If you've taken an AWS certification exam before, we're sure you know that they aren't easy. AWS certification exams test you to ensure that you have obtained the knowledge needed to work in AWS.
To pass the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate exam, you are going to need to understand the various services across the AWS ecosystem that enable you to do system administration and system operations work. This book is an excellent resource for your certification journey. In addition to this book, there is an AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate exam Study Guide book that goes into detail with the content that you are expected to know to ensure that you are well prepared to sit the exam. Other materials that we would recommend would be the AWS documentation (typically available as HTML and PDF) and the FAQs.
You should absolutely have hands-on experience with AWS before sitting for this exam. When you first sign up for an AWS account, you get 12 months of free tier access. This means that so long as you stick to free tier eligible items, and you don't exceed the hours or usage specified, you can practice building out your infrastructure in AWS. Practice with the console, but also practice with the AWS CLI. You don't have to be an AWS CLI expert to pass the exam, but you should be familiar enough with it to know the format of some of the more common AWS CLI commands.
We highly recommend setting aside study time to focus on a chunk of questions each night. Don't try to get through an entire domain in one sitting (especially Domain 1, it's huge!). Instead, set a goal for yourself to get through 20 to 30 questions a night and stick to it. When you have gone through the book, make sure that you register and take the free practice exams available online. This is mentioned in the section, “Interactive Online Learning Environment and Test Bank” later in this introduction.
Last but not least, take a break the night before the exam and give your brain a rest. You're almost there!
Registering and Taking the Exam
When you register for the exam, you have your choice of either PSI or Pearson Vue for your testing center. At the time of this writing, the cost for the associate exam is $150 USD. The questions will be in either multiple-choice or multiple-answer format. You have a total of 130 minutes to finish the exam.
You should arrive at the testing center early. It's a good idea to be at least 20 minutes early in case there are others checking in ahead of you. You will need to take some form of ID with you, and remember that you may not take your notes or your cell phone into the exam room with you.
Once you finish the exam, you will be given immediate feedback as to whether you passed or failed. Within a few days, you will get a more detailed message showing you which domains you did well on and which domains you didn't do as well on. If you passed, then congratulations! If not, use the feedback in the email to focus on the areas in which you didn't do as well.
There are tools that have been developed to aid you in studying for the Amazon Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate exam. These tools are all available for no additional charge at
https://www.wiley.com/go/sybextestprep
Just register your book to gain access to the practice test resources in the following list.
The AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate exam is designed with system administrators who have been working with AWS in an operational capacity for at least one year in mind. The exam candidate should have experience in deploying resources and managing existing resources as well as basic operational day-to-day tasks like troubleshooting, monitoring, and reporting.
As a general rule, before you take this exam, you should meet the following conditions:
The exam is organized into different domains, and each domain has its own chapter. In each chapter, there will be questions that focus on the various subdomains. Let's take a quick look at the chapters and what is covered in each.
This table provides you with a list of each domain on the exam, the weights assigned to each domain, and the chapters where content in the domains is addressed.
| Domain | Exam Percentage | Chapter |
| Domain 1: Monitoring and Reporting | 22% | 1 |
| 1.1 Create and maintain metrics and alarms utilizing AWS monitoring services | ||
| 1.2 Recognize and differentiate performance and availability metrics | ||
| 1.3 Perform the steps necessary to remediate based on performance and availability metrics | ||
| Domain 2: High Availability | 8% | 2 |
| 2.1 Implement scalability and elasticity based on use case | ||
| 2.2 Recognize and differentiate highly available and resilient environments on AWS | ||
| Domain 3: Deployment and Provisioning | 14% | 3 |
| 3.1 Identify and execute steps required to provision cloud resources | ||
| 3.2 Identify and remediate deployment issues | ||
| Domain 4: Storage and Data Management | 12% | 4 |
| 4.1 Create and manage data retention | ||
| 4.2 Identify and implement data protection, encryption, and capacity planning needs | ||
| Domain 5: Security and Compliance | 18% | 5 |
| 5.1 Implement and manage security policies on AWS | ||
| 5.2 Implement access controls when using AWS | ||
| 5.3 Differentiate between the roles and responsibility within the shared responsibility model | ||
| Domain 6: Networking | 14% | 6 |
| 6.1 Apply AWS networking features | ||
| 6.2 Implement connectivity services of AWS | ||
| 6.3 Gather and interpret relevant information for network troubleshooting | ||
| Domain 7: Automation and Optimization | 12% | 7 |
| 7.1 Use AWS services and features to manage and assess resource utilization | ||
| 7.2 Employ cost optimization strategies for efficient resource utilization | ||
| 7.3 Automate manual or repeatable process to minimize management overhead |
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