AWS Solution Architect – Associate Cheat

Sheet

1. AWS Global Infrastructure

• Regions: Geographical areas with multiple data centers.

o Use Case: Deploy applications closer to users for low latency.

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 o Example: Deploy a web server in us-east-1 for users in North America.
• Availability Zones (AZs): Isolated locations within regions for fault tolerance.
o Use Case: Distribute applications across AZs for high availability.

o Example: Use multi-AZ deployment for RDS to ensure database availability.

• Edge Locations: Points of presence for low-latency content delivery.
o Use Case: Serve static content quickly to users globally.
o Example: Use CloudFront with edge locations to cache and deliver website
assets.

2. Compute Services

Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud)

• Definition: Provides resizable compute capacity in the cloud.
• Instance Types:
o General Purpose: Balanced compute, memory, and networking resources.
▪ Example: t2.micro for small web servers.
o Compute Optimized: High-performance processors for compute-intensive
tasks.
▪ Example: c5.large for batch processing.
o Memory Optimized: High-performance for memory-intensive applications.
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 ▪ Example: r5.large for in-memory databases.
o Storage Optimized: High, sequential read and write access to large datasets.
▪ Example: i3.large for data warehousing.
• Purchasing Options:
o On-Demand: Pay-as-you-go, no upfront cost.
o Reserved Instances: Significant discount for 1 or 3-year commitments.
o Spot Instances: Unused EC2 capacity at reduced costs.
o Dedicated Hosts: Physical server dedicated to your use.
• Key Features:
o Security Groups: Virtual firewalls to control inbound/outbound traffic.
o Elastic IPs: Static IPv4 addresses for dynamic cloud computing.
o Auto Scaling: Automatically adjust the number of EC2 instances.
AWS Lambda
• Definition: Run code without provisioning or managing servers.
• Use Cases: Event-driven compute, automatic scaling.
• Example: Automatically resize images uploaded to an S3 bucket.
Elastic Beanstalk
• Definition: Platform as a Service for deploying and managing applications.
• Use Cases: Quickly deploy applications without managing infrastructure.
• Example: Deploy a Node.js application with automatic scaling.

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3. Storage Services

Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service)

• Definition: Object storage service with high durability and availability.
• Features:
o Buckets: Containers for objects.
o Versioning: Keep multiple versions of an object.
o Lifecycle Policies: Automate transitions between storage classes.
o Encryption: Secure data at rest.
• Storage Classes:
o Standard: General-purpose storage for frequently accessed data.
o Intelligent-Tiering: Automatically moves data to the most cost-effective
access tier.
o IA (Infrequent Access): For data accessed less frequently.
o Glacier: Archival storage for data accessed infrequently.

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 • Use Case: Store and serve static assets for a website.
Amazon EBS (Elastic Block Store)
• Definition: Block-level storage volumes for use with EC2 instances.
• Types:
o General Purpose SSD (gp2): Balanced price/performance for a wide variety
of workloads.
o Provisioned IOPS SSD (io1): Designed for high I/O applications.
o Throughput Optimized HDD (st1): Low-cost, high-throughput storage.
o Cold HDD (sc1): Lowest cost storage for infrequently accessed data.
• Use Case: Attach an EBS volume to an EC2 instance for persistent storage.
Amazon EFS (Elastic File System)
• Definition: Scalable file storage for use with AWS Cloud services and on-premises
resources.
• Use Case: Shared file storage for multiple EC2 instances.

4. Database Services

Amazon RDS (Relational Database Service)

• Definition: Managed relational database service.
• Engines: MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle, SQL Server.
• Features:

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 o Multi-AZ: Automatic failover to a standby.
o Read Replicas: Improve read scalability.
o Automated Backups: Point-in-time recovery.
• Use Case: Host a transactional database with automated backups.
Amazon DynamoDB
• Definition: Fully managed NoSQL database service.
• Features:
o Single-digit millisecond latency.
o DAX: In-memory caching for read-intensive workloads.
• Use Case: Store session state for a web application.
Amazon Redshift
• Definition: Fast, fully managed data warehouse.
• Use Case: Analyze large datasets using SQL queries.

5. Networking Services

Amazon VPC (Virtual Private Cloud)

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 • Definition: Logically isolated section of the AWS Cloud where you can launch AWS
resources.
• Components:
o Subnets: Segment the VPC’s IP address range.
o Route Tables: Determine where network traffic is directed.
o Internet Gateway: Allows communication between instances in your VPC
and the internet.
o NAT Gateway: Allows instances in a private subnet to connect to the internet.
• Use Case: Create a secure network environment for your applications.
Amazon Route 53

• Definition: Scalable and highly available Domain Name System (DNS) web service.
• Routing Policies:
o Simple: Single record with optional health check.
o Weighted: Multiple records with weights.
o Latency: Route traffic to the region with the lowest latency.
o Failover: Route traffic to a healthy resource.
• Use Case: Manage DNS for a global web application.
Amazon CloudFront
• Definition: Content Delivery Network (CDN) service.
• Use Case: Deliver static and dynamic content with low latency.

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6. Security & Identity Services

AWS IAM (Identity and Access Management)

• Definition: Manage AWS users and permissions.
• Components:
o Users: Individual identities.
o Groups: Collections of users.
o Roles: Define permissions to make AWS service requests.
o Policies: Define permissions using JSON.
• Best Practices:
o Use the principle of least privilege.
o Enable MFA for root and IAM users.
o Use roles for granting permissions.
AWS KMS (Key Management Service)
• Definition: Manage cryptographic keys.
• Use Case: Encrypt sensitive data stored in S3 or RDS.

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7. Monitoring & Management Services

Amazon CloudWatch
• Definition: Monitoring and observability service.
• Features:
o Metrics: Collect and track metrics.
o Alarms: Set alarms for specific metric thresholds.
o Logs: Monitor and store logs.
• Use Case: Monitor EC2 instance performance and set alarms for high CPU usage.
AWS CloudTrail
• Definition: Log, continuously monitor, and retain account activity.
• Use Case: Audit API calls made in your AWS account.
AWS CloudFormation
• Definition: Model and set up your Amazon Web Services resources.
• Use Case: Automate infrastructure deployment using templates.

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8. Additional Services

AWS Elasticache
• Definition: In-memory data store and cache.
• Use Case: Improve the performance of web applications by caching session data.
AWS SQS (Simple Queue Service)
• Definition: Managed message queuing service.
• Use Case: Decouple and scale microservices, distributed systems, and serverless
applications.
AWS SNS (Simple Notification Service)
• Definition: Fully managed messaging service for both application-to-application and
application-to-person communication.
• Use Case: Send notifications to subscribers via email or SMS.

Study Tips
• Hands-On Practice: Use the AWS Management Console to implement these
solutions.
• Review Whitepapers and FAQs: AWS provides detailed documentation for deeper
understanding.
• Take Practice Exams: Simulate exam conditions to build confidence and identify
knowledge gaps.

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This cheat sheet provides a detailed overview of key AWS services, their use cases, and
examples to help you prepare for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate exam. Use
it as a quick reference and supplement it with hands-on practice and additional study
materials. Good luck!

Exam Details
• Duration: 120 minutes
• Questions: Approximately 60
• Passing Score: 720 out of 1000
• Format: Multiple choice, multiple response

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Understanding how to leverage AWS tools and features will
enhance your capabilities, support certification preparation, and
boost confidence in real-world problem-solving for DevOps, cloud
engineering, and SRE roles. In the up-coming parts, we will
discussion on more such practical challenges along with steps for
the different AWS based scenarios. So, stay tuned for the and
follow @Prasad Suman Mohan for more such posts.

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Images Credits:

• https://digitalcloud.training/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/aws-regions-availability-
zones.png
• https://jayendrapatil.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/aws-compute-services-
1536x869.png
• https://miro.medium.com/max/1164/1*02FpTqeqNH6XzcrBUqjR_w.png
• https://jayendrapatil.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/aws-database-services.jpg
• https://files.codingninjas.in/article_images/amazon-compute-and-network-services-0-
1656083419.jpg
• https://jayendrapatil.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/aws-identity-and-security-
services-768x349.png
• https://cloudstudio.com.au/wp-
content/uploads/2022/05/MonitoringAWSCloudWatch.png
• https://k21academy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/SNS_vs_SQS.png

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