My journey to pass the AWS Certified Big Data Specialty Certification Exam. The resources that I have used in my preparation as well as the methods are included in this article.

The certifications offered by Amazon Web Services are among the most well-known in the world of software engineering. On November 25, 2019, I completed the AWS Certified Big Data Specialty certification. This certification assesses a candidate's knowledge of cloud and big data technologies, two of the most in-demand skills right now. I had already completed three AWS Cloud Certifications (Solution Architect Associate, Developer Associate, and SysOps Associate) and one Cloudera Big Data Certification before taking this one (CCA Spark and Hadoop Developer). Because it combines the worlds of Cloud and Big Data technology, AWS Big Data Specialty Certification was the natural next step. In this blog post, I'll explain how I prepared for the exam and everything you need to know about the certification.

Background

For the past few years, I've been working with AWS and Big Data technologies. I was familiar with AWS services such as EMR, EC2, S3, Lambda, DynamoDB, Redshift, QuickSight, Hadoop, Spark, Hive, Hue, and HBase, as well as Big Data technologies such as Hadoop, Spark, Hive, Hue, and HBase. In addition, I'm not new to studying for and taking exams. Cloud and Big Data technologies pique my curiosity. I wanted to learn more about AWS' Big Data Services. CME Group, my employer, has been very supportive of my AWS certifications and has provided me with subscriptions to educational websites like Oreilly, Lynda, Qwiklabs, and ACloudGuru. Most importantly, I enjoy pushing myself to learn new topics with specific end goals in mind, such as certification. As a result, I choose to pursue the AWS Big Data Specialty certification.

Exam Practice

The exam lasted 3 hours and 180 minutes, with a registration fee of $300. There were 65 questions in total, with the majority of them being lengthy and scenario-based. Many of the questions had only one answer option, while only a few offered numerous options. The questions posed a technological problem, and each of the answer options provides a solution. Typically, two of the four options are deleted since they are distracting or make no sense if you are familiar with the services. The other two options are alternative answers to the question, and we must choose the best one. To find the best solution among all the alternative solutions, I had to re-read the questions to catch crucial words like cost-effective, performance, low maintenance, latency, and throughput. To answer all of the questions, it took me 150 minutes. I had highlighted a few of the questions in which I was unsure. I took the remaining 30 minutes to go over the ones that had been noted.

As an added advantage, I was able to take the exam at my alma mater, the College of Dupage (COD). This was my first visit to COD in seven years, as I hadn't been back since transferring to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). My mind was flooded with happy memories. I even went to the Computer Lab, where I took my first programming class.

Preparation

It's difficult to put a number on how much time I spent studying for the exam. I have prior job experience with some of the services and was familiar with the majority of the others. I began my preparation by enrolling in various AWS Big Data Specialization classes, gaining hands-on experience with big data services, viewing official AWS videos, reading FAQs/Whitepapers, and taking mock examinations.

The official webpage of the AWS Certified Big Data Specialty was the starting point. I continued returning to this page to review the Exam Blue Print for all of the exam's topics.

Practice Exams

I spent the week leading up to the exam taking practice exams in order to measure my confidence. I took them again and again till I achieved a perfect score. The pattern and difficulty level of the questions in the official sample questions and exam preparedness questions were comparable to those in the actual exam.

Sample questions from the AWS Big Data Specialty AWS Certified Big Data Specialty Questions from Study4Exam

Topics

To pass this certification test, you must be familiar with all of the AWS services and topics listed below. This list is provided for informational purposes only and may not be complete. I'll keep adding to the list. Please feel free to provide comments on any of the issues that aren't covered here.

• Domain 1: Collection      17%
• Domain 2: Storage         17%
• Domain 3: Processing    17%
• Domain 4: Analysis         17%
• Domain 5: Visualization  12%
• Domain 6: Data Security 20%

Final Thoughts

Because it is a specialized test, the AWS Big Data Specialty Certification is highly difficult. It necessitates familiarity with the large array of big data services available on AWS. I strongly advise having hands-on experience with key big data systems like EMR, S3, Kinesis, Redshift, DynamoDB, and Quicksight. You should be in good shape to take the exam if you follow the study instructions and are familiar with all of the topics provided. I feel obligated to state that following this guidance does not ensure successful certification completion. Because everyone's needs are different, you'll have to adapt this guide to match yours.

Best wishes on your certification journey. Please feel free to post any questions or comments in the space below.