How I passed my AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional Certification

After successfully attaining the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional certification, I'd like to share my journey and offer insights into my preparation strategy. I will highlight the key resources and approaches that proved instrumental in my success, potentially aiding others embarking on a similar path

Preparation Journey

1. Comprehensive Course – Stéphane Maarek on Udemy

I started my preparation with Stéphane Maarek course on Udemy:

?? Pass the AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional Certification (DOP-C02)

This course was an excellent foundation for my studies. It provides 20+ hours of advanced content, focusing on the core AWS services and offering practical advice tailored to the exam. I highly recommend it for anyone starting their journey.

2. Hands-On Practice

Theory is important, but hands-on experience is key. I dedicated time to set up my own AWS environment to practice deploying applications, automating processes, and managing infrastructure.

Some of the tools and services I worked a lot with include:

• CloudFormation for Infrastructure-as-Code
• CodeCommit, CodePipeline and CodeBuild for CI/CD automation
• CloudWatch, EventBridge and CloudTrail for monitoring and logging
• RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB ..

This hands-on practice was invaluable in reinforcing what I learned in the course and understanding how various AWS services integrate in real-world scenarios.

3. Mock Exams – Tutorials Dojo by Jon Bonso

To assess my readiness and identify areas for improvement, I completed several mock exams.

The Tutorials Dojo practice exams by Jon Bonso were particularly helpful:

?? AWS Certified DevOps Engineer Professional Practice Exams DOP-C02 2024

These exams are well-structured, with detailed explanations and reference links for each question. They mimic the real exam format and helped me build confidence while fine-tuning my knowledge.

I also explored ExamTopics for additional practice questions. Although I used the free version, it was a good supplementary resource:

?? Amazon AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional DOP-C02 Practice Questions

4. Writing Notes

One of the most effective strategies for me was taking concise notes. I focused on concepts that appeared frequently in practice tests and created comparisons for similar services and functionalities. For example:

Comparing Aurora Global Databases vs Aurora Read Replicas in terms of use cases and benefits.

Or, comparing RDS read replicas to Snapshots and which ones provide best RTO/RPO. Personally, I found learning about the various AWS database and storage services to be one of the most challenging parts of my preparation. This was likely because my background isn’t closely aligned with these topics. If you’re in a similar situation, don’t be discouraged—spend extra time understanding the key differences, use cases, and advantages of each service.

This approach of 'making comparison tables' helped me retain key concepts and organize my thoughts better

Exam Tips:

• The AWS Certified DevOps Engineer - Professional exam places significant emphasis on monitoring tools like EventBridge, so I strongly recommend focusing on its use cases and understanding how it integrates with other AWS services.
• Additionally, the exam tests your knowledge of deployment strategies such as Rolling, Immutable, and Blue/Green deployments. It’s crucial to not only master these deployment methodologies but also understand the specific scenarios where each is most applicable.
• During the exam, I encountered a few services I wasn’t familiar with, such as Device Farm. If you come across similar unfamiliar services, don’t panic. Use the process of elimination to rule out incorrect answers. For example, eliminate options that involve integrations you know are not feasible (e.g., integrating Service X with Service Y if such a connection isn’t technically possible).
• Another key focus area is AWS security services. Be sure to clearly understand the use cases for tools like:

AWS Inspector: Think of this when you encounter scenarios involving vulnerabilities detection specifically in EC2 and container images?

AWS GuardDuty: Best suited for scenarios related to detecting malicious activities or threats.

AWS Config: Think of it when the question involves detecting configuration changes or compliance monitoring.

• Lastly, I encountered many scenario-based questions related to AWS Organizations, so make sure you understand it thoroughly. Be prepared for related services like AWS Control Tower and AWS Service Catalog, as they are frequently tied to multi-account management and governance scenarios.

Achieving this certification was no small feat, but it was worth every effort. The process deepened my understanding of AWS services and how they work together to build scalable, resilient, and automated solutions.

To anyone pursuing this certification, my advice is:

• Stay curious and consistent.
• Focus on hands-on practice alongside theory.
• Don’t hesitate to ask questions or seek guidance from the community.

If you’re on this journey and have questions, feel free to reach out—I’d be happy to help

#AWS #DevOps #Certification #CloudComputing