AWS CCP Exam Prep on a Budget

AWS is extremely in demand and a valuable skill to have on your resume as the world makes the shift to cloud-based computing. An easy way to get into the world of the cloud is to get the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification. Recently, I was able to find an equally easy and cost-effective way to learn, prepare, and pass the exam. Now, I want to share what I have learned with others.

Background

The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam is a foundational exam for people who are looking to be introduced and understand at a high-level the AWS Cloud and its products/services. The target audience for the AWS CCP is those in business or non-technical roles. Having in-depth knowledge of the technical inner workings of the products is not necessary or required to start/pass.

I had only had about a year worth of experience working with AWS tools before. During a few academic projects, I had worked with the AWS Console, EC2, and Security Groups. Otherwise, I had some non-AWS knowledge like the Linux command line, using SSH, and SFTP (PuTTY). The previous AWS knowledge was helpful as it gives someone new a head start, but is not required to begin with an AWS CCP course.

AWS CCP Course

There are many different vendors with which you can train to prepare to take the AWS CCP course. One of which is the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Complete Video Course by Richard Jones through the O’Reilly Learning Online. This vendor can be accessed by those attending many college/universities, check through the resources provided by the institute’s library services to see if it is available. Otherwise, there will be links to free courses and materials below.

This course goes over the four-part of the well-architected framework which are cloud concepts, security, technology, and billing/pricing. These four parts are also the four question domains for the exam. It also covers many of the AWS services and products and their relation to or support of the question domains. In the course, there are also several use cases and walkthroughs of the AWS tools. Additionally, the instructor provides exam tips and external AWS resources that can be used to prepare for the exam

AWS CCP Exam

Once you have completed the course and are prepared the exam is straightforward. The exam includes questions about the well-architectured frameworks and key terms like elasticity, scalability, redundancy, and fault tolerance. Some questions ask to define what each of the services does. However, many of the questions are phrased to test knowledge of which tool would be best in each use case. For example, instead of “What is EC2?” it would be structured like “Given the following scenario, which tool would best fit the need?”. Where the answer choices would be a list of tools/services, and one would have to pick the best answer.

AWS and its exams are constantly evolving and introducing new tools, products, and services to their lineup. My course was created at the end of 2018, but taking the exam in 2020, there were services/tools that I was not familiar with. Therefore, regardless of the course, a best practice would be to refer to current AWS documentation, white papers, and videos to be up to date on all the services that may be on the exam.

Free/Budget Exam Prep Resources

If you’re still interested in taking the exam, I have compiled some resources that can be used to prepare for the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam.

Free Resources

FreeCodeCamp offers an extensive, up to date, and a COMPLETELY free 4-hour course taught by Andrew Brown on YouTube.

FreeCodeCamp AWS CCP YouTube Course: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hLmDS179YE

AWSlagi is a site that provides free practice exams, where the questions are formatted very similarly to those that can be found on the test. There are options to pay for questions that are “guaranteed to be on the exam”, but I would not recommend purchasing those exam questions.

AWSlagi Practice Exams: https://awslagi.com/practice-questions/

There is also free access to AWS CCP Quizlet flashcards, quizzes, and other study tools available. These two are the sets that I used before passing my exam.

Quizlets: https://quizlet.com/275297341/amazon-cloud-practitioner-certification-flash-cards/”
https://quizlet.com/307447575/aws-cloud-practitioner-sample-exams-1-2-3-4-flash-cards/

Budget-Friendly Option

The following are options that may cost money, but even as a broke college student, I was able to purchase and not break the bank. However, the small payment does result in higher quality materials.

As of the writing of this article, udemy is having a sale for all new students. This AWS CCP 2020 course can be purchased for $12.99, otherwise, it is normally $29.99. But udemy is ALWAYS having sales/deals so look into that before purchasing.

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner 2020 Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/aws-certified-cloud-practitioner/

As of the writing of this article, they are having a Black Friday Promo deal where the AWS CCP practice exams are $13.98. Or can be bundled with an AZ-900 practice exam for $11.98 and $13.98 respectively. Otherwise, the promo code “WELCOME-2-TD” for $2 off any purchase.

TutorialsDojo AWS CCP Practice Exams: https://portal.tutorialsdojo.com/courses/aws-certified-cloud-practitioner-practice-exams/

Hopefully, this was informative and helpful information. Feel free to leave a comment about any of the information, products, or questions that you have. Thanks for reading!