AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA‑C03)

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The AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA‑C03) examvalidates an individual’s ability to design distributed applications and systems on the AWS platform. It tests knowledge of AWS architectural best practices and practical skills to build secure, resilient, high-performing, and cost-optimized systems using AWS services. The exam emphasizes the AWS Well-Architected Framework and real-world cloud solution scenarios.

Exam Overview

• Format: Multiple choice and multiple response questions
• Number of Questions: Approximately 65
• Duration: 130 minutes
• Passing Score: 720/1000
• Delivery: AWS testing centers or online proctoring
• Target Experience: At least 1 year of hands-on experience designing cloud solutions on AWS
  
  

Ideal For

• Solutions Architects (Associate-level)
• Cloud Architects
• Cloud Engineers
• DevOps Engineers
• IT professionals transitioning to cloud roles
  
  

The exam is designed for those who have practical experience using AWS services to design architectures that are secure, scalable, cost-effective, and high performing.

Knowledge and Skills Covered

The exam is divided into four major domains:

• Design Secure Architectures (30%)
  Focus on secure access, identity management, workload security, AWS shared responsibility model, and VPC networking security.
• Design Resilient Architectures (26%)
  Covers fault-tolerant and highly available systems using load balancing, auto scaling, decoupling, and multi-AZ/cross-region strategies.
• Design High-Performing Architectures (24%)
  Involves optimizing compute, storage, and database services for performance, including EC2, Lambda, S3, EBS, RDS, and DynamoDB.
• Design Cost-Optimized Architectures (20%)
  Focuses on cost efficiency, resource rightsizing, using appropriate pricing models, and monitoring costs effectively.
  
  

Key AWS Services & Concepts

• Compute: EC2, Lambda, Auto Scaling
• Storage: S3, EBS, EFS
• Networking: VPC, Subnets, NAT Gateways, Route 53
• Databases: RDS, DynamoDB
• Security: IAM, KMS, Security Groups
• Monitoring & Logging: CloudWatch, CloudTrail
• Frameworks: AWS Well-Architected Framework principles (security, reliability, performance, cost)
  
  

Value of Certification

The SAA‑C03 certification demonstrates expertise in designing scalable, secure, and cost-effective applications on AWS. It is highly valued for cloud architecture, engineering, and DevOps roles.