My Journey to AWS Solutions Architect Professional(SAP)!
I completed 3 AWS Associate and Terraform certifications by mid March 2021 and after taking a break for 2 weeks, I finally decided to target Solutions Architect Professional.
In this article, I would like to give all the steps I had taken to clear SAP certification and more importantly — How I gained The KNOWLEDGE!, so please do read and let me know your thoughts and feedback.
Why I picked SAP ahead of Devops Professional?
I was constantly questioning and arguing myself why not Devops Professional, but eventually convinced myself that I will do SAP first and devops pro will be an easy progression after that.
The main reason why I picked SAP ahead of Devops Professional even though I work as a full time SRE: I already know lot of devops topics in AWS but I wanted to build my confidence towards architecting large solutions(I architect cloud solutions in current job as well)so SAP was an easy pick for me.
Preparation and Resources!
Step 1, so I bought Adrian Cantrill’s SAP course(I already had and followed Associate course from his website and also from LinuxAcademy) and Stephane Maarek’s Udemy course(Based on my experience with his Developer associate course, and I am a fan ever since)
I started with Maarek’s course(told you, I was a fan), most importantly his accent is something I like and the content is very organized, since having a good index page gives me great idea on topics and I strongly recommend to review the index once in a while to get a view on where you stand in terms of the course progress.
This course is fast paced and covers lot of stuff, so you are expected to know all the basics as a pre-requisite and I do not recommend this course if you are starting at level zero on AWS. Obviously most of the SAP courses expect you to know most of the basics anyway, but I can recommend Adrian Cantrill’s course if you are really keen on deep diving with lots of basics.
I spent about 2 months to complete the course including all the revision, but I felt I was no way near to taking the exam(It’s a confidence thing) and I wanted to do more.
One thing I have done while studying Stephane Maarek’s course is, I had taken lots of hand written notes(Yes, I used a PEN and a BOOK!) which I think is super crucial in the long run as I was able to revise everyday before going to next topic which helped in retaining lot of topics.
Note: of course, notes can be digital notes as well, doesn’t matter as long as it is available for you to refer. I sticked to hand written notes as it’s my thing and things stick if I write, so choose what fits and works for you.
Meanwhile there is a great community of people in TechStudySlack created by Adrian, I participated in some and followed all the discussions, and I recommend everyone to as well.
Moving on to step 2, I did DEMO’s/POC from https://github.com/acantril/learn-cantrill-io-labs, and I can’t recommend enough about these demo’s — they are super super useful, especially if you are not doing much of AWS hands-on in your day-to-day work(Though I have some exposure of cloud in my full time job, this is next level, so DO IT!!!!)
While doing the demo’s I ensured I understand each click, config and questioned myself WHY(if you can answer, you are good!)
Step 3, I quickly read some white papers like:
AWS Migrate Resources to New Region
AWS Web Hosting Best Pratices
Design Principles for Organizing your AWS Account
Migration Services
More can be found in here
Moving to step 4, I bought Jon Bonso’s practise exam’s, this is a great platform for practising. there are various modes
- Review mode (Recommended)
- Section based
- Timed mode (Recommended)
- Final Test
First I did Review mode, in this section you will be able to review the answers with explanation right away.
Next I did Timed mode, and practised finishing the exam in one sitting(Yes, It’s not easy to finish in one sitting, I was able to do only 1 test in the weekend and I had enough of it already), so I switched to doing it in small blocks like 30 mins at once.
Most crucial out of this exercise is to review all the correct and wrong choices you selected and WHY they are correct and why they are wrong. During this I noted all the topics which I got it wrong .
Note: Btw, if you are thinking these are exam DUMPS, you can at your own risk(The chances of you encountering the same question in actual AWS exam is 0.0000000001 percent, so it explains?)
As step 5, all the unclear topics which I noted in step 4, I went to Adrian Cantrill’s course and reviewed the basics from both Associate and SAP course(I picked this since Adrian provides detailed explanation on the concepts, so I was reviewing the topics which I had some doubts on the basics)
By covering everything I had to, the next logical step was taking the actual SAP exam! but…..
EXAM Time?
NO, I couldn’t.!! because the reputation of the exam got to me! YES, purely the reputation of the exam! every post I see, every forum, every chat, every note says …..SAP is a monster!(YES, IT’S TRUE!), SAP is super HARD!(but it’s TRUE!!) so somehow I still felt I was not ready, I needed do something more to be ready but not sure what, and 2 weekends passed by in a flash, and I was constantly feeling the stress, lots of questions — will I be able to focus for 3 hours?, Do I have the knowledge to pass this exam?, what if I fail?, can I handle the failure? — (YES, I am being honest here)
I tried to find some more resources which could highlight my knowledge gaps, and I found https://wellarchitectedlabs.com and https://workshops.aws. I reviewed some demo’s and I felt comfortable, but still there was this fear….but I know I was ready!
I spent 1 month procrastinating and I just booked the exam with PSI for 7th August to face the worst fear!
Exam Experience:
So, it’s exam day, Its a proctored exam at home!
Come August 7 at 7PM waiting for the proctor to say hello and start my exam, 15 mins passed no one showed up!, 20 mins…. finally proctor came online and my exam started at around 7:45 PM after all the checks.
Some pointers on checks:
- You need to have a clear table with no gadgets, water, pens, book etc…
No external screen’s allowed, clear walls with no stickers etc, no wearing watch, hats…
- Proctor will scan the entire room, your video will be monitored and proctor will chat to notify if you are not following any protocols during the exam(like trying to read or murmur with mouth or turning away from screen/camera etc..)
- No washroom breaks, so consider not to drink too much liquids prior to exam
so my exam started..
First question…Yes, a good start I was sure it’s a correct one, quickly onto 5th and I was comfortable now and picking the rhythm …….and by 30th question ….I was already tired and considering I still have 45 more questions gave me a shiver. I took a minute to breathe(meditation) and I started again with a good feeling, yes I am back with the same rhythm and by 60 I was really tired and losing focus, the questions were crazy, long, paragraphs, multiple services, my feeling was just to click something and finish the exam, my brain was giving up on analysis, logical thinking and reasoning. But I again stopped for a minute to just breathe, this helped me in keeping away all the negative thoughts and I was able to think straight and focus, and at 75th question I still had 30 mins left in the clock.
I felt relaxed and went back to flagged questions to review(quick tip when flagging, always select the best answer instead of leaving blank as it will help to start from there or else you may have to read the question and options again which could be time consuming)
And with few minutes left in the timer I clicked submit and bang!!!!! the screen showed “PASS”, the feeling was amazing, I wanted to shout loud but I was considerate for the proctor and it’s still recording :) so I closed the exam window and laptop, came out of my room and punched the air in delight and I felt as Ronaldo scoring the winning goal at 90th minute! I was overjoyed! happy and relieved to be honest.
My suggestion to everyone who is taking any exam:
If your effort and preparation is good, and if you are feeling not ready, you are actually READY. If you are feeling ready, you are actually more than READY, so always GO FOR IT! and YOU CAN DO IT!
Last but not least — Rest well on the day of exam, and start with a fresh mind. Trust me it makes a lot of difference. It’s an exam day so dedicate it for that! after all you don’t want external factors impacting your exam end result!
Summary of resources:
- Stephane Maarek’s Udemy course
- Adrian Cantrill’s SAP course
- AWS White papers
- Demo’s from https://github.com/acantril/learn-cantrill-io-labs
- Jon Bonso’s practise exam
- Optionally https://wellarchitectedlabs.com and https://workshops.aws
I hope this is helpful and provides some guidance and structured path towards achieving this milestone certificate! Good Luck!
Finally, feel free to connect with me via LinkedIn: BharathAtluri
