Overview

Why one should take the AWS Data Engineer Associate Architect Certification Exam?According to AWS "The AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate (DEA-C01) exam validates a candidate's ability to implement data pipelines and to monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize cost and performance issues in accordance with best practices". "Data Engineering" is a judicious mix of Operational Data Management, End to End Data Flow Architecture, Data Analytics, and Data Security. This certification exam is an evolution and unification of the following curriculums: Solutions Architect Assoc., Solutions Developer Assoc., Data Analytics Specialty (simplified), and Devops Specialty. Data Engineering skillset is the most sought after talent in the market today especially in the area of Cloud computing.Course ObjectivesThis course of Practice Tests is meant to help you not only obtain the coveted AWS Certification (AWS Data Engineer Associate Level), but also enable an in-depth understanding of Data Engineering in the Cloud space to empower you to meet your future professional challenges with confidence. It will hone your skill broadly as you start your journey into the Cloud in search of cutting edge solutions. Suggested Ways to Crack the Exam Questions1. Study the question Fully. Make an expectation of what the answer should be without reading the choices, but DO NOT attach yourself to this conclusion - keep it tentative.2. Make sure you note the constraint keywords and asks such as least cost, high performance, least effort, etc.3. Beware if a question says: "Pick a choice that is NOT TRUE (or Pick a choice that is FALSE) - natural human thinking tends to gravitate towards True.4. Review ALL the choices - DO NOT make a selection without reading all. Common mistake is picking the earliest choice that seem to fit as the best answer without reading all the choices. But, the next choice could have been the perfect answer.5. Answer ALL the questions even if you don't know any - there is no penalty for incorrect answers. Further, if you don't know or not fully confident of the question, use elimination of the choices that definitely are wrong, then focus only on the fit ones to choose the answer (your probability of being correct increases this way!).6. Definitely keep time to review at the end. Reasons:Sometime you may have inadvertently forgot to answer a question, orBeware, though you knew a question and selected the answer correctly, inadvertently due to mouse click, it may have selected a wrong choice, orYou may have skipped a question to save time, but forgot about it: remember, every question's answer counts.The practice tests will ensure you are well prepared on the above especially #6 pitfalls.Exam Check ListPrepare BEFORE you take these Tests. Pretend the Test is the Exam itself so allocate time.Read the explanation fully for a Test after completing it before moving to the next Test.Review your Incorrect Answers.Review also your Correct Answers. For some questions, you could have used elimination or just guessed - so understand why that choice is indeed the right answer.For some questions, you picked a choice thinking of a reason; the Choice is correct, but that reason is wrong. Reading the explanation will tell you why it is the right choice and its reason precisely. Review the Incorrect choices because you need to know why they are not the right answers. Moreover, in a different problem context, they may be valid choices.If you wish to re-take the Tests, give a couple days so your memory will not interfere with your understanding in answering the questions.Exam Tip A few days before the exam, see if you have time to quickly re-take all the Tests (or, simply review the Exam Tip content).If you get over 85-90 percent or above in the Tests, I believe you are ready to take the Exam.Exam Format & DomainsThe Certification Exam has 65 multi-choice and multi-select questions; and you have 170 minutes to complete the exam. The passing score is 720 out of 1000. The questions are not equally weighted in their scores.Domain 1: Data Ingestion and Transformation (34% of scored content) Notice the highest weighting here - this comes from pretty much from the Data Analytics curriculum, but a bit watered down. Various Data Preparation and Data Lineage management services in AWS (including Sagemaker services) are included in scope.Domain 2: Data Store Management (26% of scored content) Second highest weighting - this comes from Data Analytics and Solutions Architect Associate Level curriculum. Note, this is data storage management including cost efficiency. But some aspects of efficient data manipulation (e.g., efficient queries) are also in scope.Domain 3: Data Operations and Support (22% of scored content) Third highest weighting - this comes from Devops curriculum and Solutions Architect Assoc. curriculum. This also includes software deployment and end-to-end lifecycle handling of software including software management principles. Domain 4: Data Security and Governance (18% of scored content)Final weighting, Security as in other Certifications, but here it is more tailored towards Data security (data encryption at-rest and in-transit), data access and authorization controls, cross account data sharing, and Governance.Note Weighting is not correlated with number of question of a domain: i.e., just because you have a 34% weight for Data Ingestion and Transformation, dont expect approximately 29 question in that domain (85 * 0.34 ). The tests are patterned after the Data Engineering 'Beta' Certification format: 85 questions per test to maximize your practice time, and strengthen your perseverance to make your actual Exam experience a pleasant one.This certification exam does not require deep hands-on coding experience, although familiarity with basic programming concepts would be an advantage. The suite of Practice Tests in the course will thoroughly vet your understanding of the AWS Cloud above and beyond the level of an AWS Data Engineer Associate.What benefit do I get by taking this exam and obtaining the Certification?As outlined by AWS, the 'AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate' showcases the candidate's ability to understand the effects of volume, variety, and velocity on data ingestion, transformation, modeling, security, governance, privacy, schema design, and optimal data store design. Data Engineering today is vastly different from the 2000's and even the 2010's with the advancements in Cloud computing. This certification is guaranteed to give you a competitive edge on the market.Furthermore, this can enhance one's career profile including but not limited to earnings of certified individuals, and certainly distinguish you from the competition. It will notably increase your credibility and confidence in critical stakeholder and customer interactions relating to cutting edge data management. How this course can help you effectively and efficiently (esp. valuing your time) ?The carefully designed tests will prepare you above and beyond the knowledge level and challenge expected for the exam.The knowledge level as an AWS Data Engineer comprises of but not limited to the following:Ingest and transform data, and orchestrate data pipelines while applying programming concepts. Choose an optimal data store, design data models, catalog data schemas, and manage data lifecycles. Operationalize, maintain, and monitor data pipelines. Analyze data and ensure data quality. Logging approaches to aid Data management and Data operations.Implement appropriate authentication, authorization, data encryption, privacy, and governance. There is also an emphasis of data preparation services and a good slant/intersection into AWS AI services and Platforms.Why Data Analytics Certification is Retiring ?Please take note that the Data Analytics Specialty Certification is to be retired by April 2024. This Data Engineer Assoc. Certification replaces it.Along with the launch of the Data Engineer Associate-level certification, AWS will be retiring AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty on April 9, 2024. This retirement is meant to focus on certifications that align more closely to key Cloud job roles, such as Data Engineer. Data Engineer (Assoc.) Certification vs. Data Analytics Specialty CertificationThere are several key differences between the new AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate, and the AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty certifications:AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate aligns closely to the data engineer job role and focuses on the ingestion, transformation, storage, and management of data. AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty covers a broader set of domains and includes topics that are relevant to both data engineers as well as data analysts. AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate includes application of programming concepts, but it is not included in the AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty. AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate also has a heavier emphasis on data operations, support, and security than AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty. The new AWS Certified Data Engineer - Associate certification is at the associate level and does not go into as much depth and complexity as AWS Certified Data Analytics - Specialty.Additional Preparatory MaterialsConsult AWS Skills Builder for a free Practice Exam. If you are new to the AWS Cloud, please first take a foundational certification called Cloud Practitioner. While optional, it can help a lot. I have courses for AWS Cloud Practitioner exam in Udemy as well (titled 'Preparatory Tests for AWS Cloud Practitioner and Beyond'). It helps to vet your high level understanding of the Cloud. Author also has Practice Tests Course on AWS Solutions Architect Associate Exam as well as Data Analytics in Udemy. They can help to augment your overall understanding and insights.The knowledge you gain as part of these Tests will value-add to your endeavors in the data engineering space whether it is relating to Cloud data migration from your premises; complex Data Ingestion and Transformation Architectures; Data Monitoring and/or Issue Diagnoses with pin-point Root Cause Analysis; and/or Deploy advanced data security solutions in the Cloud.Focus on the pattern of asks, the key words and optimization constraints of the question carefully - not just the question!Good Luck with your Certification!

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