![\"AWS](\"https:\/\/www.testpreptraining.ai\/tutorial\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/aws-path-750x325.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nAWS Certified Database Specialty Glossary<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nHere are some key terms that you might encounter while studying for the AWS Certified Database Specialty certification:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Amazon Aurora: A MySQL and PostgreSQL-compatible relational database engine that is designed to be highly scalable, available, and performant.<\/li>
- Amazon DynamoDB: A fast and flexible NoSQL database service that is designed to provide consistent, single-digit millisecond latency at any scale.<\/li>
- Amazon Elasticache: A fully managed in-memory data store and cache service that supports popular open-source engines such as Redis and Memcached.<\/li>
- Amazon RDS: A fully managed relational database service that makes it easy to set up, operate, and scale databases in the cloud.<\/li>
- Amazon Redshift: A fast, fully managed data warehouse service that makes it simple and cost-effective to analyze all of your data using standard SQL and existing BI tools.<\/li>
- Backup and Recovery: The process of creating and storing copies of data for the purpose of restoring it in the event of a disaster or data loss.<\/li>
- Data Migration: The process of transferring data from one database to another, typically for the purpose of upgrading to a newer version or moving to a different platform.<\/li>
- Data Replication: The process of copying data from one database to another in real-time to keep them in sync.<\/li>
- Disaster Recovery: The process of restoring data and services after a catastrophic event such as a natural disaster, power outage, or cyber attack.<\/li>
- Performance Optimization: The process of tuning database settings and configurations to ensure optimal performance and minimize latency.<\/li>
- Security: The process of protecting data and systems from unauthorized access, theft, and other malicious activities.<\/li>
- Serverless Computing: A cloud computing model in which the cloud provider manages the infrastructure and automatically provisions and scales resources based on the application’s needs. AWS provides serverless options for databases, such as DynamoDB and Aurora Serverless.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
AWS Certified Database Specialty Exam Guide <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nHere are some official resources for studying for the AWS Certified Database Specialty exam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Exam Guide<\/a>: The AWS Certified Database Specialty Exam Guide provides a detailed overview of the exam format, content, and objectives. It also includes sample questions and resources for further study.<\/li>
- Training Courses<\/a>: AWS offers various training courses for the AWS Certified Database Specialty exam. These courses cover topics such as database design, migration, performance optimization, and security.<\/li>
- Exam Readiness<\/a>: AWS also offers an exam readiness course that helps you prepare for the exam by providing an overview of the exam format, content, and objectives.<\/li>
- Whitepapers and Documentation<\/a>: AWS provides a wealth of whitepapers and documentation that cover various topics related to databases on AWS. These resources can be helpful for further study and reference. You can find the whitepapers and documentation here: <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
AWS Certified Database Specialty Exam Tips and Tricks<\/strong>,<\/h3>\n\n\n\nHere are some tips and tricks to help you prepare for and pass the AWS Certified Database Specialty exam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the Exam Guide: Make sure you carefully review the AWS Certified Database Specialty Exam Guide. It will give you a detailed overview of the exam format, content, and objectives.<\/li>
- Take Practice Exams: Taking practice exams is one of the best ways to prepare for the real exam. It will help you identify areas where you need to focus your studying and get comfortable with the exam format.<\/li>
- Study the Services: The exam covers a wide range of AWS database services, including Amazon RDS, DynamoDB, Aurora, Redshift, and more. Make sure you understand the key features, benefits, and limitations of each service.<\/li>
- Focus on Key Concepts: The exam will test your understanding of key concepts such as data modeling, database design, backup and recovery, security, and performance optimization. Make sure you understand these concepts and how they relate to AWS database services.<\/li>
- Know the Pricing: The exam may include questions related to pricing and cost optimization. Make sure you understand how AWS pricing works for database services, including factors such as instance types, storage, and data transfer.<\/li>
- Review the Whitepapers and Documentation: AWS provides a wealth of whitepapers and documentation on databases on AWS. Reviewing these resources can help you deepen your understanding of key concepts and services.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
AWS Certified Database-Specialty<\/strong> Cheat Sheet<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe AWS Certified Database Specialty<\/strong> Cheat Sheet<\/strong> is your ideal instrument to have an overview of the exam before venturing. It will keep you loaded with the right resources and bridge the gap for your dream job. Furthermore, we will be adding a few quick links to ease your preparation process. We suggest you to a quick glance at this cheat sheet before you appear for the exam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"AWS](\"https:\/\/www.testpreptraining.ai\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Copy-of-Collab-Space-Central-2.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nReview the Exam Objectives<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe first step is to always have a denser look at each and every domain of the exam. Therefore, you must review the exam objectives and familiarise with the exam course. The course acts as a AWS Certified Database – Specialty Blue Print. A thorough analysis will help you to gain the required command to earn your desired certification. This exam covers the following domains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Workload-Specific Database Design 26% <\/strong><\/li>
- Deployment and Migration 20% <\/strong><\/li>
- Management and Operations 18% <\/strong><\/li>
- Monitoring and Troubleshooting 18% <\/strong><\/li>
- Database Security 18%<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
AWS Database Specialty Updated Course Outline<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe AWS Certified Database Specialty exam covers the latest and updated course outline – <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Module 1: Explain Workload-Specific Database Design (26%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n1.1 Learn to select suitable database services for specific types of data and workloads.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand the differences between ACID vs. BASE workloads<\/li>
- Understand suitable uses of types of databases including relational, key-value, document, in-memory, graph, time series, ledger (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand and identify use cases for persisted data vs. ephemeral data (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 instance store<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.2 Learn about the strategies for disaster recovery and high availability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and selecting Region and Availability Zone placement to optimize database performance (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Choose Regions and Availability Zones to minimize latency<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining implications of Regions and Availability Zones on disaster recovery\/high availability strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Disaster recovery options in the cloud<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating use cases for reading replicas and Multi-AZ deployments (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Multi-AZ deployments for high availability<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.3 Learn to design database solutions for performance, compliance, and scalability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and recommending serverless vs. instance-based database architecture (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Understanding database options for your serverless web applications<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating requirements for scaling read replicas (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with MySQL read replicas<\/a>, Working with read replicas<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and defining database caching solutions (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database Caching<\/a>, Caching strategies<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating the implications of partitioning, sharding, and indexing (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Sharding with Amazon Relational Database Service<\/a>, Choosing the Right DynamoDB Partition Key<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate instance types and storage options (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 Instance Types<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining auto-scaling capabilities for relational and NoSQL databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Managing throughput capacity automatically with DynamoDB auto scaling<\/a>, AWS Management Console with DynamoDB auto scaling<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining the implications of Amazon DynamoDB adaptive capacity (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for designing and using partition keys effectively<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining data locality based on compliance requirements (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Addressing Data Residency with AWS<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.4 Learn to compare the costs of database solutions<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and determining cost implications of Amazon DynamoDB capacity units, including on-demand vs. provisioned capacity (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Read\/write capacity mode<\/a>, Pricing for Provisioned Capacity<\/a>, Pricing for On-Demand Capacity<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining costs associated with instance types and automatic scaling (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and designing for costs including high availability, backups, multi-Region, Multi-AZ, and storage type options (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Multi-AZ deployments for high availability<\/a>, Amazon RDS Multi-AZ<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and comparing data access costs (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Analyzing your costs with AWS Cost Explorer<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 2: Explain Deployment and Migration (20%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n2.1 Learn to automate database solution deployments.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and evaluating application requirements to determine components to deploy (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Evaluate your applications<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and choosing suitable deployment tools and services (e.g., AWS CloudFormation, AWS CLI) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using the AWS Command Line Interface<\/a>, AWS CloudFormation best practices<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.2 Learn to determine data preparation and migration strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and\u00a0determining the data migration method (e.g., snapshots, replication, restore) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Restoring from a DB snapshot<\/a>, Restore an Amazon RDS DB instance from a DB snapshot<\/a>)<\/li>
- Evaluating database migration tools and services (e.g., AWS DMS, native database tools) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Migration with native database tools and AWS DMS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0preparing data sources and targets (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Configuring data target nodes<\/a>, Creating a dataset from a database<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0determining schema conversion methods (e.g., AWS Schema Conversion Tool) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Schema Conversion Tool<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0determining heterogeneous vs. homogeneous migration strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Heterogeneous database migration<\/a>, Homogeneous database migration<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.3 Learn to execute and validate data migration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and designing and script data migration (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for AWS Database Migration Service<\/a>, Database Migration Step-by-Step Walkthroughs<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand and run data extraction and migration scripts (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Extracting data from on-premises databases<\/a>, Migrating data from an on-premises data<\/a>, Database Migration Step-by-Step Walkthroughs<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and verifying the successful load of data (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Verifying that the data loaded correctly<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 3: Explain Management and Operations (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n3.1 Learn to determine maintenance tasks and processes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and accounting for the AWS shared responsibility model for database services (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Shared Responsibility<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate maintenance window strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Systems Manager Maintenance Windows<\/a>, Maintenance window scheduling and active period options<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating between major and minor engine upgrades (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Upgrading a DB instance engine version<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
3.2 Learn to determine backup and restore strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and identifying the need for automatic and manual backups\/snapshots (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Comparing Automatic and Manual Snapshots<\/a>, Amazon EBS snapshots<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating backup and restore strategies (e.g., full backup, point-in-time, encrypting backups cross-Region) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Creating backup copies across AWS Regions<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and defining retention policies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Implement data retention policies for each class<\/a>, Work with retention rules<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and correlating the backup and restore to recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO) requirements (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Plan for Disaster Recovery (DR)<\/a>, Disaster recovery options in the cloud<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
3.3 Learn to manage the operational environment of a database solution.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Orchestrate the refresh of lower environments (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Updating compute environments<\/a>, Orchestrating database refreshes for Amazon RDS and Amazon Aurora<\/a>)<\/li>
- Implement configuration changes (e.g., in Amazon RDS option\/parameter groups or Amazon DynamoDB indexing changes) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with parameter groups<\/a>, Best practices for configuring parameters for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Automate operational tasks (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Systems Manager Automation<\/a>, Working with runbooks<\/a>)<\/li>
- Take action based on AWS Trusted Advisor reports (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Get started with AWS Trusted Advisor<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 4: Explain Monitoring and Troubleshooting (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n4.1 Learn to monitor and alert strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and evaluating monitoring tools including Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon RDS Performance Insights, database native (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Overview of monitoring metrics in Amazon RDS<\/a>, Monitoring DB load with Performance Insights on Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate parameters and thresholds for alert conditions (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with threshold alerts in Amazon QuickSight<\/a>, Working with alerts<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding to use tools to notify users when thresholds are breached including, Amazon SNS, Amazon SQS, Amazon CloudWatch dashboards) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using Amazon CloudWatch alarms<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
4.2 Learn to troubleshoot and resolve common database issues.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand and identify, evaluate, and respond to categories of failures including troubleshooting connectivity; instance, storage, and partitioning issues) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Troubleshoot instances with failed status checks<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and automating responses when possible (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Options for Automating Response<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
4.3 Learn to optimize database performance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and troubleshooting database performance issues (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Troubleshooting for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and identifying suitable AWS tools and services for database optimization (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating the configuration, schema design, queries, and infrastructure to improve performance<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 5: Explain Database Security (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n5.1 Learn to Encrypt data at rest and in transit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand to encrypt data in relational and NoSQL databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Encrypting Amazon RDS resources<\/a>, Using SSL\/TLS to encrypt a connection to a DB instance<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to apply SSL connectivity to databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using SSL\/TLS to encrypt a connection to a DB instance<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to implement key management (e.g., AWS KMS, AWS CloudHSM) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Key Management Service<\/a>, AWS CloudHSM<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
5.2 Learn to evaluate auditing solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for structural\/schema changes (e.g., DDL) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database audit logging<\/a>, Handling schema updates<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for data changes (e.g., DML) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> DML auditing for Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility)<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for data access (e.g., queries) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database audit logging<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for infrastructure changes (e.g., AWS CloudTrail) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS CloudTrail<\/a>)<\/li>
AWS Certified Database Specialty Exam Guide <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nHere are some official resources for studying for the AWS Certified Database Specialty exam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Exam Guide<\/a>: The AWS Certified Database Specialty Exam Guide provides a detailed overview of the exam format, content, and objectives. It also includes sample questions and resources for further study.<\/li>
- Training Courses<\/a>: AWS offers various training courses for the AWS Certified Database Specialty exam. These courses cover topics such as database design, migration, performance optimization, and security.<\/li>
- Exam Readiness<\/a>: AWS also offers an exam readiness course that helps you prepare for the exam by providing an overview of the exam format, content, and objectives.<\/li>
- Whitepapers and Documentation<\/a>: AWS provides a wealth of whitepapers and documentation that cover various topics related to databases on AWS. These resources can be helpful for further study and reference. You can find the whitepapers and documentation here: <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
AWS Certified Database Specialty Exam Tips and Tricks<\/strong>,<\/h3>\n\n\n\nHere are some tips and tricks to help you prepare for and pass the AWS Certified Database Specialty exam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the Exam Guide: Make sure you carefully review the AWS Certified Database Specialty Exam Guide. It will give you a detailed overview of the exam format, content, and objectives.<\/li>
- Take Practice Exams: Taking practice exams is one of the best ways to prepare for the real exam. It will help you identify areas where you need to focus your studying and get comfortable with the exam format.<\/li>
- Study the Services: The exam covers a wide range of AWS database services, including Amazon RDS, DynamoDB, Aurora, Redshift, and more. Make sure you understand the key features, benefits, and limitations of each service.<\/li>
- Focus on Key Concepts: The exam will test your understanding of key concepts such as data modeling, database design, backup and recovery, security, and performance optimization. Make sure you understand these concepts and how they relate to AWS database services.<\/li>
- Know the Pricing: The exam may include questions related to pricing and cost optimization. Make sure you understand how AWS pricing works for database services, including factors such as instance types, storage, and data transfer.<\/li>
- Review the Whitepapers and Documentation: AWS provides a wealth of whitepapers and documentation on databases on AWS. Reviewing these resources can help you deepen your understanding of key concepts and services.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
AWS Certified Database-Specialty<\/strong> Cheat Sheet<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe AWS Certified Database Specialty<\/strong> Cheat Sheet<\/strong> is your ideal instrument to have an overview of the exam before venturing. It will keep you loaded with the right resources and bridge the gap for your dream job. Furthermore, we will be adding a few quick links to ease your preparation process. We suggest you to a quick glance at this cheat sheet before you appear for the exam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nReview the Exam Objectives<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe first step is to always have a denser look at each and every domain of the exam. Therefore, you must review the exam objectives and familiarise with the exam course. The course acts as a AWS Certified Database – Specialty Blue Print. A thorough analysis will help you to gain the required command to earn your desired certification. This exam covers the following domains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Workload-Specific Database Design 26% <\/strong><\/li>
- Deployment and Migration 20% <\/strong><\/li>
- Management and Operations 18% <\/strong><\/li>
- Monitoring and Troubleshooting 18% <\/strong><\/li>
- Database Security 18%<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
AWS Database Specialty Updated Course Outline<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe AWS Certified Database Specialty exam covers the latest and updated course outline – <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Module 1: Explain Workload-Specific Database Design (26%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n1.1 Learn to select suitable database services for specific types of data and workloads.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand the differences between ACID vs. BASE workloads<\/li>
- Understand suitable uses of types of databases including relational, key-value, document, in-memory, graph, time series, ledger (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand and identify use cases for persisted data vs. ephemeral data (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 instance store<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.2 Learn about the strategies for disaster recovery and high availability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and selecting Region and Availability Zone placement to optimize database performance (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Choose Regions and Availability Zones to minimize latency<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining implications of Regions and Availability Zones on disaster recovery\/high availability strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Disaster recovery options in the cloud<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating use cases for reading replicas and Multi-AZ deployments (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Multi-AZ deployments for high availability<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.3 Learn to design database solutions for performance, compliance, and scalability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and recommending serverless vs. instance-based database architecture (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Understanding database options for your serverless web applications<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating requirements for scaling read replicas (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with MySQL read replicas<\/a>, Working with read replicas<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and defining database caching solutions (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database Caching<\/a>, Caching strategies<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating the implications of partitioning, sharding, and indexing (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Sharding with Amazon Relational Database Service<\/a>, Choosing the Right DynamoDB Partition Key<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate instance types and storage options (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 Instance Types<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining auto-scaling capabilities for relational and NoSQL databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Managing throughput capacity automatically with DynamoDB auto scaling<\/a>, AWS Management Console with DynamoDB auto scaling<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining the implications of Amazon DynamoDB adaptive capacity (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for designing and using partition keys effectively<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining data locality based on compliance requirements (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Addressing Data Residency with AWS<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.4 Learn to compare the costs of database solutions<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and determining cost implications of Amazon DynamoDB capacity units, including on-demand vs. provisioned capacity (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Read\/write capacity mode<\/a>, Pricing for Provisioned Capacity<\/a>, Pricing for On-Demand Capacity<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining costs associated with instance types and automatic scaling (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and designing for costs including high availability, backups, multi-Region, Multi-AZ, and storage type options (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Multi-AZ deployments for high availability<\/a>, Amazon RDS Multi-AZ<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and comparing data access costs (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Analyzing your costs with AWS Cost Explorer<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 2: Explain Deployment and Migration (20%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n2.1 Learn to automate database solution deployments.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and evaluating application requirements to determine components to deploy (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Evaluate your applications<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and choosing suitable deployment tools and services (e.g., AWS CloudFormation, AWS CLI) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using the AWS Command Line Interface<\/a>, AWS CloudFormation best practices<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.2 Learn to determine data preparation and migration strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and\u00a0determining the data migration method (e.g., snapshots, replication, restore) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Restoring from a DB snapshot<\/a>, Restore an Amazon RDS DB instance from a DB snapshot<\/a>)<\/li>
- Evaluating database migration tools and services (e.g., AWS DMS, native database tools) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Migration with native database tools and AWS DMS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0preparing data sources and targets (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Configuring data target nodes<\/a>, Creating a dataset from a database<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0determining schema conversion methods (e.g., AWS Schema Conversion Tool) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Schema Conversion Tool<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0determining heterogeneous vs. homogeneous migration strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Heterogeneous database migration<\/a>, Homogeneous database migration<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.3 Learn to execute and validate data migration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and designing and script data migration (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for AWS Database Migration Service<\/a>, Database Migration Step-by-Step Walkthroughs<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand and run data extraction and migration scripts (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Extracting data from on-premises databases<\/a>, Migrating data from an on-premises data<\/a>, Database Migration Step-by-Step Walkthroughs<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and verifying the successful load of data (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Verifying that the data loaded correctly<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 3: Explain Management and Operations (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n3.1 Learn to determine maintenance tasks and processes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and accounting for the AWS shared responsibility model for database services (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Shared Responsibility<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate maintenance window strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Systems Manager Maintenance Windows<\/a>, Maintenance window scheduling and active period options<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating between major and minor engine upgrades (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Upgrading a DB instance engine version<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
3.2 Learn to determine backup and restore strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and identifying the need for automatic and manual backups\/snapshots (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Comparing Automatic and Manual Snapshots<\/a>, Amazon EBS snapshots<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating backup and restore strategies (e.g., full backup, point-in-time, encrypting backups cross-Region) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Creating backup copies across AWS Regions<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and defining retention policies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Implement data retention policies for each class<\/a>, Work with retention rules<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and correlating the backup and restore to recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO) requirements (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Plan for Disaster Recovery (DR)<\/a>, Disaster recovery options in the cloud<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
3.3 Learn to manage the operational environment of a database solution.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Orchestrate the refresh of lower environments (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Updating compute environments<\/a>, Orchestrating database refreshes for Amazon RDS and Amazon Aurora<\/a>)<\/li>
- Implement configuration changes (e.g., in Amazon RDS option\/parameter groups or Amazon DynamoDB indexing changes) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with parameter groups<\/a>, Best practices for configuring parameters for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Automate operational tasks (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Systems Manager Automation<\/a>, Working with runbooks<\/a>)<\/li>
- Take action based on AWS Trusted Advisor reports (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Get started with AWS Trusted Advisor<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 4: Explain Monitoring and Troubleshooting (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n4.1 Learn to monitor and alert strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and evaluating monitoring tools including Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon RDS Performance Insights, database native (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Overview of monitoring metrics in Amazon RDS<\/a>, Monitoring DB load with Performance Insights on Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate parameters and thresholds for alert conditions (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with threshold alerts in Amazon QuickSight<\/a>, Working with alerts<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding to use tools to notify users when thresholds are breached including, Amazon SNS, Amazon SQS, Amazon CloudWatch dashboards) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using Amazon CloudWatch alarms<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
4.2 Learn to troubleshoot and resolve common database issues.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand and identify, evaluate, and respond to categories of failures including troubleshooting connectivity; instance, storage, and partitioning issues) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Troubleshoot instances with failed status checks<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and automating responses when possible (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Options for Automating Response<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
4.3 Learn to optimize database performance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and troubleshooting database performance issues (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Troubleshooting for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and identifying suitable AWS tools and services for database optimization (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating the configuration, schema design, queries, and infrastructure to improve performance<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 5: Explain Database Security (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n5.1 Learn to Encrypt data at rest and in transit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand to encrypt data in relational and NoSQL databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Encrypting Amazon RDS resources<\/a>, Using SSL\/TLS to encrypt a connection to a DB instance<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to apply SSL connectivity to databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using SSL\/TLS to encrypt a connection to a DB instance<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to implement key management (e.g., AWS KMS, AWS CloudHSM) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Key Management Service<\/a>, AWS CloudHSM<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
5.2 Learn to evaluate auditing solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for structural\/schema changes (e.g., DDL) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database audit logging<\/a>, Handling schema updates<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for data changes (e.g., DML) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> DML auditing for Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility)<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for data access (e.g., queries) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database audit logging<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for infrastructure changes (e.g., AWS CloudTrail) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS CloudTrail<\/a>)<\/li>
AWS Certified Database Specialty Exam Tips and Tricks<\/strong>,<\/h3>\n\n\n\nHere are some tips and tricks to help you prepare for and pass the AWS Certified Database Specialty exam:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Read the Exam Guide: Make sure you carefully review the AWS Certified Database Specialty Exam Guide. It will give you a detailed overview of the exam format, content, and objectives.<\/li>
- Take Practice Exams: Taking practice exams is one of the best ways to prepare for the real exam. It will help you identify areas where you need to focus your studying and get comfortable with the exam format.<\/li>
- Study the Services: The exam covers a wide range of AWS database services, including Amazon RDS, DynamoDB, Aurora, Redshift, and more. Make sure you understand the key features, benefits, and limitations of each service.<\/li>
- Focus on Key Concepts: The exam will test your understanding of key concepts such as data modeling, database design, backup and recovery, security, and performance optimization. Make sure you understand these concepts and how they relate to AWS database services.<\/li>
- Know the Pricing: The exam may include questions related to pricing and cost optimization. Make sure you understand how AWS pricing works for database services, including factors such as instance types, storage, and data transfer.<\/li>
- Review the Whitepapers and Documentation: AWS provides a wealth of whitepapers and documentation on databases on AWS. Reviewing these resources can help you deepen your understanding of key concepts and services.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n
AWS Certified Database-Specialty<\/strong> Cheat Sheet<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe AWS Certified Database Specialty<\/strong> Cheat Sheet<\/strong> is your ideal instrument to have an overview of the exam before venturing. It will keep you loaded with the right resources and bridge the gap for your dream job. Furthermore, we will be adding a few quick links to ease your preparation process. We suggest you to a quick glance at this cheat sheet before you appear for the exam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nReview the Exam Objectives<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe first step is to always have a denser look at each and every domain of the exam. Therefore, you must review the exam objectives and familiarise with the exam course. The course acts as a AWS Certified Database – Specialty Blue Print. A thorough analysis will help you to gain the required command to earn your desired certification. This exam covers the following domains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Workload-Specific Database Design 26% <\/strong><\/li>
- Deployment and Migration 20% <\/strong><\/li>
- Management and Operations 18% <\/strong><\/li>
- Monitoring and Troubleshooting 18% <\/strong><\/li>
- Database Security 18%<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
AWS Database Specialty Updated Course Outline<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe AWS Certified Database Specialty exam covers the latest and updated course outline – <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Module 1: Explain Workload-Specific Database Design (26%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n1.1 Learn to select suitable database services for specific types of data and workloads.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand the differences between ACID vs. BASE workloads<\/li>
- Understand suitable uses of types of databases including relational, key-value, document, in-memory, graph, time series, ledger (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand and identify use cases for persisted data vs. ephemeral data (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 instance store<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.2 Learn about the strategies for disaster recovery and high availability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and selecting Region and Availability Zone placement to optimize database performance (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Choose Regions and Availability Zones to minimize latency<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining implications of Regions and Availability Zones on disaster recovery\/high availability strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Disaster recovery options in the cloud<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating use cases for reading replicas and Multi-AZ deployments (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Multi-AZ deployments for high availability<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.3 Learn to design database solutions for performance, compliance, and scalability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and recommending serverless vs. instance-based database architecture (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Understanding database options for your serverless web applications<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating requirements for scaling read replicas (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with MySQL read replicas<\/a>, Working with read replicas<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and defining database caching solutions (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database Caching<\/a>, Caching strategies<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating the implications of partitioning, sharding, and indexing (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Sharding with Amazon Relational Database Service<\/a>, Choosing the Right DynamoDB Partition Key<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate instance types and storage options (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 Instance Types<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining auto-scaling capabilities for relational and NoSQL databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Managing throughput capacity automatically with DynamoDB auto scaling<\/a>, AWS Management Console with DynamoDB auto scaling<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining the implications of Amazon DynamoDB adaptive capacity (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for designing and using partition keys effectively<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining data locality based on compliance requirements (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Addressing Data Residency with AWS<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.4 Learn to compare the costs of database solutions<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and determining cost implications of Amazon DynamoDB capacity units, including on-demand vs. provisioned capacity (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Read\/write capacity mode<\/a>, Pricing for Provisioned Capacity<\/a>, Pricing for On-Demand Capacity<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining costs associated with instance types and automatic scaling (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and designing for costs including high availability, backups, multi-Region, Multi-AZ, and storage type options (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Multi-AZ deployments for high availability<\/a>, Amazon RDS Multi-AZ<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and comparing data access costs (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Analyzing your costs with AWS Cost Explorer<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 2: Explain Deployment and Migration (20%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n2.1 Learn to automate database solution deployments.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and evaluating application requirements to determine components to deploy (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Evaluate your applications<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and choosing suitable deployment tools and services (e.g., AWS CloudFormation, AWS CLI) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using the AWS Command Line Interface<\/a>, AWS CloudFormation best practices<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.2 Learn to determine data preparation and migration strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and\u00a0determining the data migration method (e.g., snapshots, replication, restore) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Restoring from a DB snapshot<\/a>, Restore an Amazon RDS DB instance from a DB snapshot<\/a>)<\/li>
- Evaluating database migration tools and services (e.g., AWS DMS, native database tools) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Migration with native database tools and AWS DMS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0preparing data sources and targets (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Configuring data target nodes<\/a>, Creating a dataset from a database<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0determining schema conversion methods (e.g., AWS Schema Conversion Tool) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Schema Conversion Tool<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0determining heterogeneous vs. homogeneous migration strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Heterogeneous database migration<\/a>, Homogeneous database migration<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.3 Learn to execute and validate data migration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and designing and script data migration (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for AWS Database Migration Service<\/a>, Database Migration Step-by-Step Walkthroughs<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand and run data extraction and migration scripts (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Extracting data from on-premises databases<\/a>, Migrating data from an on-premises data<\/a>, Database Migration Step-by-Step Walkthroughs<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and verifying the successful load of data (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Verifying that the data loaded correctly<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 3: Explain Management and Operations (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n3.1 Learn to determine maintenance tasks and processes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and accounting for the AWS shared responsibility model for database services (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Shared Responsibility<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate maintenance window strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Systems Manager Maintenance Windows<\/a>, Maintenance window scheduling and active period options<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating between major and minor engine upgrades (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Upgrading a DB instance engine version<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
3.2 Learn to determine backup and restore strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and identifying the need for automatic and manual backups\/snapshots (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Comparing Automatic and Manual Snapshots<\/a>, Amazon EBS snapshots<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating backup and restore strategies (e.g., full backup, point-in-time, encrypting backups cross-Region) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Creating backup copies across AWS Regions<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and defining retention policies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Implement data retention policies for each class<\/a>, Work with retention rules<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and correlating the backup and restore to recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO) requirements (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Plan for Disaster Recovery (DR)<\/a>, Disaster recovery options in the cloud<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
3.3 Learn to manage the operational environment of a database solution.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Orchestrate the refresh of lower environments (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Updating compute environments<\/a>, Orchestrating database refreshes for Amazon RDS and Amazon Aurora<\/a>)<\/li>
- Implement configuration changes (e.g., in Amazon RDS option\/parameter groups or Amazon DynamoDB indexing changes) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with parameter groups<\/a>, Best practices for configuring parameters for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Automate operational tasks (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Systems Manager Automation<\/a>, Working with runbooks<\/a>)<\/li>
- Take action based on AWS Trusted Advisor reports (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Get started with AWS Trusted Advisor<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 4: Explain Monitoring and Troubleshooting (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n4.1 Learn to monitor and alert strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and evaluating monitoring tools including Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon RDS Performance Insights, database native (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Overview of monitoring metrics in Amazon RDS<\/a>, Monitoring DB load with Performance Insights on Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate parameters and thresholds for alert conditions (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with threshold alerts in Amazon QuickSight<\/a>, Working with alerts<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding to use tools to notify users when thresholds are breached including, Amazon SNS, Amazon SQS, Amazon CloudWatch dashboards) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using Amazon CloudWatch alarms<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
4.2 Learn to troubleshoot and resolve common database issues.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand and identify, evaluate, and respond to categories of failures including troubleshooting connectivity; instance, storage, and partitioning issues) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Troubleshoot instances with failed status checks<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and automating responses when possible (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Options for Automating Response<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
4.3 Learn to optimize database performance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and troubleshooting database performance issues (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Troubleshooting for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and identifying suitable AWS tools and services for database optimization (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating the configuration, schema design, queries, and infrastructure to improve performance<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 5: Explain Database Security (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n5.1 Learn to Encrypt data at rest and in transit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand to encrypt data in relational and NoSQL databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Encrypting Amazon RDS resources<\/a>, Using SSL\/TLS to encrypt a connection to a DB instance<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to apply SSL connectivity to databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using SSL\/TLS to encrypt a connection to a DB instance<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to implement key management (e.g., AWS KMS, AWS CloudHSM) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Key Management Service<\/a>, AWS CloudHSM<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
5.2 Learn to evaluate auditing solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for structural\/schema changes (e.g., DDL) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database audit logging<\/a>, Handling schema updates<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for data changes (e.g., DML) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> DML auditing for Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility)<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for data access (e.g., queries) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database audit logging<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for infrastructure changes (e.g., AWS CloudTrail) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS CloudTrail<\/a>)<\/li>
AWS Certified Database-Specialty<\/strong> Cheat Sheet<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe AWS Certified Database Specialty<\/strong> Cheat Sheet<\/strong> is your ideal instrument to have an overview of the exam before venturing. It will keep you loaded with the right resources and bridge the gap for your dream job. Furthermore, we will be adding a few quick links to ease your preparation process. We suggest you to a quick glance at this cheat sheet before you appear for the exam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nReview the Exam Objectives<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe first step is to always have a denser look at each and every domain of the exam. Therefore, you must review the exam objectives and familiarise with the exam course. The course acts as a AWS Certified Database – Specialty Blue Print. A thorough analysis will help you to gain the required command to earn your desired certification. This exam covers the following domains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Workload-Specific Database Design 26% <\/strong><\/li>
- Deployment and Migration 20% <\/strong><\/li>
- Management and Operations 18% <\/strong><\/li>
- Monitoring and Troubleshooting 18% <\/strong><\/li>
- Database Security 18%<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
AWS Database Specialty Updated Course Outline<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe AWS Certified Database Specialty exam covers the latest and updated course outline – <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Module 1: Explain Workload-Specific Database Design (26%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n1.1 Learn to select suitable database services for specific types of data and workloads.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand the differences between ACID vs. BASE workloads<\/li>
- Understand suitable uses of types of databases including relational, key-value, document, in-memory, graph, time series, ledger (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand and identify use cases for persisted data vs. ephemeral data (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 instance store<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.2 Learn about the strategies for disaster recovery and high availability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and selecting Region and Availability Zone placement to optimize database performance (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Choose Regions and Availability Zones to minimize latency<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining implications of Regions and Availability Zones on disaster recovery\/high availability strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Disaster recovery options in the cloud<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating use cases for reading replicas and Multi-AZ deployments (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Multi-AZ deployments for high availability<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.3 Learn to design database solutions for performance, compliance, and scalability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and recommending serverless vs. instance-based database architecture (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Understanding database options for your serverless web applications<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating requirements for scaling read replicas (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with MySQL read replicas<\/a>, Working with read replicas<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and defining database caching solutions (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database Caching<\/a>, Caching strategies<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating the implications of partitioning, sharding, and indexing (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Sharding with Amazon Relational Database Service<\/a>, Choosing the Right DynamoDB Partition Key<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate instance types and storage options (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 Instance Types<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining auto-scaling capabilities for relational and NoSQL databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Managing throughput capacity automatically with DynamoDB auto scaling<\/a>, AWS Management Console with DynamoDB auto scaling<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining the implications of Amazon DynamoDB adaptive capacity (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for designing and using partition keys effectively<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining data locality based on compliance requirements (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Addressing Data Residency with AWS<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.4 Learn to compare the costs of database solutions<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and determining cost implications of Amazon DynamoDB capacity units, including on-demand vs. provisioned capacity (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Read\/write capacity mode<\/a>, Pricing for Provisioned Capacity<\/a>, Pricing for On-Demand Capacity<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining costs associated with instance types and automatic scaling (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and designing for costs including high availability, backups, multi-Region, Multi-AZ, and storage type options (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Multi-AZ deployments for high availability<\/a>, Amazon RDS Multi-AZ<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and comparing data access costs (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Analyzing your costs with AWS Cost Explorer<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 2: Explain Deployment and Migration (20%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n2.1 Learn to automate database solution deployments.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and evaluating application requirements to determine components to deploy (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Evaluate your applications<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and choosing suitable deployment tools and services (e.g., AWS CloudFormation, AWS CLI) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using the AWS Command Line Interface<\/a>, AWS CloudFormation best practices<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.2 Learn to determine data preparation and migration strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and\u00a0determining the data migration method (e.g., snapshots, replication, restore) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Restoring from a DB snapshot<\/a>, Restore an Amazon RDS DB instance from a DB snapshot<\/a>)<\/li>
- Evaluating database migration tools and services (e.g., AWS DMS, native database tools) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Migration with native database tools and AWS DMS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0preparing data sources and targets (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Configuring data target nodes<\/a>, Creating a dataset from a database<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0determining schema conversion methods (e.g., AWS Schema Conversion Tool) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Schema Conversion Tool<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0determining heterogeneous vs. homogeneous migration strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Heterogeneous database migration<\/a>, Homogeneous database migration<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.3 Learn to execute and validate data migration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and designing and script data migration (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for AWS Database Migration Service<\/a>, Database Migration Step-by-Step Walkthroughs<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand and run data extraction and migration scripts (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Extracting data from on-premises databases<\/a>, Migrating data from an on-premises data<\/a>, Database Migration Step-by-Step Walkthroughs<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and verifying the successful load of data (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Verifying that the data loaded correctly<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 3: Explain Management and Operations (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n3.1 Learn to determine maintenance tasks and processes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and accounting for the AWS shared responsibility model for database services (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Shared Responsibility<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate maintenance window strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Systems Manager Maintenance Windows<\/a>, Maintenance window scheduling and active period options<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating between major and minor engine upgrades (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Upgrading a DB instance engine version<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
3.2 Learn to determine backup and restore strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and identifying the need for automatic and manual backups\/snapshots (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Comparing Automatic and Manual Snapshots<\/a>, Amazon EBS snapshots<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating backup and restore strategies (e.g., full backup, point-in-time, encrypting backups cross-Region) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Creating backup copies across AWS Regions<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and defining retention policies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Implement data retention policies for each class<\/a>, Work with retention rules<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and correlating the backup and restore to recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO) requirements (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Plan for Disaster Recovery (DR)<\/a>, Disaster recovery options in the cloud<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
3.3 Learn to manage the operational environment of a database solution.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Orchestrate the refresh of lower environments (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Updating compute environments<\/a>, Orchestrating database refreshes for Amazon RDS and Amazon Aurora<\/a>)<\/li>
- Implement configuration changes (e.g., in Amazon RDS option\/parameter groups or Amazon DynamoDB indexing changes) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with parameter groups<\/a>, Best practices for configuring parameters for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Automate operational tasks (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Systems Manager Automation<\/a>, Working with runbooks<\/a>)<\/li>
- Take action based on AWS Trusted Advisor reports (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Get started with AWS Trusted Advisor<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 4: Explain Monitoring and Troubleshooting (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n4.1 Learn to monitor and alert strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and evaluating monitoring tools including Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon RDS Performance Insights, database native (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Overview of monitoring metrics in Amazon RDS<\/a>, Monitoring DB load with Performance Insights on Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate parameters and thresholds for alert conditions (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with threshold alerts in Amazon QuickSight<\/a>, Working with alerts<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding to use tools to notify users when thresholds are breached including, Amazon SNS, Amazon SQS, Amazon CloudWatch dashboards) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using Amazon CloudWatch alarms<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
4.2 Learn to troubleshoot and resolve common database issues.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand and identify, evaluate, and respond to categories of failures including troubleshooting connectivity; instance, storage, and partitioning issues) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Troubleshoot instances with failed status checks<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and automating responses when possible (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Options for Automating Response<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
4.3 Learn to optimize database performance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and troubleshooting database performance issues (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Troubleshooting for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and identifying suitable AWS tools and services for database optimization (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating the configuration, schema design, queries, and infrastructure to improve performance<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 5: Explain Database Security (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n5.1 Learn to Encrypt data at rest and in transit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand to encrypt data in relational and NoSQL databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Encrypting Amazon RDS resources<\/a>, Using SSL\/TLS to encrypt a connection to a DB instance<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to apply SSL connectivity to databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using SSL\/TLS to encrypt a connection to a DB instance<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to implement key management (e.g., AWS KMS, AWS CloudHSM) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Key Management Service<\/a>, AWS CloudHSM<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
5.2 Learn to evaluate auditing solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for structural\/schema changes (e.g., DDL) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database audit logging<\/a>, Handling schema updates<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for data changes (e.g., DML) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> DML auditing for Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility)<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for data access (e.g., queries) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database audit logging<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for infrastructure changes (e.g., AWS CloudTrail) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS CloudTrail<\/a>)<\/li>
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nReview the Exam Objectives<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe first step is to always have a denser look at each and every domain of the exam. Therefore, you must review the exam objectives and familiarise with the exam course. The course acts as a AWS Certified Database – Specialty Blue Print. A thorough analysis will help you to gain the required command to earn your desired certification. This exam covers the following domains:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Workload-Specific Database Design 26% <\/strong><\/li>
- Deployment and Migration 20% <\/strong><\/li>
- Management and Operations 18% <\/strong><\/li>
- Monitoring and Troubleshooting 18% <\/strong><\/li>
- Database Security 18%<\/strong><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
AWS Database Specialty Updated Course Outline<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe AWS Certified Database Specialty exam covers the latest and updated course outline – <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Module 1: Explain Workload-Specific Database Design (26%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n1.1 Learn to select suitable database services for specific types of data and workloads.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand the differences between ACID vs. BASE workloads<\/li>
- Understand suitable uses of types of databases including relational, key-value, document, in-memory, graph, time series, ledger (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand and identify use cases for persisted data vs. ephemeral data (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 instance store<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.2 Learn about the strategies for disaster recovery and high availability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and selecting Region and Availability Zone placement to optimize database performance (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Choose Regions and Availability Zones to minimize latency<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining implications of Regions and Availability Zones on disaster recovery\/high availability strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Disaster recovery options in the cloud<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating use cases for reading replicas and Multi-AZ deployments (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Multi-AZ deployments for high availability<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.3 Learn to design database solutions for performance, compliance, and scalability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and recommending serverless vs. instance-based database architecture (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Understanding database options for your serverless web applications<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating requirements for scaling read replicas (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with MySQL read replicas<\/a>, Working with read replicas<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and defining database caching solutions (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database Caching<\/a>, Caching strategies<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating the implications of partitioning, sharding, and indexing (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Sharding with Amazon Relational Database Service<\/a>, Choosing the Right DynamoDB Partition Key<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate instance types and storage options (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 Instance Types<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining auto-scaling capabilities for relational and NoSQL databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Managing throughput capacity automatically with DynamoDB auto scaling<\/a>, AWS Management Console with DynamoDB auto scaling<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining the implications of Amazon DynamoDB adaptive capacity (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for designing and using partition keys effectively<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining data locality based on compliance requirements (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Addressing Data Residency with AWS<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.4 Learn to compare the costs of database solutions<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and determining cost implications of Amazon DynamoDB capacity units, including on-demand vs. provisioned capacity (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Read\/write capacity mode<\/a>, Pricing for Provisioned Capacity<\/a>, Pricing for On-Demand Capacity<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining costs associated with instance types and automatic scaling (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and designing for costs including high availability, backups, multi-Region, Multi-AZ, and storage type options (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Multi-AZ deployments for high availability<\/a>, Amazon RDS Multi-AZ<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and comparing data access costs (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Analyzing your costs with AWS Cost Explorer<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 2: Explain Deployment and Migration (20%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n2.1 Learn to automate database solution deployments.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and evaluating application requirements to determine components to deploy (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Evaluate your applications<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and choosing suitable deployment tools and services (e.g., AWS CloudFormation, AWS CLI) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using the AWS Command Line Interface<\/a>, AWS CloudFormation best practices<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.2 Learn to determine data preparation and migration strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and\u00a0determining the data migration method (e.g., snapshots, replication, restore) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Restoring from a DB snapshot<\/a>, Restore an Amazon RDS DB instance from a DB snapshot<\/a>)<\/li>
- Evaluating database migration tools and services (e.g., AWS DMS, native database tools) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Migration with native database tools and AWS DMS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0preparing data sources and targets (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Configuring data target nodes<\/a>, Creating a dataset from a database<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0determining schema conversion methods (e.g., AWS Schema Conversion Tool) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Schema Conversion Tool<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0determining heterogeneous vs. homogeneous migration strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Heterogeneous database migration<\/a>, Homogeneous database migration<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.3 Learn to execute and validate data migration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and designing and script data migration (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for AWS Database Migration Service<\/a>, Database Migration Step-by-Step Walkthroughs<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand and run data extraction and migration scripts (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Extracting data from on-premises databases<\/a>, Migrating data from an on-premises data<\/a>, Database Migration Step-by-Step Walkthroughs<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and verifying the successful load of data (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Verifying that the data loaded correctly<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 3: Explain Management and Operations (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n3.1 Learn to determine maintenance tasks and processes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and accounting for the AWS shared responsibility model for database services (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Shared Responsibility<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate maintenance window strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Systems Manager Maintenance Windows<\/a>, Maintenance window scheduling and active period options<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating between major and minor engine upgrades (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Upgrading a DB instance engine version<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
3.2 Learn to determine backup and restore strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and identifying the need for automatic and manual backups\/snapshots (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Comparing Automatic and Manual Snapshots<\/a>, Amazon EBS snapshots<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating backup and restore strategies (e.g., full backup, point-in-time, encrypting backups cross-Region) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Creating backup copies across AWS Regions<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and defining retention policies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Implement data retention policies for each class<\/a>, Work with retention rules<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and correlating the backup and restore to recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO) requirements (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Plan for Disaster Recovery (DR)<\/a>, Disaster recovery options in the cloud<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
3.3 Learn to manage the operational environment of a database solution.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Orchestrate the refresh of lower environments (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Updating compute environments<\/a>, Orchestrating database refreshes for Amazon RDS and Amazon Aurora<\/a>)<\/li>
- Implement configuration changes (e.g., in Amazon RDS option\/parameter groups or Amazon DynamoDB indexing changes) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with parameter groups<\/a>, Best practices for configuring parameters for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Automate operational tasks (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Systems Manager Automation<\/a>, Working with runbooks<\/a>)<\/li>
- Take action based on AWS Trusted Advisor reports (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Get started with AWS Trusted Advisor<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 4: Explain Monitoring and Troubleshooting (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n4.1 Learn to monitor and alert strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and evaluating monitoring tools including Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon RDS Performance Insights, database native (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Overview of monitoring metrics in Amazon RDS<\/a>, Monitoring DB load with Performance Insights on Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate parameters and thresholds for alert conditions (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with threshold alerts in Amazon QuickSight<\/a>, Working with alerts<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding to use tools to notify users when thresholds are breached including, Amazon SNS, Amazon SQS, Amazon CloudWatch dashboards) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using Amazon CloudWatch alarms<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
4.2 Learn to troubleshoot and resolve common database issues.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand and identify, evaluate, and respond to categories of failures including troubleshooting connectivity; instance, storage, and partitioning issues) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Troubleshoot instances with failed status checks<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and automating responses when possible (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Options for Automating Response<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
4.3 Learn to optimize database performance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and troubleshooting database performance issues (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Troubleshooting for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and identifying suitable AWS tools and services for database optimization (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating the configuration, schema design, queries, and infrastructure to improve performance<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 5: Explain Database Security (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n5.1 Learn to Encrypt data at rest and in transit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand to encrypt data in relational and NoSQL databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Encrypting Amazon RDS resources<\/a>, Using SSL\/TLS to encrypt a connection to a DB instance<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to apply SSL connectivity to databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using SSL\/TLS to encrypt a connection to a DB instance<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to implement key management (e.g., AWS KMS, AWS CloudHSM) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Key Management Service<\/a>, AWS CloudHSM<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
5.2 Learn to evaluate auditing solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for structural\/schema changes (e.g., DDL) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database audit logging<\/a>, Handling schema updates<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for data changes (e.g., DML) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> DML auditing for Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility)<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for data access (e.g., queries) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database audit logging<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for infrastructure changes (e.g., AWS CloudTrail) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS CloudTrail<\/a>)<\/li>
AWS Database Specialty Updated Course Outline<\/strong> <\/h4>\n\n\n\nThe AWS Certified Database Specialty exam covers the latest and updated course outline – <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Module 1: Explain Workload-Specific Database Design (26%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n1.1 Learn to select suitable database services for specific types of data and workloads.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand the differences between ACID vs. BASE workloads<\/li>
- Understand suitable uses of types of databases including relational, key-value, document, in-memory, graph, time series, ledger (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand and identify use cases for persisted data vs. ephemeral data (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 instance store<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.2 Learn about the strategies for disaster recovery and high availability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and selecting Region and Availability Zone placement to optimize database performance (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Choose Regions and Availability Zones to minimize latency<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining implications of Regions and Availability Zones on disaster recovery\/high availability strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Disaster recovery options in the cloud<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating use cases for reading replicas and Multi-AZ deployments (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Multi-AZ deployments for high availability<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.3 Learn to design database solutions for performance, compliance, and scalability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and recommending serverless vs. instance-based database architecture (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Understanding database options for your serverless web applications<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating requirements for scaling read replicas (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with MySQL read replicas<\/a>, Working with read replicas<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and defining database caching solutions (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database Caching<\/a>, Caching strategies<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating the implications of partitioning, sharding, and indexing (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Sharding with Amazon Relational Database Service<\/a>, Choosing the Right DynamoDB Partition Key<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate instance types and storage options (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 Instance Types<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining auto-scaling capabilities for relational and NoSQL databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Managing throughput capacity automatically with DynamoDB auto scaling<\/a>, AWS Management Console with DynamoDB auto scaling<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining the implications of Amazon DynamoDB adaptive capacity (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for designing and using partition keys effectively<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining data locality based on compliance requirements (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Addressing Data Residency with AWS<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
1.4 Learn to compare the costs of database solutions<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and determining cost implications of Amazon DynamoDB capacity units, including on-demand vs. provisioned capacity (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Read\/write capacity mode<\/a>, Pricing for Provisioned Capacity<\/a>, Pricing for On-Demand Capacity<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining costs associated with instance types and automatic scaling (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and designing for costs including high availability, backups, multi-Region, Multi-AZ, and storage type options (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Multi-AZ deployments for high availability<\/a>, Amazon RDS Multi-AZ<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and comparing data access costs (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Analyzing your costs with AWS Cost Explorer<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 2: Explain Deployment and Migration (20%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n2.1 Learn to automate database solution deployments.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and evaluating application requirements to determine components to deploy (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Evaluate your applications<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and choosing suitable deployment tools and services (e.g., AWS CloudFormation, AWS CLI) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using the AWS Command Line Interface<\/a>, AWS CloudFormation best practices<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.2 Learn to determine data preparation and migration strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and\u00a0determining the data migration method (e.g., snapshots, replication, restore) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Restoring from a DB snapshot<\/a>, Restore an Amazon RDS DB instance from a DB snapshot<\/a>)<\/li>
- Evaluating database migration tools and services (e.g., AWS DMS, native database tools) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Migration with native database tools and AWS DMS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0preparing data sources and targets (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Configuring data target nodes<\/a>, Creating a dataset from a database<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0determining schema conversion methods (e.g., AWS Schema Conversion Tool) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Schema Conversion Tool<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and\u00a0determining heterogeneous vs. homogeneous migration strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Heterogeneous database migration<\/a>, Homogeneous database migration<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
2.3 Learn to execute and validate data migration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and designing and script data migration (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for AWS Database Migration Service<\/a>, Database Migration Step-by-Step Walkthroughs<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand and run data extraction and migration scripts (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Extracting data from on-premises databases<\/a>, Migrating data from an on-premises data<\/a>, Database Migration Step-by-Step Walkthroughs<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and verifying the successful load of data (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Verifying that the data loaded correctly<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 3: Explain Management and Operations (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n3.1 Learn to determine maintenance tasks and processes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and accounting for the AWS shared responsibility model for database services (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Shared Responsibility<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate maintenance window strategies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Systems Manager Maintenance Windows<\/a>, Maintenance window scheduling and active period options<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating between major and minor engine upgrades (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Upgrading a DB instance engine version<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
3.2 Learn to determine backup and restore strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and identifying the need for automatic and manual backups\/snapshots (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Comparing Automatic and Manual Snapshots<\/a>, Amazon EBS snapshots<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and differentiating backup and restore strategies (e.g., full backup, point-in-time, encrypting backups cross-Region) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Creating backup copies across AWS Regions<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and defining retention policies (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Implement data retention policies for each class<\/a>, Work with retention rules<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and correlating the backup and restore to recovery point objective (RPO) and recovery time objective (RTO) requirements (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Plan for Disaster Recovery (DR)<\/a>, Disaster recovery options in the cloud<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
3.3 Learn to manage the operational environment of a database solution.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Orchestrate the refresh of lower environments (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Updating compute environments<\/a>, Orchestrating database refreshes for Amazon RDS and Amazon Aurora<\/a>)<\/li>
- Implement configuration changes (e.g., in Amazon RDS option\/parameter groups or Amazon DynamoDB indexing changes) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with parameter groups<\/a>, Best practices for configuring parameters for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Automate operational tasks (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Systems Manager Automation<\/a>, Working with runbooks<\/a>)<\/li>
- Take action based on AWS Trusted Advisor reports (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Get started with AWS Trusted Advisor<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 4: Explain Monitoring and Troubleshooting (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n4.1 Learn to monitor and alert strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and evaluating monitoring tools including Amazon CloudWatch, Amazon RDS Performance Insights, database native (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Overview of monitoring metrics in Amazon RDS<\/a>, Monitoring DB load with Performance Insights on Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and determining appropriate parameters and thresholds for alert conditions (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Working with threshold alerts in Amazon QuickSight<\/a>, Working with alerts<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding to use tools to notify users when thresholds are breached including, Amazon SNS, Amazon SQS, Amazon CloudWatch dashboards) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using Amazon CloudWatch alarms<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
4.2 Learn to troubleshoot and resolve common database issues.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand and identify, evaluate, and respond to categories of failures including troubleshooting connectivity; instance, storage, and partitioning issues) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Troubleshoot instances with failed status checks<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and automating responses when possible (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Options for Automating Response<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
4.3 Learn to optimize database performance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understanding and troubleshooting database performance issues (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Troubleshooting for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and identifying suitable AWS tools and services for database optimization (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Best practices for Amazon RDS<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understanding and evaluating the configuration, schema design, queries, and infrastructure to improve performance<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Module 5: Explain Database Security (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n5.1 Learn to Encrypt data at rest and in transit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n- Understand to encrypt data in relational and NoSQL databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Encrypting Amazon RDS resources<\/a>, Using SSL\/TLS to encrypt a connection to a DB instance<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to apply SSL connectivity to databases (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Using SSL\/TLS to encrypt a connection to a DB instance<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to implement key management (e.g., AWS KMS, AWS CloudHSM) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS Key Management Service<\/a>, AWS CloudHSM<\/a>)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
5.2 Learn to evaluate auditing solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for structural\/schema changes (e.g., DDL) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database audit logging<\/a>, Handling schema updates<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for data changes (e.g., DML) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> DML auditing for Amazon DocumentDB (with MongoDB compatibility)<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for data access (e.g., queries) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> Database audit logging<\/a>)<\/li>
- Understand to determine auditing strategies for infrastructure changes (e.g., AWS CloudTrail) (AWS Documentation:<\/strong> AWS CloudTrail<\/a>)<\/li>
1.1 Learn to select suitable database services for specific types of data and workloads.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.2 Learn about the strategies for disaster recovery and high availability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.3 Learn to design database solutions for performance, compliance, and scalability.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1.4 Learn to compare the costs of database solutions<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.1 Learn to automate database solution deployments.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.2 Learn to determine data preparation and migration strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2.3 Learn to execute and validate data migration.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3.1 Learn to determine maintenance tasks and processes.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3.2 Learn to determine backup and restore strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 3.3 Learn to manage the operational environment of a database solution.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4.1 Learn to monitor and alert strategies.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4.2 Learn to troubleshoot and resolve common database issues.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 4.3 Learn to optimize database performance.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 5.1 Learn to Encrypt data at rest and in transit.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 5.2 Learn to evaluate auditing solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\nModule 2: Explain Deployment and Migration (20%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Module 3: Explain Management and Operations (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Module 4: Explain Monitoring and Troubleshooting (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n
Module 5: Explain Database Security (18%)<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n