AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate (SAA-C03): Scaling and Decoupling Architectures

Course Description

This course focuses on designing scalable and decoupled architectures using AWS services. Learners will explore load balancing techniques using Elastic Load Balancers and implement high-availability architectures using Auto Scaling Groups.

The course covers container-based architectures using Amazon ECS and EKS, along with serverless computing using AWS Lambda. Learners will build event-driven systems using services like Amazon EventBridge, SQS, and SNS to decouple application components.

Additionally, the course dives into API management using Amazon API Gateway, infrastructure automation using AWS CloudFormation, and workflow orchestration using AWS Step Functions. Caching and content delivery are also covered using Amazon CloudFront and ElastiCache to improve performance and scalability.

Through hands-on demos and real-world scenarios, learners will gain the skills needed to design resilient, scalable, and loosely coupled systems while preparing for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03) exam.

Who is this course for

• AWS certification aspirants (Solutions Architect Associate)

• Cloud engineers designing scalable systems

• Developers building distributed applications

• DevOps engineers working with microservices

• IT professionals transitioning to cloud architecture

Course Objectives

By the end of this course, learners will be able to:

• Design scalable architectures using load balancing and auto scaling

• Build loosely coupled systems using messaging and event-driven services

• Implement containerized and serverless architectures

• Design APIs and integrate services using API Gateway and AppSync

• Automate infrastructure using CloudFormation

• Implement caching and content delivery strategies

• Improve application performance and availability

• Apply best practices for distributed system design

• Prepare effectively for the SAA-C03 certification exam

Prerequisites

• Basic understanding of AWS core services (EC2, S3, VPC)

• Familiarity with networking and application architecture

• Completion of SAA-C03 foundational modules (recommended)

• Basic understanding of programming or backend systems (helpful)

Course outline

Section 1: Elastic Load Balancing

• Reviewing AWS Global Infrastructure

• Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) Introduction

• Application Load Balancers (ALB)

• Demo: Setting up an Application Load Balancer (ALB)

• Network Load Balancers (NLB)

• Demo: Setting up a Network Load Balancer (NLB)

• Gateway Load Balancers (GWLB)

• Elastic Load Balancing Optimization

• Demo: Setting up an HTTPS Listener

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 2: Auto Scaling and High-Availability

• Horizontal Versus Vertical Scaling

• Auto Scaling Groups (ASGs)

• Demo: Create a Launch Template and Auto Scaling Group

• Auto Scaling Group Scaling Policies

• Auto Scaling Group Health Checks

• ASG Instance Maintenance Policies

• Demo: Fronting an Auto Scaling Group with an ELB

• Demo: Creating and Using a Dynamic Scaling Policy

• Auto Scaling Group Lifecycle Hooks

• Demo: Trigger Log Storage via a Lifecycle Hook

• Improving Service Connectivity Using VPC Lattice

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 3: Containers and Images

• Containers and Images

• Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR)

• Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) Overview

• Amazon ECS Tasks, Task Definitions, and IAM Roles

• Load Balancing Amazon ECS

• Demo: Creating an ECR Repository

• Demo: Creating a Load Balanced ECS Cluster

• Amazon ECS Storage

• Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) Overview

• Amazon EKS Data Storage

• Securing Amazon EKS

• Amazon EKS Distro

• Amazon ECS and Amazon EKS Anywhere

• AWS App Runner

• AWS App2Container

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 4: AWS Lambda

• AWS Lambda Overview

• Configuring Lambda Functions

• Demo: Creating and Invoking a Lambda Function

• Lambda Function Networking

• Demo: Configure a Lambda Function for VPC Access

• Lambda Function Concurrency

• Lambda SnapStart

• Important Lambda Features

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 5: Event-driven Architectures

• Amazon RDS Events

• Amazon S3 Events

• Amazon EventBridge

• Amazon EventBridge Event Buses

• Amazon EventBridge Events

• Demo: Trigger Workloads Using Amazon EventBridge

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 6: Amazon API Gateway, AWS AppSync, and AWS X-Ray

• Amazon API Gateway Overview

• Amazon API Gateway Authentication and Security

• Amazon API Gateway Integrations

• Amazon API Gateway Deployments and Versions

• Demo: Creating a REST API Using Amazon API Gateway

• Demo: Using TLS and Custom Domain Names for API Gateway

• AWS AppSync

• Debug Applications Using AWS X-Ray

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 7: Serverless Authentication with Amazon Cognito

• Amazon Cognito Overview

• Amazon Cognito User Pools

• Amazon Cognito Identity Pools

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 8: AWS CloudFormation and Infrastructure-as-Code Services

• Infrastructure as Code Review

• AWS CloudFormation Overview

• AWS CloudFormation Service Roles

• Demo: Writing an AWS CloudFormation Template

• Deleting AWS CloudFormation Stacks

• Organizational Deployments via StackSets

• Demo: Deploying a StackSet

• Preview Infrastructure Changes Using Change Sets

• Demo: Creating a Stack Change Set

• CloudFormation Custom Resources

• CloudFormation cfn-init

• Sharing Templates Using AWS Service Catalog

• Self-Service Templates with AWS Proton

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 9: AWS Elastic Beanstalk

• Reviewing Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

• AWS Elastic Beanstalk Overview

• AWS Elastic Beanstalk Environments

• AWS Elastic Beanstalk Deployments

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 10: AWS Systems Manager

• AWS Systems Manager Overview

• Patch Manager and Maintenance Windows

• Automation and Documents

• Run Command

• Demo: Executing Remote Scripts via Run Command

• Parameter Store

• Demo: Creating and Using Parameters in Parameter Store

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 11: Amazon SQS and Amazon SNS

• Decoupled Architectures

• Amazon SQS Overview

• Amazon SQS Queues

• SQS Queue Attributes

• Example Architecture: Scaling ASGs Using Amazon SQS

• Dead Letter Queues

• Demo: Sending Messages to an Amazon SQS Queue

• Amazon SNS Overview

• Amazon SNS Topics

• Fanning Out with SNS and SQS

• Demo: Sending Notifications through Amazon SNS

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 12: Amazon Kinesis

• Amazon Kinesis Overview

• Amazon Kinesis Data Streams

• Kinesis Data Stream Consumers and Producers

• Data Stream Capacity Modes

• Amazon Data Firehose Overview

• Firehose Streams

• Amazon Kinesis Data Analytics

• Amazon Kinesis Video Streams

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 13: Amazon MSK and Amazon MQ

• Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (MSK)

• Amazon MQ

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 14: Amazon Step Functions and AWS Batch

• AWS Step Functions

• Demo: Orchestrate Workflows Using AWS Step Functions

• AWS Batch

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 15: Application and Network Caching

• Amazon CloudFront Overview

• Amazon CloudFront Origins

• Amazon CloudFront Security

• CloudFront Custom Domain Names and TLS

• Demo: Setting up an S3 Bucket Origin in CloudFront

• CloudFront Functions and Lambda@Edge Functions

• AWS Global Accelerator

• AWS Global Accelerator Security and Health Checks

• Amazon ElastiCache

• Module Summary and Exam Tips

Section 16: Miscellaneous Services

• Amazon Pinpoint

• AWS Amplify

• AWS Device Farm

• AWS Wavelength

• Amazon AppFlow

• Amazon Simple Email Service (SES)

• Module Summary and Exam Tips