AWS Certified SysOps Administrator exam preparation tips

Top 7 Tips for Preparing AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate Exam

AWS is the well-known name in the cloud computing industry. If you are planning to start your cloud career, AWS is the right place to begin the learning process. It offers following certification levels:

  1. Foundation level
  2. Associate level,
  3. Professional level,
  4. Specialty level,

There are three associate-level AWS certifications, among these AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate certification is considered the most important one for the administrators.

AWS SysOps certification is considered as the toughest one among all the associate level AWS certifications.  So if you want to pass this certification exam, you need to prepare well. This exam tests your knowledge of how to deploy and configure each service in the cloud environment. Whereas, other two certifications are more focused on testing your knowledge on how to use those services.

In this article, I would like to share important tips that are required to be followed for the effective preparation of AWS SysOps Administrator Associate exam. You can start with the official documentation that is available on the Amazon’s site for the exam preparation.

Latest Updates:

The new SysOps exam has the hands-on labs as part of the exam itself. The candidate has to answer multiple choice questions and also perform the hands-on labs.

SysOps Exam Lab

Top 7 Tips for AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate Exam Preparation

AWS Certified SysOps Administrator – Associate certification exam is intended for the professionals who are involved in operations, management and deployment on the AWS platform. Being the toughest one, it is not easy to pass AWS SysOps Certification. It’s a challenge to pass this AWS certification as it requires a lot of preparation. But if you are determined to work hard and choose to follow the preparation guide, it will become an easy task for you. So, prepare well and get certified!

Here we bring top 7 tips on how to prepare for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator certification exam.

1. Visit the Official Site

Once you have planned for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator exam, the first step is to look at the official site to start the exam preparation. The official site provides all the information about the exam such as the type of questions, prerequisite, duration, etc. Visiting the official site will give you a fair idea of the certification exam.

  • https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certification-prep/ – This is the common homepage for the AWS certification. This link lists all the AWS certifications.
  • https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-sysops-admin-associate/ – This is the official link for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate certification exam.

You won’t find some details like the total number of questions, passing score etc. for the exam on the official website. But, we are revealing that is the expected from the previous exams:

AWS Administrator Exam Format

2. Have a Look at Exam BluePrint

Once you have gone through the exam details, you might wonder which exam topics are covered in the exam. There is a BluePrint document (AWS certified sysops administrator syllabus pdf) published for every certification on the AWS website. The Blueprint contains the details of all the topics covered in the exam. It also provides some other information like the number of questions expected from each objective, list of white papers, etc.

3. Practice using Labs

Whizlabs is offering free hands-on labs for AWS developers. If you are registering with AWS Free Tier, then you will have to use your personal credit card and pay the cost from your account. This involves lot of challenges, Whizlabs account eliminates all of that and you just have to enroll in our AWS Training Courses.

Hands-on experience is the most important thing that will ensure your success in the exam. Without hands-on experience, you will not be able to understand the concepts and real-time scenarios. Because the exam might test you with scenario based questions, real-time knowledge is required.

4. Go Through FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are one of the valuable resources that are useful to prepare for the certification exam. There is a dedicated FAQs section for each service on AWS website that will clarify all your questions about Amazo Web Services.

It is a comprehensive source of information for each service. For example, the section EC2 FAQs covers everything about the EC2 instance. It also provides the service information like how to configure, related resources, different types, etc. These are the topics which will be tested in the certification exam. Here is the link to read AWS FAQs.

5. WhitePapers and Books

AWS Whitepapers section features a comprehensive list of technical AWS whitepapers, covering topics such as architecture, security, and economics.

Here is the recommendation provided for whitepapers on the AWS official website.

  • AWS Security Best Practices
  • Architecting for the Cloud: AWS Best Practices
  • Development and Test on AWS
  • AWS Well-Architected Framework
  • Amazon Web Services: Overview of Security Processes
  • Amazon Virtual Private Cloud Connectivity Options
  • Backup and Recovery Approaches using AWS
  • How AWS Pricing Works

White papers are one of the most important resources to prepare for the certification exam. The above list of whitepapers is very important from the exam point of view. Especially Security Process, Storage Options (S3), etc. are the must-read for AWS Certified SysOps Administrator exam.

You have to thoroughly go through the whitepapers to be more confident for the exam. If required, read every whitepaper more than once to understand the key concepts.

Apart from whitepapers, it is very important to read some AWS books for the preparations of AWS SysOps certification. Here, we are listing a few books that are highly recommended for the exam preparation. So, go through these books to get ready for this certification exam.

  • AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Official Study Guide: Associate Exam by Stephen Cole, Gareth Digby, Steve Friedberg, Chris Fitch, Michael Roth, Jerry Rhoads, Blaine Sundrud, and Shaun Qualheim
  • AWS Administration Cookbook by Lucas Chan and Rowan Udell
  • AWS Administration – The Definitive Guide by Yohan Wadia
  • Learning AWS by Amit Shah and Aurobindo Sarkar
  • Amazon Web Services in Action by Andreas Wittig and Michael Wittig

6. Watch Online Videos

Apart from going through the documentation, FAQs, Books, and Whitepapers, it is also good to watch few of the good videos for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate certification exam. There are a number of good videos for the beginners on the Amazon website that will help you understand the basics. It will also save you a lot of time to read the documentation.

  • Intro Series Videos – These intro series videos explain the basic concepts of cloud computing, AWS, and other services.
  • AWS – Youtube Channel – This is official Youtube channel for AWS
  • Introduction to Amazon Web Services by Jeff Barr – Jeff Barr is the chief evangelist for AWS and in his videos, he explains the introduction to AWS. Watching his videos will be a good start to learn about AWS.

AWS training online courses also provide an important mean to prepare for the AWS certifications. There are a number of online certification training providers, you can choose one of them to prepare for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate certification exam.

Whizlabs is the pioneer in online certification training and offers you online course for AWS SysOps certification. This AWS training online courses contain online videos of about 5 hours and 40 minutes covering all the objectives of the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate certification exam.

7. Try Practice Questions

Once you have gone through the documentation, videos, and any other resources and have the better understanding of AWS concepts. It is time for you to test your knowledge by taking the practice tests. There are few good commercial practice exams in the market that help you practice through questions similar to the real exam. We would recommend Whizlabs that provides one of the best practice material for the AWS Certifications.

Whizlabs is aimed to help you in your preparation so that you could pass the AWS certification exam on the first attempt. For this, it offers 700+ unique practice questions for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate certification exam.

These SysOps Administrator Associate Practice Questions will help you check your current level of preparation along with your weaknesses and strengths. Then, it will make you work on the weak areas so that you will be fully prepared to pass the certification exam.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the AWS sysops administrator salary?: 

AWS Administrators are getting one of the best salary among the IT professionals. You can read this article and this article to know more about the AWS professionals salary.

How hard is the SysOps administrator exam?: 

It is the most toughest exam in the associate level.

What resources are available to help me prepare for the AWS SysOps exam?

There are many online resources available to prepare well for the AWS SysOps exam and they are official AWS documentation, training courses, whitepapers, online tutorials, practice exams, community forums, and hands-on labs. In addition, you can make use of online platforms such as Whizlabs and Udemy to take online courses. They furnish practice test questions, study guides, free questions, and so on at affordable prices.

What are some common mistakes that people make when taking the AWS SysOps exam, and how can I avoid them?

Poor time management, a lack of practical experience, disobeying exam rules, failing to consider service constraints, reviewing practice questions insufficiently, and failing to use exam features are all common mistakes experienced during the AWS SysOps exam.

To prevent this, develop time management skills, obtain practical experience, comprehend test instructions, take service constraints into account, go over practice questions in detail, control your stress, make use of exam features, and, where necessary, choose simpler responses. To increase confidence and proficiency, practice with mock tests to gain a thorough understanding of AWS services, and replicate exam conditions. 

How can I prepare effectively for the AWS SysOps exam?

Prepare effectively for the AWS SysOps exam by understanding the blueprint, gaining hands-on experience, using study resources, focusing on key areas, reviewing practice exams, staying updated, managing time efficiently, participating in hands-on labs, and regularly revising your study materials.

Conclusion

AWS Cloud Certifications are at the top in the list of most demanding and highest paying IT certifications. AWS Certified SysOps Administrator certification is the important associate level certification for the administrators. This AWS certification is highly expected by the AWS solutions providers and corporations. We are aimed to help you pass this important certification exam so you can get your dream job. If you aspire to land your dream job in AWS cloud, we recommend you to search for AWS jobs near me and find the right job for you.

I hope this article provides sufficient information to start your preparation for the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate certification exam. Please be informed that Amazon keeps changing the certification topics based on the new services released. So, you need to remain up to date with whatever you are preparing for the exam. We are aimed to keep you up with the latest updates, and so we have updated the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate practice tests as per the new version (Released on September 24, 2018). For additional details on preparing for this exam, please refer to our other blog post: AWS SysOps Study Guide

It is not easy to crack this one of the toughest AWS certifications. But if you truly dedicate 2 months for the preparation, it will become easy for you to pass the AWS SysOps certification exam.

Good luck with your exam!

About Pavan Gumaste

Pavan Rao is a programmer / Developer by Profession and Cloud Computing Professional by choice with in-depth knowledge in AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform. He helps the organisation figure out what to build, ensure successful delivery, and incorporate user learning to improve the strategy and product further.

12 thoughts on “Top 7 Tips for Preparing AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate Exam”

  1. Hi, can you let me know how “hard” you would class the questions in your practice exams compared to the real exam? I have taken a few other and gained ~70% but only got 40% in this, I found the questions significantly harder than anything else I had used, enough for me to question if I had take the Pro exam by mistake. They are so deeply specific to the sort of knowledge you wold only get by using it for over a year IMO, using every single service and understanding it literally inside out. Is the real exam really this hard? Doubting if I will ever be able to pass without using it professionally for a significant amount of time 🙁

    1. Hi Alberto, Why you’re not trying Whizlabs Study Materials and Practice Test for AWS Certified SysOps Administration Associate. Definitely. you’ll crack exam in the first attempt.

  2. I found WhizLabs questions are significantly more difficult than other practice exams. Since I have taken the real exam twice and failed it, I think that WhizLabs practice exams are much closer to the real exams than any others. If I can pass the WhizLabs practice exams, that will significantly increase my confidence in taking the real exam again.

  3. Hi Mupopa

    It’s better to be prepared more than enough of what is required. Some of the questions may look like tougher than the actual exam, it will help you to answer any kind of scenarios in the real exam. Go through to the explanations carefully.

    Are you sitting for the next attempt before September 23?

  4. Nice Information about AWS SysOps Certification. This article very useful for who are ready to clear AWS SysOps Training Certification

  5. Failed this exam today. Hardest exam i took… reviewed around 500 practice exams from Linux Academy and Udemy. Did labs, got the theory of whole AWS services. Unfortunately, I failed and I don’t know why.

    1. Hi Babski,

      Try Whizlabs Study Materials and Practice Test once for AWS Certified SysOps Administration Associate. Definitely. you’ll crack exam in the first attempt.

    2. Hi Babski
      It’s sad you failed this Exam . It would have been Easier if You took This Course Training Before Your Exam .

  6. Nice tips Neeru Jain clearing AWS SysOps Certification. This tips will definitely help our students for clearing their certification.

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