Month: September 2022

You think you can’t have difficult conversations as project manager? You might be wrong.

While you won’t be able to eliminate difficult situations and difficult conversations from your projects, there are ways to make sure that conversations you don’t expect to be funny end up being easy.

Ben Aston, the founder of the Digital Project Manager, shares his 15+ years of project management experience to show you how to make difficult conversations easier.

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As managers, success in any given project is often dependent on our ability to bring people together under a common goal. Of course, you don’t always have the authority to direct these people. A project cannot succeed unless it has the support of executives or clients. It is also more difficult to lead by authority because of flatter organizational structures, remote teams, and resourcing.
Influence is more powerful than authority. If used with tact, influence can help ensure project success and build credibility among colleagues. How can you be influential?
1. Learn more
This should be obvious, but it is important to have a complete understanding of the process in order to see the project through to completion. Learning by doing can sometimes be a good way to learn, but you should still have as much knowledge as you can before diving in. You will be able to better communicate your decisions and influence others to take the plunge.
2. Plan!
At the beginning of any project, you should create a plan that reflects your vision. Take a step back and look at your vision from a high-level perspective. Identify the strategic objectives and ensure that your plan includes operational and actionable objectives that will achieve each strategic objective. Although this plan is not final, it will help you to build consensus and influence your team members.
3. Your personal agenda is not important.
While influence can be a great way to advance your career, it should not be your only goal. If you keep your eyes on the best interests of your client or organization, others will be more likely follow your advice. If you place too much emphasis on building the power base or fulfilling subjective visions, you may lose the support that you need.
4. Play nice
Talk to all those involved in the project. Ask them for their opinions and concerns about your project vision. Not just their reactions, but their ideas are important. Too often, managers create and commit to a complex plan or process without consulting others. They then share it with their team members, mistakingly believing that they are cooperating. This leads to disgruntled team members, and even bickering over minor details. Bring a clear vision to the table and invite others to modify it or add to it.
5. Form a coalition
Rarely is one person able to be an influencer. Influence is stronger when multiple people are advocating for the same ideas. This is a crucial skill for managing laterally. Start early in the project planning process to determine who needs to buy-in. Are there any individuals who are more naturally influential? Which people will be most affected if your initiatives are implemented? Get their opinions and help you improve your plan. In the weeks leading to a formal kickoff, share your ideas and refine your plans. Ensure that they are kept informed and involved throughout the project. Instead of ignoring any problems that may arise, continue to seek their feedback.
What does influence look like when you combine all this? Start with a cooperative mindset. Focus on the client’s needs and be humble. Your plan should be based on the project goals. This will help you to develop a team spirit throughout the project’s lifecycle. Because they have had the chance to share their ideas before, your team will agree with your decisions. While there will be more difficult decisions, they will be easier.

You’ll likely find information about systems approach to project management in a book on project administration.
You know what?
This is awesome. I hope you’ll read every book on your Amazon wishlist. I do.
These books can sometimes miss the bigger picture despite their incredibleness. You don’t want to be just a project manager who can implement processes in coherence.
You want to be a successful project manager. I have done extensive research on the skills that make a project manager a success. The article below will reveal the hidden talents that transform ordinary cubicle-dwelling project mangers into successful, powerful project managers.
1. Successful project managers place the right people in the right places.
George Marshall was the one who did it right

George Marshall was a great project manager. He won a war. Like a real war — WWII. Winston Churchill called Marshall “organizer of victory,” which is quite a nice title. He went on to win many sweet awards and positions after he won war. (Have you ever heard of the Nobel Peace Prize?
He was not called “project manager.” Instead people saluted him and called him “General,” but it is clear that this guy could get things done. Quora discussions revealed that Marshall was “a genius at selecting the right people for the right jobs.”
This is his enviable talent — selecting the right people to do the right job. This is a great talent. Even if he or she is Captain America, no one can win a war by himself. You need help. A project manager is able to recruit, advise, and direct that help.
Your massive project and your grumpy employees are likely to be a very difficult reality to deal with every day. Think about Marshall. There were also harsh realities for Marshall to face: Bombs. Tanks. This is stuff.
He chose the right people and placed them in the right places to save the free world from its inevitable end.
This is successful project management for your company.
2. Successful project managers plan ahead.
Steve Jobs was the one who did it right

Here’s one my favorite Steve Jobs quotes:
Here’s to the misfits and rebels, to the troublemakers, to the people who see things differently. You can quote them, disagree, glorify them, or even vilify them. But you can’t ignore them because they make things better. Jobs was able to envision a future, and then bring it to life, whether he was creating a prehistoric personal computer device or trying to store thousands of songs in his pocket.
Without planning, this is not possible. Anyone who has seen Apple’s incredible launch of game-changing products will tell you that planning is key to Apple’s success.
Steve Jobs was a major planner of much of this. According to a DailyMail article, Steve Jobs spent more than a full year working on products that would protect the company’s future.
He planned, he project, and he made sure that there was a process in place to execute it. His succession plan was a perfect example of project management success. This type of success requires a long-range view, complete calendar mastery, as well as the insights from gantt chart.
We hear undertones from an invete in Jobs’s quote about the crazy people who change the world.

The world has changed. Why is this happening? Smartsheet transforms your work.

Our work as digital project managers is largely about communicating well. It is important to be able to handle difficult conversations effectively in order to prevent poor team performance, financial misunderstandings, and unrealistic client expectations. These issues can become serious risks for your project. Even the most experienced project managers may feel nervous about having to have a difficult conversation.
Difficult conversations can be difficult for a variety of reasons. They can be awkward and it can be difficult to know what to do and how to say it.
This is not an option. It is crucial to listen well when having difficult conversations
There is a fine line between being professional and being clear enough to get your point across. It can make your project easier and more enjoyable by being able to manage difficult conversations. We’ll be covering five simple steps to successfully handle difficult conversations in this article.
How to have difficult conversations
1. Start with your End Game
Although it might seem counterintuitive, the best place to start a difficult discussion is at the end. Ask yourself: “Why am I having this discussion?”, “What do I want out of it at end?”, “What are the possible outcomes?”
Don’t have the conversation unless you are clear about why you’re having it and what you want out of it. While it may seem like it’s going well, there’s a good possibility that it won’t solve your actual problem. You’ll be back to it in weeks with another awkward conversation.
2. Choose the Right Environment
A good environment for open and honest conversation is another important aspect of having a difficult conversation.
Imagine if someone was going to have a difficult discussion with you. Maybe they’re going give you negative feedback about your performance or tell you that your agency is about to lose $150k on a project. What place would you prefer to have that conversation with? Is it on the shop floor? Most likely not. This would immediately put you on the defensive and make you feel like a public attacker.
Positivity can prevent a difficult conversation from ending in tears
You’ll want it somewhere private, safe, and comfortable. If you need to put distance between your conversations and the office, I recommend a private meeting space or a nearby coffee shop.
Be mindful of what your private space says. Even if it’s the only one available, the HR director’s office can give the wrong impression.
3. Decide who should have the conversation
It will most often be you who has the difficult conversation. That’s simply the luck of managing a project or leading a team. Before you rush to take control, think about who might be better suited for this conversation to achieve the desired result.
One time, I managed a very visible, large, and high-pressured project for my agency. I managed a large team and had an amazing front-end developer as my lead. He was pro-active, responsible, accountable. He was also fun, knowledgeable, easy-going, and a top performer.
As we got closer to our first set development deliverables, he began to get cranky. Then he became more cranky until his behavior started to affect project morale as well as other members of the team. This was not his style and he needed to stop. So I was confronted with an unpleasant conversation with someone who I really did not like.

The world has changed. Why is this happening? Smartsheet transforms your work.

Every project is made up different parts. Every part of a project is vital to its success, regardless of whether it’s people or tools, machines, equipment, or both.
Project management is even more important. It involves the management and control of all resources to achieve customer expectations and ultimately make your business profitable.
There are many constraints to any project.
Quality
Time
Cost
Scope
These elements can have an impact on projects and may cause them to require more or fewer resources depending on the project’s constraints.
Project managers must use resources efficiently to achieve project objectives.
This brings us to resource-leveling.
This article explains.
What is Resource Leveling? Why is it important?
The Critical Path Technique
The Critical Chain Technique
The Pure Resources Leveling Technique
Resource Smoothing Technique
Crashing and Fast Tracking
These are some useful tools for resource leveling
What is Resource Leveling? Why is it important?
Resource leveling refers to a technique that adjusts the start and end dates of a project according to constraints to resources to balance the resource demand with the available supplies.
This applies to any type of project, at any level: sub-project, project, or program.
This means that you can use the resources leveling techniques outlined below, regardless of whether you are building an office complex or hosting webinar training programs. Although the size of your project doesn’t matter, you should be able to create a clear project plan that you can follow and adjust quickly and accurately as needed.
Remember that projects are not foolproof and that there are many instances when projects have failed due to a variety of reasons.
Projects can fail for reasons such as:
Costs escalating
Delays during the project
Quality is not met
Changes in the scope of the project are significant
Any one of these reasons can stop a project from moving forward, regardless of its stage (project planning, execution, etc.). All of these problems can be avoided with resource leveling.
Here are five techniques to help you manage your resources effectively.
1. The Critical Path Technique
This technique, also known as the critical path method or CPM, is used to calculate the project’s minimum duration.
It is a method to estimate the start and end dates of project activities (both early and late start) without taking into account resource limitations.
These dates don’t necessarily reflect the actual project schedule. They are merely a time frame during which activities may have a start and an end date.
The “float” is the time period between the late start and early finish. This is the time that a project activity can begin after its early start date without affecting its late finish date. CPM, in essence, has zero floats.
The “total floating” refers to the flexibility of any project plan that allows for delays or extensions at an early start, without having an impact on the project’s finish date.
Let’s say that you are building a website and have a launch date in mind. This resource-leveling technique allows you to adjust the start dates for early and late starts by changing activity durations, lead time, lagtimes and forward and backward links.
Other constraints may also need to be considered, such as planned closings or public holidays. It is also important to keep in mind

AWS Certified Database – Specialty (DBS–C01) Exam Learning Path
11 Down! Continue on my AWS journey, which has lasted over three years, validating and recoiling the certs multiple time, and I have taken another step and passed the AWS Certified Database Specialty (DBS-01) certification
The AWS Certified Database Specialist – Specialty (DBS-01) exam validates the certification.
Learn how to distinguish the key features of AWS’s database services.
Analyze your needs and requirements to recommend the best database solutions using AWS servicesAWS Certified Database-Specialty (DBS-01) Exam ResourcesOnline CoursesStephane Maarek AWS Certified Database Specialistty Exam – In-Depth and Hands On
Practice testsBraincert AWS Certified Database Specialty (DBS-01) Practice ExamsAWS Certified Database Specialty Exam (DBS-01) Exam Summary
AWS Certified Database – Specialty exam focuses data services from the graph, non-relational, and data warehouses. It also focuses upon data migration.
AWS Certified Database – Specialty exam has 65 question with a time limit to 170 minutes
You will need to take the time to read through all questions and answer options. This will allow you to understand the requirements and filter out the answers.
The exam was conducted online so there was no paper or pen. However, the trick is to read the question, draw a rough structure and then focus on the areas you need to improve. Trust me, you’ll be able eliminate 2 answers and then focus on the other 2. To check the difference area, read the other answers. This will help you get the right answer or at the very least, a 50% chance of getting it right.
Make sure to cover these topics: Whitepapers and articlesAWS Database Service Cheat Sheet
DatabaseMake sure to know and cover all services. 80% of the exam focuses on topics such as Aurora, RDS, DynamoDB, and DynamoDB.
AuroraUnderstand Aurora in depth
Know Aurora DR & HA by using Read Replicas anAurora promotes the use of read replicas according to the priority tier (tier 0 being the highest), and the largest size if the tier matches.
Aurora Global DatabaseAurora offers Global Database with cross-region read replicas for low latency readings. It is not multi-master and does not provide low latency write.
For primary read/write, know the Aurora Connection endpoints cluster
reader for read replicas
Custom for a particular group of cases
For a single instance, it is not recommended
Know Aurora Fast Failover techniquesset TCP keepalives low
Java DNS caching timeouts set to low
As low as possible, set the timeout variables in the JDBC connector string.
Use the provided read-and-write Aurora endpoints
Cluster cache management is required for Aurora PostgreSQL. Cluster cache management ensures that the application’s performance is maintained even if there is a failover.
Get Aurora Serverless
Aurora Backtrack features rewinds the DB cluster at the specified time. It is not meant to replace backups.
Server Auditing Events Supports Log in, DML and Permission Changes DCL. Schema changes DDL are also supported
The Aurora Cluster Cache management feature allows for fast failover
The Aurora Clone feature allows you to quickly and economically create clones
Aurora supports fault injection queries to simulate failovers such as node down, primary failover, and others.
RDS PostgreSQL or MySQL can be migrated into Aurora by creating an Aurora Read Replica. After the replica lag has zero, you can switch the DNS without data loss.
Supports Database Activity Streams for streaming audit logs to external services such as Kinesis
Supports stored procedures calling lambda function functions
DynamoDBUnderstand DynamoDB in depth
Understanding DynamoDB Consistency ModelData can be fetched using highly consistent reads
Learn how DynamoDB secondary Indexes work.

AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty (DAS–C01) Exam Learning Path
Recently, I was certified by AWS Data Analytics – Specialty (DAS-01).
Data Analytics – Specialty (DAS–C01) has replaced Big Data – Specialty before (DAS–C01).
Big Data is an enormous topic. AWS services are a great way to learn more about it.
This exam validates your experience in Big Data technologies, including Visualization.
Learn how AWS data analytics services work together.
Explain how AWS data analytics services are integrated into the data lifecycle of storage, processing, and visualization. Refer to AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty Exam Guide.
AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty (DAS–C01) Exam ResourcesOnline CoursesStephane Maarek AWS Certified data analytics Specialty Exam In-Depth and Hands On
Practice examsBraincert – AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty DAS-01 Practice Exams
AWS Certified Data Analytics SpecialtyAWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty (DAS-C01) Exam Summary
AWS Certified Data Analytics Specialty exam covers a lot Big Data concepts, including data transfer and collection, storage, pre- and post processing, visualization, and data security at each layer.
AWS Certified Data Analytics – Specialty exam has 65 questions that must be completed in a time limit 170 minutes
Questions and answer options can be quite long so take your time to read them.
The exam was conducted online so there was no paper or pen. However, the trick is to read the question, draw a rough structure and then focus on the areas you need to improve. Trust me, you’ll be able eliminate 2 answers and then focus on the other 2. To check the difference area, read the other answers. This will help you get to the correct answer or at least a 50% chance of getting it right.
Make sure to cover these topics: Whitepapers and articlesAWS Analytics Service Cheat Sheet
Analytics Make sure you are familiar with and have a thorough understanding of all services. 80% of the exam will be on topics such as Glue, Kinesis, and Redshift.
GlueDAS-C01 covers Glue in detail. This is a new service, which is compared to Big Data-Specialty exam.
Understanding Glue as an extract, transform, load (ETL), service
Glue supports Redshift, Redshift, S3 as well as databases on EC2 instances.
Glue allows Glue crawlers access to data and helps create schema in the Glue Data Catalog
Glue supports Job Bookmark, which helps track data that was processed during an ETL job run. It persists state information from the job run. AWS Glue’s job bookmarks allow it to keep track of state information and prevent duplicate or old data from being reprocessed.
Elastic Map ReduceUnderstand EMR in detail
Understanding EMRFS (hint – Use Consistent View to ensure that S3 objects referred from different applications are in sync).
Know EMR Best Practices (hint, start with many small nodes rather than a few large ones)
Learn about EMR encryption options
Does not support SSE-C encryption
Supports LUKS encryption of local disks
TLS support for data in transit encryption
Know Hive can also be hosted externally using AWS Glue Data Catalog, Aurora, and RDS.
Learn also about other technologiesPresto is an interactive SQL query engine that allows you to perform interactive analytic queries on large datasets from multiple sources.
Spark is a distributed processing framework that allows you to do machine learning, stream processing or graph analytics using Am.

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam (CLF-01) Learning Path
The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam focuses primarily on cloud computing, AWS Cloud, pricing, support plans, and its advantages.
The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam can be a great way to begin your AWS journey. It also allows non-technical professionals to learn about all that AWS has to give.
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam contains 65 questions that must be answered in a period of 100 minutes.
The AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam can only be taken online at the moment.
You will need to ensure that you have an internet connection, comfortable seating, and id cards. Once you are certified, you can go to the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner exam.
Describe the AWS Cloud and the global infrastructure
Describe the basic principles of AWS Cloud architecture
Describe the AWS Cloud value proposition
Describe the key services available on AWS and their common uses (for example, analytics and compute).
Define the basic security and compliance features of AWS and the shared security model
Define the billing, account management, pricing models.
Identify documentation and technical assistance sources (for example white papers or support tickets);
Describe the core characteristics of operating and deploying in the AWS Cloud. Refer to the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam guide.
AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam Resources
AWS Official Cloud Practitioner Digital Training
Online CoursesCoursera Exam Prep: AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Foundations
Stephane Maarek – AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner course
DolfinEd is an AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-01 (E-Study and Lab Guides Included).
Zeal Vora – AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner course
IAAS – AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner (CLF-C01) course
Linux Academy – AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner course
Practice testsBraincert AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Practice Exam
Stephane Maarek – AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Practice Exams
Whizlabs – AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Practice Exams
The key topics include AWS services, TCO and Shared Responsibility, Billing & cost, Support Plans, and Billing & Cost.
AWS Cloud Computing Whitepapers
Whitepaper: Overview of Amazon Web Services, April 2017.
AWS Best Practices whitepaper: Architecting for Cloud, February 2016
Whitepaper on AWS Pricing, March 2016.
The Total Cost of (Non-Ownership) Web Applications in the Cloud whitepaper Aug 2012
Compare AWS Support PlansAWS Certified cloud Practitioner Exam Contents
Domain 1: Cloud Concepts
1.1 Define AWS Cloud and its value propositionAgility, Speed, Experimentation and Innovation
Elasticity – Scale on Demand, Eliminate Wasted Capacity
Availability – Spread across multiple zones
Flexibility – Large range of products, low to no entry cost
Security – Many compliance certifications are available. Shared responsibility model
1.2 Identify AWS Cloud economicsAdvantages Cloud ComputingTrade capital expense to variable expense
Massive scale economies to your advantage
Stop guessing about your capacity
Speed and agility increases
Stop running data centers and spending money on them
In minutes, you can go global
AWS Well-Architected FrameworkFeatures include security, reliability and cost optimization.
1.3 List of the different principles of cloud architecture.
2.1 Define the AWS shared responsibility model. This includes having a clear understanding about AWS and Customer responsibilities
2.2 Define AWS Cloud security concepts and compliance
2.3 Identify AWS access management capabilitiesincludes IAM
2.4 Identify resources to support security

Finally, All Down for AWS (for the moment)
I continued my AWS journey by obtaining the last AWS certification. Then, I completed the AWS Certified Alexa Skill Builder-Specialty (AXS-01) certification. It is amazing to see how Voice first experiences are changing the way we think about technology and how they can help us.
AWS Certified Alexa Skills Builder – Specialty (AXS-01) exam validates your ability build, test, publish, and certify Alexa skills.
Summary of the AWS Certified Alexa Skills Builder – Specialty (AXS-01) Exam
AWS Certified Alexa Skills Builder – This special exam focuses on Alexa and how you can build skills.
AWS Certified Alexa Skills Builder – Specialty exam has 65 question with a time limit to 170 minutes
The questions and answers are shorter than those of the specialty and professional exams. They are also similar to those of associate exams. If you’re well prepared, it shouldn’t take 170 minutes.
The exam was conducted online so there was no paper or pen. However, the trick is to read the question, draw a rough structure and then focus on the areas you need to improve. Trust me, you’ll be able eliminate 2 answers and then focus on the other 2. To check the difference area, read the other answers. This will help you get to the right answer or at least a half-way chance of getting it right. Visit Jooble!
AWS Certified Alexa Skills Builder – Specialty (AXS-01) Exam Topic Summary
Refer AWS Alexa Cheat Sheet
Domain 1: Voice First Design Practices and Capabilities
1.1 Describe the interaction between skills and users
1.2 Map capabilities and features to use cases
Alexa supports display cards that display text (Simple Card) or text with images (Standard Card).
Alexa Alexa Skill Kits support APIsAlexa Settings APIs enable developers to retrieve customer preferences for settings such as time zone, distance measurement unit, temperature measurement unit, etc.
Device services – A skill can ask the customer for permission to access their address information. This is static data that the customer fills in with the country/region, postcode, and full address.
Customer Profile services – A skill can request permission from a customer to access their contact information. This includes name, email address, and phone number.
A skill can ask for permission to locate an Alexa-enabled device at the time the user requests it to Alexa. This allows the skill to provide enhanced services.
Alexa Skill Kit APIs require apiAccessToken, deviceId to access ASK APIs
Progressive Response API allows for you to keep your user engaged while the skill prepares a complete response to the user’s request.
Personalization can be achieved using userId or state persistenceDomain 2 – Skill Design
2.1 Design an interaction model
A skill is “an app for Alexa”, however they cannot be downloaded. They just need to enabled.
Amazon offers a variety of wakewords, including ‘Alexa,’ ‘Amazon,’ ‘Echo,”skill,’ ‘app’ and ‘Computer’. The default is ‘Alexa.
Launch phrases include “run,”‘start,” ‘play,”‘resume,”, “use,”, “launch,”, “ask,”,”open,”,”tell,”,”load,” and “enable.”
Connecting words include “to,”” “from,”,” in,” and “using,” as well as “about,” for,” “that,” and “by,” for,” “if,” and “and.”
The invocation name is the phrase or word that triggers the skill for custom skills. It should be consistent with the requirements
You must not infringe on the intellectual property rights of any person or entity
must be a combination of more than one work.
Only brand/intellectual property is allowed to use one-word invocation names.
Names of people and places must not be included
If there are two words invocation names, only one word can be a definite Article.

AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialist (ANS-C00 Exam Learning Path)
I just passed the AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Speciality (ANSC00) which was my first certification. This was the beginning of my journey to the AWS Speciality certificates. Although I felt that the preparation time was not sufficient, I managed to pass. This exam is more difficult than the professional exam. Networking concepts are hard to grasp.
AWS Certified Advanced Networking Speciality (ANSC00) exam focuses on AWS Networking concepts. It validates basically
Cloud-based solutions can be designed, developed, and deployed using AWSImplement core AWS Services according to best practices in architecture
All AWS services require a network architecture that can be designed and maintained.
Use AWS tools to automate networking tasks. Refer to the AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Speciality Exam Guide
Exam Resources for AWS Certified Advanced Networking Speciality (ANSC00)
Online CoursesStephane MAREK – Ultimate AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty 2021
Zeal Vora – AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty course
Linux Academy – AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty Course
Practice Tests Braincert AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty AWS-C00 Practice Exams
Stephane Maarek – Practice Exam – AWS Certified Advanced networking Specialty
Whizlabs – AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialistty Practice testsAWS Certified Advanced Networking (ANS-C00 Exam Summary)
AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Speciality exam covers many Networking concepts such as VPC, VPN and Direct Connect, Route 53. ALB, NLB, ALB.
When solving the DevOps Engineer questions, one of my key strategies was to read the question and then use paper and pencil to draw a rough structure and then focus on the areas you need to improve. Trust me, you can eliminate two answers and then focus on the other two. To check the difference area, read the other answers. This will help you get to the correct answer or at least a 50% chance of getting it right.
Make sure you cover the following topics:Networking & Content delivery. Networking is a complex field.
Understand VPC in depthUnderstand VPC, Subnets
AWS allows you extend your VPC by adding another VPC (hint, focus on the IP limitations you can assign to a created VPN).
Understanding Security Groups, NACLs (Hint: NACLs are stateless, and it is reflected on VPC Flow Logs).
Understanding DHCP Option Sets esp. How to resolve DNS from both AWS and on-premises data centers. Cross-compare the ones you need to understand what’s required
Understanding Placement Groups, Enhanced networking
Learn more about VPC Endpoints Gateway and Interface Endpoints support a variety of services. Private Links are also known as Interface Endpoints.
Know Transit VPC and how to use it
CloudHub: Learn more about it and its use case
Virtual Private Network is used to establish connectivity between AWS VPC and on-premises data centers
Direct Connect is used to establish connectivity between your on-premises datacenter and AWS VPC or Public Services. Make sure you fully understand Direct Connect. Without this, you will not be able to pass the exam.
Direct Connect connections – Dedicated or Hosted connections
Learn how to create a Direct Connect Connection (hint: LOA–CFA provides details for partners to connect to AWS Direct Connect location).
Understanding virtual interfaces options – Private Virtual Interface for VPC Resources and Public Virtual Interface For Public Resources
Setup Private and Public VIFs
Understanding Route Propagation, propagation priority and BGP connectivity
High Availability options are based on cost and time, i.e. Second Direct Connect connection OR