AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Study Guide

Associate SOA-C01 Exam

Sara Perrott, Brett McLaughlin

• Publisher: Sybex
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781119561521
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Certification Guides in Computer Science
• Index: Computer Science

Your #1 all-in-one reference and exam Study Guide for the UPDATED AWS SysOps Administrator certification!

This comprehensive book guides readers through the role of a SysOps Administrator and helps prepare candidates to take the updated AWS Certified SysOps Administrator—Associate (SOA-C01) Exam. The AWS Certified SysOps Administrator—Associate certification validates technical expertise in deployment, management, and operations on the AWS platform.

This Study Guide not only prepares readers for the AWS exam, but it makes sure the reader is ready to perform the duties expected of SysOps Administrators. The book focuses on the skill-set required of AWS professionals by filling in the gap between test preparation and real-world preparedness. Concepts covered include:

• Monitoring and Reporting
• High Availability
• Deployment and Provisioning
• Storage and Dada Management
• Security and Compliance
• Networking
• Automation and Optimization
• And More

Readers will also have one year of free access to the Sybex interactive online learning environment and test bank, providing a suite of robust study tools including an assessment test, chapter tests, bonus practice exam, electronic flashcards, and a glossary of key terms.

PART I
AWS Fundamentals

Chapter 1
Introduction to Systems Operations on AWS

The AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate exam topics covered in this chapter may include, but are not limited to, the following:

Domain 2.0: High Availability

• ✓ 2.1 Implement scalability and elasticity based on use case.
• ✓ 2.2 Recognize and differentiate highly available and resilient environments on AWS.
• ✓ Content may include the following:
  • Selecting AWS services and best practices for building highly available and scalable architectures
  • Identifying which services scale automatically and which require administrator intervention

Domain 3.0: Deployment and Provisioning

• ✓ 3.1 Identify and execute steps required to provision cloud resources.
• ✓ Content may include the following:
  • Familiarity with multi-tier architectures
  • Where you can go for documentation and help with your AWS deployments

Domain 5.0: Security and Compliance

• ✓ 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.
• ✓ Content may include the following:
  • Advantages of a cloud model for security and access control
  • How AWS clearly delineates the role of you, the SysOps Administrator, and AWS as maintainers of the cloud

Domain 6.0: Networking

• ✓ 6.1 Apply AWS networking features.
• ✓ Content may include the following:
  • What AWS provides in terms of networking and troubleshooting services
  • The basics of Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC)

Domain 7.0: Automation and Optimization

• ✓ 7.1 Use AWS services and features to manage and assess resource utilization.
• ✓ Content may include the following:
  • How AWS defines the cloud and provides a complete ecosystem for application hosting and operations
  • What AWS provides in terms of managed services, and the basics of those managed services

You simply cannot claim to be a competent systems administrator without a working knowledge of the cloud. As the biggest cloud provider, learning the inner workings of the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud infrastructure and how to manage its resources and services is a competitive advantage. This book will advance your skills with AWS and ensure that you are prepared to both understand how AWS works and pass the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate exam.

In this chapter, you will learn about AWS and its associated services, including:

• The available regions within AWS and their corresponding API endpoints
• Services available with the Amazon platform broken out by category of service
• What systems operations (SysOps) entail and how SysOps questions will appear on the exam
• The Shared Responsibility Model, which defines the responsibilities of AWS and of its customers
• The AWS Service Level Agreement and what you need to know about it for the exam
• How to interact with AWS and the services available to you
• What to do when you need support or additional resources with AWS

The AWS Ecosystem

AWS, at its heart, is a virtualization platform. Figure 1.1 shows a simple look at the AWS stack of resources, from the physical servers that AWS maintains to actual “servers in the cloud.”

Figure 1.1 AWS as a virtualization platform

Although there is value in seeing AWS and the cloud, in general, as a translation of on-premises or physical hardware into a virtual model, that metaphor is incomplete. Many times, the cloud introduces new paradigms (such as spot instances) and sup...