Free study guide

AWS SOA-C03 Study Guide

AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate SOA-C03

The AWS Certified CloudOps Engineer Associate (SOA-C03) is the AWS operations exam. It covers monitoring and remediation, reliability and backup, deployment and automation, security and compliance, and networking. It suits people who deploy, run and troubleshoot workloads on AWS.

  • Exam code SOA-C03
  • Associate level
  • 5 exam domains

This guide is free, with no sign-up. It explains every AWS SOA-C03 exam topic in plain English, one chapter at a time. Read them in order or jump straight to the topic you need.

  • 5chapters
  • 29topics
  • 11diagrams and exhibits
  • 2 h 19 minfast track
Start with Monitoring and Optimization
  • Every topic follows the same simple pattern: what it is, how it works, common mistakes
  • Diagrams and real command output where a picture explains it best
  • Exam tips and worked subnetting and IPv6 practice, with answers

How the exam is weighted

Each domain is worth this share of the exam, so spend your study time in proportion. Select a domain to open its chapter.

Chapters

Open a chapter to see its topics and how long each takes.

1Monitoring and Optimization6 topics · 27 min fast trackCloudWatch metrics, alarms and logs, event driven remediation, availability checks and performance tuning.
  1. 1CloudWatch Metrics and Alarms5 min
  2. 2CloudWatch Logs and Filters4 min
  3. 3EventBridge, SNS and Automated Remediation4 min
  4. 4Availability and Health Monitoring5 min
  5. 5Compute Performance Optimization4 min
  6. 6Storage and Database Performance5 min
Read the chapter overview →
2Reliability and Continuity5 topics · 24 min fast trackAuto Scaling, load balancing, Multi AZ data tiers, disaster recovery strategies and backup and restore.
  1. 1Auto Scaling and Elasticity5 min
  2. 2Load Balancing and Multi AZ Design5 min
  3. 3Database and Storage Resilience5 min
  4. 4Disaster Recovery Strategies4 min
  5. 5Backup and Restore Strategies5 min
Read the chapter overview →
3Deployment and Automation7 topics · 32 min fast trackCloudFormation, AMIs, Image Builder, Systems Manager operations, patching and event driven automation.
  1. 1CloudFormation Templates and Stacks4 min
  2. 2CloudFormation Changes and Troubleshooting5 min
  3. 3AMIs, Launch Templates and Image Builder5 min
  4. 4Systems Manager Operations Tools5 min
  5. 5Patching and Maintenance Windows4 min
  6. 6Scheduled and Event Driven Automation4 min
  7. 7Deployment Strategies, Terraform and Git5 min
Read the chapter overview →
4Security and Compliance5 topics · 25 min fast trackIAM access, Organizations and Config governance, threat detection, encryption, and network and host protection.
  1. 1IAM Policies, Roles and Access5 min
  2. 2Organizations, SCPs and AWS Config5 min
  3. 3Detection and Audit Services5 min
  4. 4Encryption, KMS and Secrets5 min
  5. 5Protecting Network and Infrastructure5 min
Read the chapter overview →
5Networking and Content Delivery6 topics · 31 min fast trackVPC design, VPC and hybrid links, Route 53, CloudFront, Global Accelerator and a method for troubleshooting.
  1. 1VPC Subnets, Routing and Gateways5 min
  2. 2VPC Peering, Transit Gateway and Endpoints5 min
  3. 3Hybrid Connectivity with VPN and Direct Connect5 min
  4. 4Route 53 DNS and Routing Policies5 min
  5. 5CloudFront and Global Accelerator5 min
  6. 6Troubleshooting Network Connectivity6 min
Read the chapter overview →

Ready for more practice?

The full AWS SOA-C03 question bank has 850 questions, with timed practice exams and an explanation for every answer.

SubscribeTry Sample Exam

This study guide is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by AWS. Vendor names, certification names and exam codes are trademarks of their respective owners and are used for identification only.