About AWS-SysOps Exam
If you want to become a real AWS SysOps pro, then you need to opt for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate or SOA-C01 exam that will teach you to deal with varied fault-tolerant and scalable systems based on AWS. Nailing this evaluation will get you the prestigious AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate designation.
About Affiliated Certification
As stated above, individuals that are interested in gaining the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate certification must take and pass the SOA-C01 exam. In particular, this certificate is intended for individuals with at least one year of work experience in fields such as systems administration, systems operations, deploying, managing, and carrying out operations on AWS. Besides, the vendor also recommends that individuals taking this test have a good grasp on the concepts of AWS tenets & cloud architecture, practical experience in using SDKs/API and AWS CLI tools, and a good understanding of the network technologies relating to AWS. In addition, candidates should have a good idea about security concepts with experience in security control implementation as well as compliance requirements, a good grasp of virtualization technology, skills to monitor & audit systems, an understanding of the principles of networking such as DNS, TCP/IP, and firewalls and be able to communicate architectural requirements.
About SOA-C01
Such an exam checks an individual's ability in a wide range of skills and knowledge. Particularly, they include being capable to execute, monitor, and deal with growing, high availability and fault-tolerant AWS systems, the knack to execute and control data flow from & to AWS, being able to identify suitable AWS services based on data, computer, or security needs, being skilled to identify suitable usage of best AWS operational practices, the forte to assess AWS costs for usage and select mechanisms for operational cost control, and the ability to transfer on-premises workloads to AWS.
Evaluation Details
The AWS SysOps is a 130-minute exam with 65 questions. In addition, it consists of two types of questions namely, multiple-choice and multiple-response. To add more, the actual test is offered in four languages - English, Japanese, Korean, and Simplified Chinese. The passing score for such an exam is set at 720/1000 and the official SOA-C01 exam costs 150 USD, and the official practice exam costs 20 USD. Also, the real exam may be taken at a testing center or as an online proctored exam. Note that the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate designation is valid for a period of three years from the date of certification. After this validity period, individuals may need to recertify if they wish to do so.
Tested Domains
Overall, the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate exam tests individuals on seven domains. The first is Tracking and Reporting which has a weightage of 22%. The second is High Availability with a weightage of 8%. With a coverage of 14%, the third domain is Classification and Supply while Storage & Data Handling is topic four with a weightage of 12%. Protection & Compliance is objective five with 18% of all exam content. Networking is domain six with a weightage of 14% and finally, the last and seventh portion is Automation alongside Improvements with an overall coverage of 12%. Each domain, in its turn, consists of two to three subdomains, which are discussed below in brief:
- Tracking and Reporting
This area requires individuals to showcase their ability in designing & maintaining units of measurement and alerts with the help of AWS tracking services. Furthermore, candidates must be able to identify performance and availability units of measurement. Lastly, applicants must be capable of carrying out the steps necessary to restore based on functioning and availability units of measurement.
- High Availability
To demonstrate skill in this part, individuals must be able to implement expandability and flexibility based on the given example. They must also be able to identify dissimilar highly available and pliable environments on AWS.
- Classification and Supply
Under such a category, candidates must be able to recognize and carry out measures needed to allocate cloud resources and know how to identify as well as rectify utilization issues to demonstrate their abilities in this domain.
- Storage and Data Handling
Applicants are required to be able to design, control, identify, and allocate data security & retention, authentication, and capacity planning requirements to demonstrate skills in such a topic.
- Protection and Compliance
The Protection and Compliance sector requires individuals to be able to implement and handle protection strategies on AWS, execute access controls when using AWS, and sort between unalike roles as well as responsibilities within the common responsibility model.
- Networking
To demonstrate skills in this category, examinees taking the SOA-C01 test must be able to carry out AWS networking attributes, apply associated connectivity services of AWS, and have the ability to bring together and comprehend the applicable data for network troubleshooting.
- Automation and Improvements
The final domain requires individuals to know how to use AWS services and attributes in handling & evaluating resource deployment, be able to carry out effective costing strategies for optimized resource allocation and manage to automate non-automatic or repetitive processes to lessen management expenses.
Career Opportunities
According to online resources such as Payscale.com, individuals possessing the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate certificate are able to earn more than $109k on average. However, please, note that this number is also dependent on the amount of professional work experience one may possess. To know more, common job titles for such a designation include a SysOps administrator, developer, senior developer, cloud engineer, systems engineer, application engineer, etc. All in all, the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate certification provides prospective employers with the assurance that an individual is skilled and has a good understanding of the particular field of work.
Certification Path
After an individual earns the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator - Associate certification, they may go on to continue in the field of AWS. A recommended next step would be to gain the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer – Professional certificate. Other options include broadening one's certification portfolio by earning the AWS associate- and specialist-level validations in various pathways. For more details, visit the AWS website and find the designation that suits your needs.
