This is the ORIGINAL post.
AWS (Amazon Web Services) has totally 12 certificates at the moment which include one foundational-level, three associate-level, two professional-level and six specially certificates.
In this article, I will walk you through the recommended preparation materials for each of the exams. The order of the exams will be from foundational level to specialty level, so please feel free to jump to the one you are mostly interested in.
Learning Path
Before you started, you need to think about why you want to get AWS certified and how you can achieve the expert-level certificate step by step. Good news is AWS does not require you to achieve the certificate from the foundational level. If you have enough experience, you can go for the professional level or specialty certificates directly.
But AWS still recommends some reasonable learning path for you. You can check out this below for your reference:
Unless you are an absolute beginner, you don’t have to start from Cloud Practitioner. I would suggest you to start from associate level certificate such as Associate Developer or Associate Solutions Architect.
Money-Saving Tip
However, there is a reason you can take Cloud Practitioner as your first exam. The Cloud Practitioner exam is 100 USD. Associate-level exams are 150 USD. Professional-level and Specialty exams are 300 USD. As AWS always give you a 50% discount voucher if you pass the exam, you can take Cloud Practitioner exam as this is the cheapest and easiest and you also taste the flavour of AWS exam. Then you can jump to the professional or specialty one.
Another Way to get 50% or even Free Exam Voucher
There is always AWS Certified Challenge happening regularly, you can follow AWS Training & Certificate on LinkedIn to get notified whenever it happens.
Now the Associate Challenge Registration is On-Going. Once you registered, you can start learning based on your own pace and get a 50% discount on your AWS Certification exam when you finish. That sounds great, right?
Let’s now focus on the preparation materials. You need to know these websites first.
- AWS Skill Builder — this is always the first place you need to go if you want to pass the exam. And the materials this site provides are must-learn.
- Udemy — there are tons of courses and practice exams for AWS, but you need to careful on your selections because sometimes, the trainers can also make mistakes or the information they provide is out of date. Also, you must wait for the courses to be on sale instead of paying full amount.
- Whizlabs — One of the best places to buy practice tests.
- Braincert — Another good place to buy practice tests.
Cloud Practitioner
- Official Exam Guide
- Free Digital Course: AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials on AWS Skill Builder
- Above course is part of this learning plan — Cloud Essentials Learning Plan: This covers more comprehensive knowledge.
- Practice Tests: 6 Practice Exams | AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C01
Solutions Architect Associate
- Official Exam Guide
- Stephane Maarek: Ultimate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate SAA-C03
- Adrian Cantrill: AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate (SAA-C03)
- Free Digital Course: Exam Prep: AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Associate (SAA-C03) on AWS Skill Builder — This is a must-learn material!
- Practice Tests: AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate Exam: You don’t need to finish all the practice tests as there are too many questions.
- AWS White Paper: AWS Well Architected Framework
- AWS White Paper: AWS Web Hosting Best Practice
Developer Associate
- Official Exam Guide
- Stephane Maarek: Ultimate AWS Certified Developer Associate 2023 NEW DVA-C02
- Adrian Cantrill: AWS Certified Developer — Associate
- Free Digital Course: Exam Prep: AWS Certified Developer — Associate (DVA-C02)
- Practice Tests: Practice Exams | AWS Certified Developer Associate 2023
- AWS White Paper: AWS Well Architected Framework
- AWS White Paper: AWS Web Hosting Best Practice
SysOps Administrator Associate
- Official Exam Guide
- Adrian Cantrill: AWS Certified SysOps Administrator — Associate
- Neal Davis: AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate 2023 [SOA-C02]
- Practice Tests: Practice Exams: AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate
- Free Digital Training: Exam Prep: AWS Certified SysOps Administrator — Associate (SOA-C02)
- AWS White Paper: AWS Well Architected Framework
- AWS White Paper: AWS Web Hosting Best Practice
Solutions Architect Professional
- Official Exam Guide
- Adrian Cantrill: AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Professional
- Neal Davis: AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02
- Free Digital Training: Exam Prep: AWS Certified Solutions Architect — Professional (SAP-C02) on AWS Skill Builder — This is a must-learn material!
- Practice Tests: AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional Practice Exam
- StartQuick Tech: How I passed AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional
- AWS White Paper: AWS Well Architected Framework
- AWS White Paper: AWS Web Hosting Best Practice
DevOps Engineer Professional
- Official Exam Guide
- Free Digital Training: Exam Readiness: AWS Certified DevOps Engineer — Professional
- Stephane Maarek: AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional 2023 — DOP-C02
- Practice Tests: AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional Practice Exams
- Practice Test: Practice Exam | AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional
- StartQuick Tech: How I passed AWS Certified DevOps Engineer — Professional
- AWS White Paper: AWS Well Architected Framework
- AWS White Paper: AWS Web Hosting Best Practice
Advanced Networking Specialty
- Official Exam Guide
- Free Digital Training: Exam Prep: AWS Certified Advanced Networking — Specialty (ANS-C01)
- Stephane Maarek: AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty
- Neal Davis: AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty Course [ANS-CO1]
- Practice Tests: AWS Certified Advanced Networking — Specialty (ANS-C01) Practice Exams
- Practice Test: AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty
Data Analytics Specialty
- Official Exam Guide
- Stephane Maarek & Frank Kane: AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty 2023 — Hands On!
- Practice Tests: AWS Certified Data Analytics — Specialty Practice Exams
- Free Digital Training: Exam Readiness: AWS Certified Data Analytics — Specialty
Database Specialty
- Official Exam Guide
- Stephane Maarek: Ultimate AWS Certified Database Specialty 2023
- Practice Tests: AWS Certified Database — Specialty Practice Exams
- Practice Tests: AWS Certified Database Specialty Practice Exams — Jon Bonso
- Free Digital Training: Exam Readiness: AWS Certified Database — Specialty
Machine Learning Specialty
- Official Exam Guide
- Stephane Maarek & Frank Kane: AWS Certified Machine Learning Specialty 2023 — Hands On!
- Practice Test: AWS Certified Machine Learning — Specialty Practice Exams
- Practice Test: AWS Certified Machine Learning Specialty Practice Exams — Jon Bonso
- Free Digital Training: Exam Readiness: AWS Certified Machine Learning — Specialty
Security Specialty
- Official Exam Guide — This is the new version of the exam (SCS-C02) starting from July 11, 2023
- Adrian Cantrill: AWS Certified Security — Specialty
- Free Digital Training: Exam Readiness: AWS Certified Security — Specialty
- Practice Tests: AWS Certified Security — Specialty Practice Exams
SAP on AWS Specialty
- Official Exam Guide
- AWS White Paper: SAP Lens — AWS Well-Architected Framework
- AWS White Paper: High Availability and Disaster Recovery Options
- AWS: SAP on AWS Technical Documentation
- Riyaz Sayyad: AWS Certified SAP on AWS Specialty — Hands On Guide
- Practice Tests: SAP on AWS Specialty Certification Exam (PAS-C01)
Finally
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