AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Quick Guid

1️⃣ What is AWS?

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud computing platform providing:

• Compute
• Storage
• Networking
• Databases
• Security
• Analytics
• Pay-as-you-go model

2️⃣ AWS Certified Solutions Architect (SAA)

• Target audience: Solutions Architects, Cloud Engineers
• Level: Associate
• Exam code: SAA-C03 (latest)
• Focus: Design secure, cost-efficient, scalable AWS solutions

3️⃣ Core AWS Services to Know

🔹 Compute

• EC2 – Virtual machines
• Lambda – Serverless functions
• Elastic Beanstalk – PaaS deployment
• ECS / EKS – Container orchestration

🔹 Storage

• S3 – Object storage
• EBS – Block storage
• EFS – Shared file storage
• Glacier – Archival storage

🔹 Networking

• VPC – Virtual network
• Subnets – Public / Private
• Internet Gateway / NAT Gateway
• Route Tables
• Security Groups & NACLs

🔹 Database

• RDS – Managed relational DB
• DynamoDB – NoSQL
• Aurora – High-performance SQL

4️⃣ High Availability & Scalability

🔹 Load Balancing

• ALB – Layer 7
• NLB – Layer 4

🔹 Auto Scaling

• Scale EC2 based on CPU / custom metrics

🔹 Multi-AZ / Multi-Region

• Redundancy and disaster recovery

5️⃣ Security & Identity

• IAM – Users, roles, policies
• KMS – Encryption key management
• CloudTrail – Audit logs
• GuardDuty – Threat detection

6️⃣ Monitoring & Management

• CloudWatch – Metrics & logs
• CloudFormation – Infrastructure as code
• AWS Config – Compliance & configuration

7️⃣ Cost Optimization Tips

• Use spot instances for dev/test
• Right-size EC2 instances
• Lifecycle policies for S3
• Reserved instances for predictable workloads

8️⃣ Common Architecting Scenarios

ScenarioAWS ServicesWeb app hostingEC2 + ALB + Auto Scaling + RDS + S3Serverless appLambda + API Gateway + DynamoDB + S3Data lakeS3 + Glue + Athena + IAMDisaster recoveryMulti-AZ RDS + S3 + CloudFront

9️⃣ Exam & Interview Tips

Q: Difference between S3, EBS, and EFS?

• S3 = Object storage
• EBS = Block storage
• EFS = Shared filesystem

Q: How to secure AWS resources?

• IAM roles/policies, encryption, CloudTrail logs

Q: What is VPC?

• Virtual network with subnets, routing, and gateways

Q: What is CloudFormation?

• Deploy infrastructure as code

10️⃣ Sample Exam Flow

1. Read scenario carefully
2. Identify security, scalability, and cost requirements
3. Map to AWS services
4. Choose the most cost-effective and secure solution