While the entire Amazon interview process can get pretty tiresome, the preparation doesn’t have to be that way since the process is pretty predictable. Knowing this interview structure makes creating a prep strategy much more manageable.
When preparing for the AWS solutions architect interview, you’ll need to ensure that your technical skills are solid. So apart from a basic knowledge of AWS, you’ll need in-depth knowledge of system design, software engineering principles, and networking concepts.
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To streamline your AWS solutions architect interview preparation, we’ve put together all the important concepts you’ll need to prepare. In this article, we’ll cover:
- Role and Responsibilities of an AWS Solutions Architect
- Skills Required to Become an AWS Solutions Architect
- Important AWS Solutions Architect Interview Preparation Topics
- Tips for AWS Solutions Architect Interview Preparation
- AWS Interview Questions and Answers
- FAQs on AWS Solutions Architect Interview Preparation
Role and Responsibilities of an AWS Solutions Architect
Some of the primary responsibilities of an AWS solutions architect are:
- Carrying out architectural analysis and style of enterprise-wide systems
- Making sure that the appliance architecture team offers only strong system solutions
- Developing and simulating tools to provide the perfect delivery of systems
- Designing, developing, and maintaining systems, processes, and procedures to provide good quality service design
- Collaborating with other members of the team and the other departments to carry out healthy communication
- Delivering high-performing solution architecture that backs the development of the business objectives
- Planning, developing, and implementing the different business solutions as required.
You can read AWS Solutions Architect Roles and Responsibilities if you want more information about the role.
Skills Required to Become an AWS Solutions Architect
As you begin your AWS solutions architect interview preparation, you’ll need to ensure that you have specific skills and the required qualifications.
Required Educational Qualifications
- A bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or mathematics
- Experience with technology domains such as systems engineering, cloud computing, software development, data and analytics, and so on
- Familiarity with design, implementation, and consultation of applications and infrastructures
- Excellent communication skills with technical and non-technical audiences, stakeholders, and clients
- Knowledge of enterprise IT applications
Skills Needed for the Role
- Knowledge of programming languages such as Java, Python, and C#
- Data storage
- Networking
- Information Retrieval
- Distributed Computing
- Large-scale system design
- Patterns and technologies specific to the cloud
- AWS Service Selection
- System security
- Operating Systems like Linux, Solaris, and Windows
While having an AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate certification is not always required, some companies do need it. Further, certifications on your resume as an AWS solutions architect will only improve your chances of getting the job.
Important Topics to Prepare for AWS Solutions Architect Interview
Here are some of the most important topics for AWS solutions architect interview preparation:
- Core AWS Services – Compute (EC2, EKS, ECS, Lambda), Storage (S3, EFS, EBS, FSX)
- EBS, autoscaling, and Amazon VPC launches
- Processors, networking concepts, and Elastic Beanstalk
- Types of cloud services
- Other concepts — IAM Roles, CDN, Security Groups, Load Balancer, etc.
So while creating your AWS solutions architect interview preparation strategy, ensure that you include these concepts. And if you want to practice some interview questions, check out AWS Solution Architect Questions for Interview Preparation.
Tips for AWS Solutions Architect Interview Preparation
For a more effective AWS solutions architect interview prep, do follow these tips:
- Several AWS solutions architect interview questions are based on situations where you’ll be required to describe, explain and distinguish.
- Make sure that you include a lot of scenario-based questions in your prep.
- Apply the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method when answering behavioral questions.
- Have an answer bank prepared using Amazon’s leadership principles, such as:
- Customer obsession
- Invent and simplify
- Hire and develop the best
- Insist on the highest standards
- Think big
- Join a course and get trained in AWS for solutions architect, if possible.
AWS Interview Questions and Answers
When preparing for the interviews, make sure that you include these AWS interview questions and answers:
1. Define S3.
S3 refers to Simple Storage Service. The S3 interface enables you to store and retrieve any amount of data, from anywhere on the web, at any time. The payment model it uses is “pay as you go.”
2. What does an AMI consist of?
An AMI consists of these things:
- Template for the root volume for the instance
- Launch permissions to determine which of the AWS accounts can avail of the AMI to launch instances
- Block device mapping for figuring out the volumes attached to the instance when it launches.
3. List the different kinds of Instances.
The different types of Instances have been given below:
- Compute Optimized
- Memory-Optimized
- Storage Optimized
- Accelerated Computing
- General Purpose
4. What is meant by stopping and terminating an EC2 Instance?
Stopping an EC2 refers to shutting it down, just like you would with your personal computer. This doesn’t lead to the deletion of any volumes attached to the instance, and it can be started again whenever required.
Meanwhile, terminating an instance refers to the deleting of an instance. So all the volumes attached to it get deleted, and you can’t restart the instance if you need to later on.
5. Differentiate between a stateful and stateless firewall.
The firewall that’s responsible for maintaining the state of the rules defined is known as a stateful firewall, and you need to define only inbound rules. Based on these rules, it automatically enables that outbound traffic to flow.
The firewall that requires you to clearly lay out the rules for inbound and outbound traffic is called a stateless firewall. For instance, if you let inbound traffic flow from Port 80, a stateful firewall will allow it, while a stateless firewall won’t.
For more such AWS interview questions, you can check out AWS Solution Architect Questions for Interview Preparation.
As an AWS solutions architect, you’ll have to study new technologies and systems and keep yourself updated constantly. Monitoring and tracking the latest developments will only help you upgrade the systems efficiently and do your job better.
FAQs on AWS Solutions Architect Interview Preparation
Q1. What is the interview process like for a solutions architect at Amazon Web Services?
To clear the AWS solutions architect interview, your technical skills must be top-notch. You’ll first face system design questions, followed by general technical knowledge questions. In the latter, you’ll be tested on the technical concepts required to do the job.
Q2. What are the interview questions for AWS architects?
Some sample AWS solutions architect interview questions are — Define Amazon S3. What is Identity and Access Management (IAM), and how is it used? List the benefits of AWS’s Disaster Recovery. What is Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), and why is it used?
Q3. Is AWS Solutions Architect certification hard?
The professional exam for an AWS solutions architect is challenging due to the vast syllabus. It includes a diverse range of topics and concepts in the cloud computing field.
Q4. Are AWS Solution Architects in demand?
As AWS has gradually become one of the most used cloud platforms in a short time, the need for solution architects has also increased over the years.
Q5. How much do AWS solutions architects make?
According to Glassdoor.com, an AWS solutions architect makes $177,975 per year on average. The base pay here is $144,334.
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