Chapter 1 of 5 · AWS SAP-C03
Architecture Design and Implementation Built for the Cloud
Event-driven apps, containers, edge, VPC and hybrid networks, databases, data lakes and generative AI.
- 11topics
- 55 minfast track
- 1diagrams and exhibits
- 25%of the exam
Topics in this chapter
Take them in order, or jump to the one you need.
- 1Event-Driven Messaging and Event RoutingPick SQS, SNS, EventBridge or Kinesis by ordering, delivery and idempotency needs, route events across accounts and Regions, and…5 min
- 2Stateless Design, Caching and Multi-TenancyExternalize session state to DynamoDB, S3 or ElastiCache, choose ElastiCache or DAX caching strategies, and isolate SaaS tenants…5 min
- 3Serverless Workflows, Pipelines and Legacy IntegrationPick Step Functions or durable Lambda functions for long workflows, build Kinesis, Glue and Athena pipelines, and modernize…5 min
- 4Containers, Service Mesh and Auto ScalingChoose ECS, EKS and Fargate for microservices, connect them with VPC Lattice or ECS Service Connect, secure images in ECR and…5 min
- 5Ingress, Edge Compute and Global Traffic RoutingChoose ALB, NLB, API Gateway or the Load Balancer Controller for ingress, CloudFront Functions or Lambda@Edge, and Route 53 or…5 min
- 6VPC Design, IPv6 and Network SecurityPlan subnets and addresses with VPC IPAM, adopt IPv6 with dual stack, and inspect and filter traffic with Network Firewall, GWLB…5 min
- 7Hybrid Connectivity, Hybrid DNS and Multi-VPC DesignBuild resilient Direct Connect and VPN links with Transit Gateway, resolve hybrid DNS with Route 53 Resolver, and connect VPCs…Diagram5 min
- 8Hybrid Compute and Data SynchronizationRun workloads on premises or near users with Outposts, Local Zones and EKS or ECS Anywhere, and sync data with DataSync, Storage…5 min
- 9Database and Storage Selection and ScalingMatch RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB and Redshift to access patterns, scale them with replicas, Multi-AZ and global tables, and pick S3…5 min
- 10Data Lakes, Analytics Pipelines and Data SharingDesign S3 data lakes and Iceberg lakehouses with Lake Formation, pick EMR, Redshift, MSK or AppFlow pipelines, and share data…5 min
- 11Generative AI, Agents, RAG and ML InferenceIntegrate Amazon Bedrock across accounts, build RAG with knowledge bases and vector stores, run agents on AgentCore and pick…5 min
About this chapter
What this chapter covers
This chapter is 25% of the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C03 exam, tied for the largest share. It tests whether you can design cloud-native systems end to end: application patterns, containers, ingress and edge, networks across accounts and data centers, data platforms and AI integrations.
Expect long scenarios set in multi-account organizations. Questions are single-answer or multiple-response, and multiple-response questions state the count, such as "Which TWO". Discriminators like MOST cost-effective, LEAST operational overhead or lowest latency decide between options that all work; there are no exhibits.
How the topics fit together
A cloud design is built in layers, and each layer constrains the next.
- Application patterns decide how components talk: queues, event buses, workflows and stateless services.
- Containers and scaling decide where code runs and how it grows with demand.
- Ingress, edge and global routing bring users to the nearest healthy endpoint.
- VPC, hybrid and multi-VPC networking connect accounts and data centers securely.
- Databases, storage and data lakes match the access pattern and scale for availability.
- Generative AI and ML inference add models, retrieval and agents on top of the platform.
Read the last sentence of each scenario first. It names the real requirement, such as "LEAST operational overhead" or "RPO of zero", and that requirement usually eliminates two options before you read the rest.
How to use these pages
Each topic page has the same shape, so you can skim for what you need.
- What it is: the idea in plain words.
- How it works: the mechanism, with diagrams and examples.
- What to remember for the exam: the facts to memorize.
- Common mistakes: the classic traps.
- Check yourself: three questions to test your understanding.
This chapter is a chapter of trade-offs. For every comparison table, note the one requirement that makes each option win, because that is the word the exam will use.
Ready for more practice?
The full AWS SAP-C03 question bank has 850 questions, with timed practice exams and an explanation for every answer.
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