As I embark on my journey to become an AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate, I’m excited to share my progress with a detailed, structured study plan. Over the next two months, I’ll be tackling a series of key concepts and gaining hands-on experience to prepare for the certification exam.
Week 1: Getting Started with AWS and Core Concepts
In my first week, I dove into the basics of cloud computing and AWS, starting with the cornerstone of AWS: EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud). I explored how instances work, how to launch them, and how to manage them with AMIs (Amazon Machine Images), Security Groups, and Elastic IPs. Additionally, I learned about EBS (Elastic Block Store), its types, and how to create snapshots and manage their lifecycle.
Hands-on:
- Launched and managed multiple EC2 instances.
- Created and attached EBS volumes to these instances to understand how AWS handles storage.
Week 2: Networking & Security
Moving forward, I tackled AWS networking, which is vital for any solution architect. I learned about VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) and set up my own custom VPC, including public and private subnets, NAT Gateways, and Route Tables. On the security front, I explored IAM (Identity and Access Management), learning how to create roles, policies, and configure MFA for users.
Hands-on:
- Set up a custom VPC.
- Created and managed IAM users, groups, and policies.
Week 3: Storage Services
AWS provides powerful storage services like S3 (Simple Storage Service) and Glacier, which were the focus of Week 3. I worked with S3 buckets, experimented with lifecycle policies, and tested Cross-Region Replication. Then, I integrated CloudFront for a CDN setup, which significantly improved content delivery speed.
Hands-on:
- Set up S3 buckets, applied lifecycle policies, and tested Cross-Region Replication.
- Created a CloudFront distribution with an S3 origin.
Week 4: Databases
The world of databases unfolded in Week 4 with services like RDS (Relational Database Service) and DynamoDB. I configured multi-AZ RDS instances with automatic backups and failover, while also playing around with DynamoDB, experimenting with tables and data modeling.
Hands-on:
- Set up an RDS instance with backups and multi-AZ failover.
- Created DynamoDB tables and tested queries.
Week 5: Auto Scaling & Load Balancing
Ensuring scalability and availability is crucial for modern applications, which is why I spent Week 5 focused on Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) and Auto Scaling. I set up both Application Load Balancers and scaling policies for EC2 instances, learning how to automatically adjust capacity based on demand.
Hands-on:
- Created an Application Load Balancer.
- Configured Auto Scaling for EC2 instances and tested different scaling policies.
Week 6: Serverless & Monitoring
Week 6 was all about going serverless with Lambda and API Gateway. I created a simple Lambda function triggered by S3 events, and I used API Gateway to secure a basic API. CloudWatch helped me monitor performance by setting up alarms and dashboards.
Hands-on:
- Built Lambda functions to automate tasks.
- Set up CloudWatch alarms to monitor system health.
Week 7: Application Architecture & Best Practices
I delved into the Well-Architected Framework, learning about high availability, fault tolerance, and disaster recovery strategies. I also experimented with Elastic Beanstalk and CloudFormation, deploying a simple web app and designing my first CloudFormation template.
Hands-on:
- Deployed a web application using Elastic Beanstalk.
- Created a CloudFormation template to automate resource deployment.
Week 8: Review & Mock Exams
As the final week approached, it was time to review everything I had learned. I took several full-length mock exams, analyzed incorrect answers, and spent time revisiting services I found challenging. Practice exams helped reinforce my understanding and highlighted areas where I needed more focus.
Final Preparations:
- Took practice exams on Whizlabs and Udemy.
- Reviewed core services and best practices from previous weeks.
1 thought on “My Journey to Becoming an AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate”
Good read.