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Everything you should read first: exam logistics, domain weightings, global infrastructure, and decision frameworks.
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Notes are based on the official exam guide + Stephane Maarek course slides. Go support him and buy his courses over on Udemy!
Study Guide Intro
Open unitNotes are based on the official exam guide + Stephane Maarek course slides. Go support him and buy his courses over on Udemy!
Exam Logistics
Open unit- 65 total questions (50 scored + 15 unscored — you won't know which is which)
- Multiple choice (1 correct) and multiple response (2+ correct)
- Passing score: 720/1000. No penalty for guessing — always answer everything.
References
Domain Weightings
Open unit- Highest Priority Domain: Design Secure Architectures — 30% ← highest priority
- Design Resilient Architectures — 26%
- Design High-Performing Architectures — 24%
- Design Cost-Optimized Architectures — 20%
References
AWS Global Infrastructure
Open unit- Regions — cluster of data centers (e.g., us-east-1, eu-west-3). Most services are region-scoped.
- Availability Zones (AZs) — usually 3 per region (min 3, max 6). Each AZ = one or more discrete data centers with redundant power/networking. Connected to each other with high-bandwidth, ultra-low latency links.
- Edge Locations / Points of Presence — 400+ globally. Used by CloudFront, Route 53, WAF.
- Global services (not region-scoped): IAM, Route 53, CloudFront, WAF.
References
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Key Decision Frameworks
Web app with path/header routing → ALB
When to use what load balancer
Open unit- Web app with path/header routing → ALB
- Extreme performance, static IP, TCP/UDP → NLB
- Security appliances (IDS/IPS) → GWLB
- Multiple SSL certs on one listener → ALB or NLB (SNI)
- Fixed IP for WAF → Global Accelerator + ALB
References
When to use what database
Open unit- Need SQL and joins → RDS / Aurora
- Millisecond NoSQL at any scale → DynamoDB
- Session/cache → ElastiCache Redis
- Analytics → Redshift
- Graph → Neptune
- MongoDB-like → DocumentDB
References
When to use containers
Open unit- Microservices architecture
- Lift-and-shift from on-premises
- When you need Docker specifically
- ECS Fargate = serverless containers (no EC2 management)
- EKS = when you need Kubernetes
References
DR strategy selection
Open unit- Small data, high RPO/RTO tolerance, low budget → Backup & Restore
- Fast failover for core systems only → Pilot Light
- Faster failover, some cost → Warm Standby
- Near-zero RPO/RTO, budget not concern → Active-Active
References
Network connectivity selection
Open unit- Quick setup, secure, over internet → Site-to-Site VPN
- Consistent bandwidth, private, dedicated → Direct Connect
- Multiple on-prem sites connecting to AWS → VPN CloudHub or Transit Gateway
- Direct Connect failover → VPN as backup
References
Storage selection for sharing
Open unit- Share files across Linux EC2 → EFS
- Share files across Windows EC2 → FSx for Windows
- Object storage at scale → S3
- HPC parallel filesystem → FSx for Lustre
- Block storage for single EC2 → EBS