding designing, infrastructure automation and deploying applications. 

B. Online AWS Solutions Architect Associate Communities and Forums

Now, being a part of AWS forums can be a smart way to gain an idea about the test. There, you can find the latest news, questions, answers and discussions regarding Amazon Web Services, which can help prepare you for the exam.

Some of the best AWS communities and forums are as follows:

• Reddit » Amazon Web Services
• Spiceworks » Amazon Web Services (AWS)
• Amazon Developer Forum » AWS
• AWSBoy Forum
• Docker Community » AWS

C. Practice Exams and Mock Tests

Taking mock tests and practice exams is an effective way to get an idea of what the actual exam may be like. It also enables you to understand which parts of the syllabus you are currently lacking and allocate more time to them.

• WhizLabs AWS Solutions Architect Associate Practice Test (600+ questions)
• [Practice Exams] AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate (325 questions)
• TOTAL: AWS Solutions Architect SAA-C02 Practice Tests [195 Questions]
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Practice Exams Jon Bonso (390+ Questions)
• AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Exam Dumps (349 questions)

Apart from this, you can also check out our AWS Solutions Architect courses. They contain 24-hour live instructor-led classes, 9 mock tests, 3 simulation tests, more than 300 practice questions, etc.

Learn our Architecting on AWS price and opt for a course today. 

Conclusion

By going through this AWS Solutions Architect Associate cheat sheet, you will get a clear idea of what you need to study in order to pass the certification exam. However, given that you need to go in-depth into all the key concepts, seeking professional help is recommended.

In this regard, opting for our AWS Solution Architect courses can be an excellent move. Our industry experts will train you based on the latest Amazon Cloud Services syllabus and aim to develop your practical skills so that you ace the exam on the first go.

Check out our KnowledgeHut Architecting on AWS price today and take your career prospects to the next level!