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What are the Best Free Cloud Storages in 2019?

Cloud storage helps slash data on hardware in a remote physical location, which can be accessed from any device with the help of the internet. Below are some of the best free cloud storage in 2019: 1. Microsoft OneDrive: Microsoft provides a cloud storage service and offers 15 GB of free storage to its users. OneDrive, earlier called Skydrive, can be used to store important files securely at one location and these can be accessed from anywhere and from any compatible system. Cloud storage works like a traditional hard drive, the difference being that it is available online and can be accessed from anywhere around the world. Also, companies offer to extend the storage capacity if required. Files of any format can be stored in Microsoft OneDrive, though it is better for Office documents. It offers cross-device and cross-platform design, which implies that you can resume your work from where you left without the need for saving it or making a copy of it. Due to its Office365 integration, it is easy to share your content and files with other users and hence facilitates collaboration among a team. One prominent feature of Microsoft OneDrive is Files on demand. This means you can access your files stored in the cloud from anywhere, without downloading them to your local device which saves a lot of local storage. Since the files are stored and changes are saved in the cloud, the recovery is very convenient in case the system you are working on gets crashed, damaged or stolen. You can easily upgrade your account by buying extra storage in case you are running low on memory.  The important features of Microsoft OneDrive: Create and share folders Save notebooks to OneDrive View Office documents online Upload multimedia files from your personal mobile phones. Real time co-authoring File type support Desktop synchronization Search and discovery tools Device reports Documents storage and tracking Permission management Photo management Microsoft Office integration Device specific selective sync 2. Dropbox: Dropbox is operated by the American company Dropbox, Inc., and provides cloud storage and is used for file sharing and collaboration. Dropbox is available as an application for desktop for Windows, Linux and Macintosh operating systems. It is also available as an app for Android, iPad, iPhone and Blackberry. It provides a limited storage capacity of 2GB, which can be upgraded up to 100 GB by purchasing from several plans offered. The upgraded version of Dropbox is called Dropbox Plus. Upgrading to this version offers many benefits like automatic camera roll back up, which implies that all the photos that you click from your personal mobile phone get backed in Dropbox.  Dropbox provides a robust API that allows other apps to collaborate with it and use it for file storage and sync. Dropbox does not require a complicated upgrade or timely installations. It is mainly focused on file exchange. It does not limit the number of files you can share or a number of users you can share with. You can even share your files with users who do not have a Dropbox account. It supports the exchange of files among any operating system and any device.  Dropbox facilitates easy collaboration among team members. If you edit or make changes to any file that is shared with your team, they will receive a notification about the changes made. Teams can communicate and edit files at a minimal cost. You can easily get started with Dropbox by just downloading the app on your phone. After you create an account, you can start sharing your content. You can even use it offline if you sync your local storage or additional account data with it. To ensure the security of your stored files, Dropbox is designed with multiple layers of protection.  Layers of protection include the following: Dropbox files are encrypted using 256 bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). It uses Secure Socket layer or transport layer security to secure data being exchanged with Dropbox apps and servers. Dropbox applications are regularly tested for security threats and if such vulnerabilities exist, it is fixed immediately. During login, two step verification is available to provide additional privacy. The important features of Dropbox are as follows: Automatic updates File storage and file sync Offline access Manually set bandwidth Automatic organization and backup Preview and download Any device accessibility Large files sharing Easy link sharing 3. Google Drive Google Drive is a file storage and sharing service offered by Google. The first 15 GB is free. You can store any kind of files like photos, videos, design, drawings, recordings, and stories. Just like most other cloud services, you can upload your files online, and can access it from anywhere and any device. You can even invite people to view, download or contribute to your project.  Google drive provides storage options to any kind of files such as images, sheets, pdf, videos, word documents etc, one can even save their email attachment in google drive directly through Gmail without going through the hassle of moving files. One of the greatest features of Google Drive is that it allows the user to view the file in the browser without having to download it. The files that can be previewed are Adobe, Microsoft Office, images, audios, texts and video files, such an option is not provided by most of the zero knowledge services as those services are unable to decrypt the files. Google Drive's versatility makes it more user-friendly than any other storage platforms. Significant features of Google Drive are:  Google drive provides 15 GB free storage on signing up. With the assistance of Google's homegrown office suite, Google docs and other third party applications it is more productive and efficient than most other storage options. It is very versatile as one can store almost any kind of files and preview the same without downloading it. Google drive can be accessed by logging in with your Google account. Many different types of programs can be integrated with Google drive. Google drive's browser interface is fairly intuitive and user friendly. With the help of Google client, one can make optimum use of its sync capabilities. File replication. It provides third party applications library. The only drawback Google Drive has is that it does not provide any specific way to share files, however, it is one of the best storage options as its strength surpasses its weaknesses. 4. pCloud Though pCloud is new in the market compared to its counterparts, it has emerged as a versatile cloud solution for both business and personal use. The features of pCloud which make it stand out among other cloud services, are as follows: pCloud crypto: It provides you with an option to secure your files and data with encryption on your device before uploading on cloud to protect them from any unwanted and insecure access. Lifetime subscription: Unlike other cloud services available in the market, pCloud offers a lifetime subscription, that means you can use its services permanently without going through limited and expensive subscriptions. The advantages of using pCloud are as follows: pCloud rewind: The main reason why people go for cloud storage is data recovery in case of any issue occurring in the local device. It should be easy to recover  files in case it is lost due to corruption, virus, or hardware problems. To ensure this, pCloud stores five separate copies of every file you upload at three different locations at a centralized data center facility in Dallas, Texas, so you always have a copy of your file available for download. pCloud has a feature called pCloud rewind which tracks and saves your file history from last 30 days in case if you make any mistakes or accidentally deleted your original file. You can also go for long periods of history by including the extended file history add on (EFH) that keeps previous file versions for up to 360 days. High level security: The sensitive files and data are highly vulnerable in the current date of technologies for hacking and stealing data. Organizations dealing with sensitive data can opt for pCloud since it provides client side encryption service called pCloud crypto. Other cloud service providers use AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) TLS/SSL 256 bit encryption which helps secure your files in transit from device to server. But after these files are uploaded on the cloud storage server, it gets back to its original format. This means that anyone who has access to the server can access the data as well. pCloud offers an additional level of data security where the responsibility of encryption is in the hands of the client. You can encrypt your files or data on your personal system before you upload it on the storage server. You can unlock these files by using the generated key called CryptoPass.  Convenient file management: pCloud is available on all digital platforms including Mac, Windows, Linux and also mobile systems like iOS, Android and Windows. This lets you access your file on the go from any system even while you are traveling. All the changes made are saved to the files irrespective of the device it is made on. You can access your files from any device without extra charges. Store your files from other online platforms: If your files or work is saved on Google Drive, Dropbox or any other third party cloud storage platforms, pCloud offers to easily exchange information with these services conveniently and also upload them. You can even sync your information with social media platforms like Facebook, Picasa, and Instagram. 5. Mega Mega is a secure cloud storage offered by Mega Limited, an Auckland based company. Mega offers 50 GB of free storage space. Mega is also available for Windows phone, iOS and Android in the form of mobile apps. It provides services basically through a web based app. For Windows, Linux, and Mac desktop programs, one can download MEGAsync. A folder is created in which one can drag and drop the files that one needs to upload on the MEGA account. For Mozilla Thunderbird users have the option of MEGAbird add on to share large files over email.  It was founded by Kim Dotcom in 2013 and was launched on January 19, 2013. Kim Dotcom left the company in 2015 when the company was taken over by a Chinese investor who was wanted for fraud in China and the consequent seizure of the investor's shares by the New Zealand government. The site is now controlled by the New Zealand government. Mega was created for privacy and security reasons and all files are end-to-end encrypted locally before they are uploaded. It has bandwidth limits that have to be set in account settings while uploading through a browser and through desktop client while working in the application. The users of free account receive 15 GB of base storage data and 35 GB trial on signup for one month. Through various achievements, one can activate additional storage but the maximum limit is 50 GB. On the other hand, paid account users have four levels of options: 200 GB (1 TB bandwidth per month) 1 TB storage (2 TB of bandwidth per month ) 4 TB storage ( 8TB bandwidth per month ) 8 TB storage (16 TB bandwidth per month) Significant features of Mega: MEGAchat - It was launched in 2015 as an encrypted alternative to applications such as Skype and others. It is a browser-based chat service that covers email, video, chat, voice, and mobile. Browser extension- They launched a plugin extension MEGA chrome extension in 2015, marketed for its improved downloading and loading and improved security. Later in 2018 it was found that chrome web store extension was compromised due to the addition of code which was designed to steal credentials of cryptocurrency however the original code on GitHub was secure. Desktop sync client- It assists in removing file uploads which have keywords in common that reduces uploading of unnecessary content. API - Mega has recently released a feature of documentation of its API enabling the developers to write their own applications. The whole folder can be uploaded through the browser. Limitations of Mega There is no option to share files among a group of users. One can experience inconvenience while working with browsers other than Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. There is no advanced sharing features, one can send Mega file only by creating a public link. There is a 10 GB bandwidth limit which is refilled every 30 minutes. Hope this article helped you get an understanding of all the best cloud storage available for free. If you want to learn about AWS, you should try the AWS Certification course 
What are the Best Free Cloud Storages in 2019?
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Rated 4.5/5 based on 12 customer reviews

What are the Best Free Cloud Storages in 2019?

Cloud storage helps slash data on hardware in a remote physical location, which can be accessed from any device with the help of the internet. Below are some of the best free cloud storage in 2019: 1. Microsoft OneDrive: Microsoft provides a cloud storage service and offers 15 GB of free storage to its users. OneDrive, earlier called Skydrive, can be used to store important files securely at one location and these can be accessed from anywhere and from any compatible system. Cloud storage works like a traditional hard drive, the difference being that it is available online and can be accessed from anywhere around the world. Also, companies offer to extend the storage capacity if required. Files of any format can be stored in Microsoft OneDrive, though it is better for Office documents. It offers cross-device and cross-platform design, which implies that you can resume your work from where you left without the need for saving it or making a copy of it. Due to its Office365 integration, it is easy to share your content and files with other users and hence facilitates collaboration among a team. One prominent feature of Microsoft OneDrive is Files on demand. This means you can access your files stored in the cloud from anywhere, without downloading them to your local device which saves a lot of local storage. Since the files are stored and changes are saved in the cloud, the recovery is very convenient in case the system you are working on gets crashed, damaged or stolen. You can easily upgrade your account by buying extra storage in case you are running low on memory.  The important features of Microsoft OneDrive: Create and share folders Save notebooks to OneDrive View Office documents online Upload multimedia files from your personal mobile phones. Real time co-authoring File type support Desktop synchronization Search and discovery tools Device reports Documents storage and tracking Permission management Photo management Microsoft Office integration Device specific selective sync 2. Dropbox: Dropbox is operated by the American company Dropbox, Inc., and provides cloud storage and is used for file sharing and collaboration. Dropbox is available as an application for desktop for Windows, Linux and Macintosh operating systems. It is also available as an app for Android, iPad, iPhone and Blackberry. It provides a limited storage capacity of 2GB, which can be upgraded up to 100 GB by purchasing from several plans offered. The upgraded version of Dropbox is called Dropbox Plus. Upgrading to this version offers many benefits like automatic camera roll back up, which implies that all the photos that you click from your personal mobile phone get backed in Dropbox.  Dropbox provides a robust API that allows other apps to collaborate with it and use it for file storage and sync. Dropbox does not require a complicated upgrade or timely installations. It is mainly focused on file exchange. It does not limit the number of files you can share or a number of users you can share with. You can even share your files with users who do not have a Dropbox account. It supports the exchange of files among any operating system and any device.  Dropbox facilitates easy collaboration among team members. If you edit or make changes to any file that is shared with your team, they will receive a notification about the changes made. Teams can communicate and edit files at a minimal cost. You can easily get started with Dropbox by just downloading the app on your phone. After you create an account, you can start sharing your content. You can even use it offline if you sync your local storage or additional account data with it. To ensure the security of your stored files, Dropbox is designed with multiple layers of protection.  Layers of protection include the following: Dropbox files are encrypted using 256 bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES). It uses Secure Socket layer or transport layer security to secure data being exchanged with Dropbox apps and servers. Dropbox applications are regularly tested for security threats and if such vulnerabilities exist, it is fixed immediately. During login, two step verification is available to provide additional privacy. The important features of Dropbox are as follows: Automatic updates File storage and file sync Offline access Manually set bandwidth Automatic organization and backup Preview and download Any device accessibility Large files sharing Easy link sharing 3. Google Drive Google Drive is a file storage and sharing service offered by Google. The first 15 GB is free. You can store any kind of files like photos, videos, design, drawings, recordings, and stories. Just like most other cloud services, you can upload your files online, and can access it from anywhere and any device. You can even invite people to view, download or contribute to your project.  Google drive provides storage options to any kind of files such as images, sheets, pdf, videos, word documents etc, one can even save their email attachment in google drive directly through Gmail without going through the hassle of moving files. One of the greatest features of Google Drive is that it allows the user to view the file in the browser without having to download it. The files that can be previewed are Adobe, Microsoft Office, images, audios, texts and video files, such an option is not provided by most of the zero knowledge services as those services are unable to decrypt the files. Google Drive's versatility makes it more user-friendly than any other storage platforms. Significant features of Google Drive are:  Google drive provides 15 GB free storage on signing up. With the assistance of Google's homegrown office suite, Google docs and other third party applications it is more productive and efficient than most other storage options. It is very versatile as one can store almost any kind of files and preview the same without downloading it. Google drive can be accessed by logging in with your Google account. Many different types of programs can be integrated with Google drive. Google drive's browser interface is fairly intuitive and user friendly. With the help of Google client, one can make optimum use of its sync capabilities. File replication. It provides third party applications library. The only drawback Google Drive has is that it does not provide any specific way to share files, however, it is one of the best storage options as its strength surpasses its weaknesses. 4. pCloud Though pCloud is new in the market compared to its counterparts, it has emerged as a versatile cloud solution for both business and personal use. The features of pCloud which make it stand out among other cloud services, are as follows: pCloud crypto: It provides you with an option to secure your files and data with encryption on your device before uploading on cloud to protect them from any unwanted and insecure access. Lifetime subscription: Unlike other cloud services available in the market, pCloud offers a lifetime subscription, that means you can use its services permanently without going through limited and expensive subscriptions. The advantages of using pCloud are as follows: pCloud rewind: The main reason why people go for cloud storage is data recovery in case of any issue occurring in the local device. It should be easy to recover  files in case it is lost due to corruption, virus, or hardware problems. To ensure this, pCloud stores five separate copies of every file you upload at three different locations at a centralized data center facility in Dallas, Texas, so you always have a copy of your file available for download. pCloud has a feature called pCloud rewind which tracks and saves your file history from last 30 days in case if you make any mistakes or accidentally deleted your original file. You can also go for long periods of history by including the extended file history add on (EFH) that keeps previous file versions for up to 360 days. High level security: The sensitive files and data are highly vulnerable in the current date of technologies for hacking and stealing data. Organizations dealing with sensitive data can opt for pCloud since it provides client side encryption service called pCloud crypto. Other cloud service providers use AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) TLS/SSL 256 bit encryption which helps secure your files in transit from device to server. But after these files are uploaded on the cloud storage server, it gets back to its original format. This means that anyone who has access to the server can access the data as well. pCloud offers an additional level of data security where the responsibility of encryption is in the hands of the client. You can encrypt your files or data on your personal system before you upload it on the storage server. You can unlock these files by using the generated key called CryptoPass.  Convenient file management: pCloud is available on all digital platforms including Mac, Windows, Linux and also mobile systems like iOS, Android and Windows. This lets you access your file on the go from any system even while you are traveling. All the changes made are saved to the files irrespective of the device it is made on. You can access your files from any device without extra charges. Store your files from other online platforms: If your files or work is saved on Google Drive, Dropbox or any other third party cloud storage platforms, pCloud offers to easily exchange information with these services conveniently and also upload them. You can even sync your information with social media platforms like Facebook, Picasa, and Instagram. 5. Mega Mega is a secure cloud storage offered by Mega Limited, an Auckland based company. Mega offers 50 GB of free storage space. Mega is also available for Windows phone, iOS and Android in the form of mobile apps. It provides services basically through a web based app. For Windows, Linux, and Mac desktop programs, one can download MEGAsync. A folder is created in which one can drag and drop the files that one needs to upload on the MEGA account. For Mozilla Thunderbird users have the option of MEGAbird add on to share large files over email.  It was founded by Kim Dotcom in 2013 and was launched on January 19, 2013. Kim Dotcom left the company in 2015 when the company was taken over by a Chinese investor who was wanted for fraud in China and the consequent seizure of the investor's shares by the New Zealand government. The site is now controlled by the New Zealand government. Mega was created for privacy and security reasons and all files are end-to-end encrypted locally before they are uploaded. It has bandwidth limits that have to be set in account settings while uploading through a browser and through desktop client while working in the application. The users of free account receive 15 GB of base storage data and 35 GB trial on signup for one month. Through various achievements, one can activate additional storage but the maximum limit is 50 GB. On the other hand, paid account users have four levels of options: 200 GB (1 TB bandwidth per month) 1 TB storage (2 TB of bandwidth per month ) 4 TB storage ( 8TB bandwidth per month ) 8 TB storage (16 TB bandwidth per month) Significant features of Mega: MEGAchat - It was launched in 2015 as an encrypted alternative to applications such as Skype and others. It is a browser-based chat service that covers email, video, chat, voice, and mobile. Browser extension- They launched a plugin extension MEGA chrome extension in 2015, marketed for its improved downloading and loading and improved security. Later in 2018 it was found that chrome web store extension was compromised due to the addition of code which was designed to steal credentials of cryptocurrency however the original code on GitHub was secure. Desktop sync client- It assists in removing file uploads which have keywords in common that reduces uploading of unnecessary content. API - Mega has recently released a feature of documentation of its API enabling the developers to write their own applications. The whole folder can be uploaded through the browser. Limitations of Mega There is no option to share files among a group of users. One can experience inconvenience while working with browsers other than Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox. There is no advanced sharing features, one can send Mega file only by creating a public link. There is a 10 GB bandwidth limit which is refilled every 30 minutes. Hope this article helped you get an understanding of all the best cloud storage available for free. If you want to learn about AWS, you should try the AWS Certification course 
Rated 4.5/5 based on 12 customer reviews
What are the Best Free Cloud Storages in 2019?
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What are the Best Free Cloud Storages in 2019?

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What is the Microsoft Azure Certification Path?

At the 2018 Ignite Conference, Microsoft released information about the proposed restructuring of its Azure certifications to convert it into a role-based model. The certifications are now more focused on aligning knowledge according to job roles. With every certification, there is a learning path. You start from the fundamental level and then move on to the associate level and then finally to the expert level. Here are the different roles associated with the different Microsoft Azure certifications:  Azure Fundamentals Azure Administrator Associate Azure AI Engineer Associate Azure Data Engineer Associate Azure Developer Associate Azure Solution Architect Expert Azure DevOps Engineer Expert Now, let’s get into this certification path in detail:  1. Azure FundamentalsThis is the foundational level exam created for people who want to validate their skills in using basic cloud services of Microsoft Azure. You can take this exam even if you are not from a technical background. You should take this exam before moving on to any associate or expert level certifications. Although it is not compulsory, it is highly recommended to validate your foundational knowledge. To ace this exam, you must be familiar with the Microsoft Azure platform and its cloud services. Also, you must have knowledge of security, compliance, privacy, support and pricing of Azure. This exam is available only in English at a cost of $99 USD.  2. Azure Administrator AssociateYou need to pass this exam to get the role of Azure Administrator Associate. After passing, you will get an Azure Administrator Associate badge and become a Microsoft Certified Azure Administrator Associate. If you had already passed the 70-533 exam certification, all you needed was to take the Exam AZ-102: Microsoft Azure Administrator Certification Transition. However, the Transition exam was shut down after 30th June, 2019. Now, for the role of Azure Administrator Associate Role, you have to take the AZ-103 exam. This exam is also a prerequisite for the Azure’s DevOps Engineer Expert exam. To ace this exam, you must have a thorough understanding of the following: Azure applications, storage infrastructure, cloud, and operating systems Virtualization tools and network components. Command line interface and PowerShell Just like the Azure Fundamentals exam, this exam is only available in English and costs $165 USD. There was also an Azure Administrator Certification Transition Exam for people who have passed the 70-533 - Implementing Azure Infrastructure Solutions Exam, but this Transition exam too was retired on June 30, 2019..   3. Azure AI Engineer AssociateThis role is for developers working in cognitive services, knowledge mining, and machine learning. Their job is architecting and implementing Microsoft AI solutions using bots, agents, speech, computer vision, and natural language processing.  4. Azure Data Engineer AssociateThis role is for professionals working in designing and implementing the security, privacy, monitoring, and management of data. To do this and satisfy the business needs, the full stack of data services from Azure is used.   5. Azure Developer AssociateTo get a job as an Azure Developer Associate, you need to pass the AZ-203: Developing Solutions for Microsoft Azure. If you want to apply for the Microsoft Certified Azure DevOps Engineer Expert exam, you need to pass this exam as a prerequisite. All the candidates who want to take this exam must be familiar with the following: Using the Azure platform to design and build cloud solutions Implementing tools and technologies of Azure for developing apps and services Knowledge of at least one programming language supported by cloud >1 year of experience in creating scalable solutions The exam will cover topics such as development for Azure Storage, developing infrastructure of Azure as a Service Compute Solution, implementing Azure Security, monitoring, troubleshooting, and optimizing Azure solutions, and connecting and consuming services of Azure and from third-parties. The exam is available in English at a cost of $165 USD.  6. Azure Solution Architect ExpertFor the role of an Azure Solution Architect Expert, you need to pass two exams - Exam AZ-300: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies and AZ-301: Microsoft Azure Architect Design. To ace these exams you need to be an expert in designing solutions running on the Azure platform. You must have knowledge of computing, security, storage, and network. You also need to have an understanding of planning solutions for meeting the needs of business.  7. Azure DevOps Engineer ExpertFor this role, you need to pass Exam AZ-400. The candidates for this examinations are the professionals working for combining people, technologies, and processes for delivering services and products. They are responsible for meeting the business objectives and the needs of the customers. A DevOps professional must be able to optimize practices, create automation, and improve collaboration and communication. Azure DevOps professional must have the ability of designing and implementing the practices of DevOps for configuration management, version control, building, testing, releasing, infrastructure as code using the Azure technologies. Now, let’s take a look at the different exams you need to pass for becoming an expert in different roles of Azure.1. AZ - 300: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies This exam validates your knowledge of secure and reliable architecting solutions. All the candidates participating in this exam must be familiar with the following: Identification, IT operations, data management, and security More than 1 year of experience architecting solutions Knowledge of Azure administration, development, and DevOps The domains covered in the exam include deployment and configuration of infrastructure, implementing security and workload, architecting cloud technology solutions, creating and deploying apps, developing for the cloud, authentication implementation and securing data. The exam costs $165 USD and is only available in English. 2. Microsoft Azure Architect Design (AZ-301) The prerequisites for this exam is same as the AZ-300: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies. You need to pass the AZ-300 exam to be eligible for the AZ-301 exam. The exam will cover the following domains: Determining requirements of workload Designing for security and identification Designing a data platform solution Designing a strategy for business continuity Designing a strategy for infrastructure Designing to deploy, migrate and integrate applications The price of the certification is $165 USD and the exam is available only in English. 3. AZ-400: Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions  Candidate with a badge of Azure Developer Associate or Azure Administrator Associate can become an Azure DevOps Engineer Expert. In both cases, you have to take the AZ-400: Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions Exam. the prerequisites for the exam includes the following: Expertise in Azure administration or Azure development and knowledge of both. Ability of designing and implementing practices of DevOps for infrastructure as version control, code, build, release, compliance, testing, and configuration management using the Azure technologies. Proficient in Agile practices. The exam will cover the following domains: Designing a DevOps Strategy Implementing DevOps Development Processes Implementing Continuous Delivery Implementing Continuous Integration Implementing Dependency Management Implementing Continuous Feedback Implementing Application Infrastructure The exam is available in English at a cost of $165 USD.  4. AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies The role of Azure Security Engineer is the latest to be added in the Azure certification path based on roles. There is only on exam required to get this certification, AZ-500: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies. Although not a necessity, passing the AZ-900: Microsoft Azure Fundamentals exam is recommended before you take the Azure Security Technologies exam. Here are the prerequisites for this exam: Knowledge of how to use the Microsoft Azure platform to implement the security controls. Familiarity with networking, cloud N-tier architecture, and virtualization. Using the security tools for recognizing and addressing vulnerabilities. Protecting the data, applications, and network by implementing security solutions. Ability to automate and script, maintain security status, and knowledge of identity and access management. The AZ-500 exam will cover the following domains: Securing data and applications Implementing platform protection Managing security operations Managing identity and access This exam costs $165 USD and is available only in English. Expired Role-based Azure Certifications After getting feedback from candidates, Microsoft launched new certifications and expired a few. Here are the expired Azure certifications for the role of Azure Developer Associate and Azure Administrator Associate: AZ-100 Microsoft Azure Infrastructure and Deployment AZ-101 Microsoft Azure Integration and Security AZ-200 Microsoft Azure Developer Core Solutions AZ-201 Microsoft Azure Developer Advanced Solutions AZ-202 Microsoft Azure Developer Certification Transition AZ-103 Microsoft Azure Administrator Newly Launched Microsoft Azure Certifications Apart from the above-mentioned role-based certifications, Microsoft had launched 7 other certifications that contribute credit towards MCSE, MCSA, or MCP. Note that a few of the exams in this list have been retired in June 2019 (mentioned below). 1. Exam 70-473: Designing and Implementing Cloud Data Platform Solutions The exam is created for professionals who know how to design and implement Microsoft data platform solutions. They must also have some experience working with cloud-based platform solutions. The exam will include areas like designing and implementing database solutions for Microsoft Azure SQL server and Microsoft SQL Database, designing for scalability, high availability, and disaster recovery, managing and monitoring Azure’s database implementations, and designing and implementing security.  This exam has been retired on 30th June, 2019.  2. Exam 70-475: Designing and Implementing Big Data Analytics SolutionsThis exam is for data developers, data architects, data management professionals, and data scientists who use the Microsoft Azure to design big data analytics. They also must have experience in working with big data analytics solutions. The exam objectives include: Design big data interactive solutions and batch processing Design big data real-time processing solutions Operationalizing of end to end cloud analytics solutions This exam has been retired on 30th June, 2019. 3. Exam 70-487: Developing Microsoft Azure and Web ServicesAll the candidates taking this exam must be a developer with at least 3 to 5 years of experience developing web services and at least 1 year of experience developing web APIs and Azure Solutions. The objectives of the exam are: Accessing data Querying and manipulating data through Entity Framework Designing and Implementing Web Services Deploying Web Services and Applications Creation and Consumption of Web API based services 4. Exam 70-537: Configuring and Operating a Hybrid Cloud with Microsoft Azure StackThis exam is for service administrators and infrastructure administrators using Microsoft Azure Stack for providing cloud services. The candidates must also have experience managing and operating Azure Stack environments and have knowledge of Microsoft Azure, Windows Server 2016 and hybrid cloud resources. The exam objectives include: Deployment and integration of an Azure Stack Environment Configuration of IaaS and PaaS for the Azure Stack Environment Maintenance and Monitoring of the Azure Stack Environment Enable DevOps for Azure Stack Tenants Provide Services to Azure Stack Tenants 5. Exam 70-774: Perform Cloud Data Science with Azure Machine LearningCreated for data analysts and data scientists working to build and deploy intelligent solutions through Azure cloud services. Candidates must have experience in Machine Learning, Data Science Processes, and Azure data services. Here are the objectives of this exam: Development of Machine Learning Models Preparation of Data for Analysis through Azure Machine Learning Exporting data from Azure MAchine LEarning Usage of services for Machine Learning Management and operation of Machine Learning Services 6. Exam 70-775: Perform Data Engineering on Microsoft HDInsightIntended for data developers, data architects, data engineers, and data scientists who are working on implementing big data engineering workflows on Azure HDInsight. Working experience in big data analytics solutions is also recommended. The exam objectives include: Implementation of Big Data Batch Processing Solutions Implementation of Big Data Interactive Processing Solutions Administration and Provision of HDInsight Clusters Implementation of Big Data Real-Time Processing Solutions Please note that this exam has been retired on 30th June, 2019. 7. Exam 70-776: Engineering Data with Microsoft Cloud ServicesThis exam is for professionals who design analytical solutions and build operationalized solutions on the Azure platform. Experience in handling issues related to data engineering is also recommended. Here are the objectives of the exam: Use the Azure Data Lake to design and implement analytics Use the Azure Data Factory to design and implement cloud-based integration Use the Azure Stream Analytics to design and implement complex event processing Design and implement Azure SQL Data Warehouse Solutions Manage and maintain Azure Data Lake, Azure Data Factory, Azure Stream Analytics, and Azure SQL Data Warehouse. Preparing for the New Microsoft Azure Certifications There are several classroom training programs and online classes to help you prepare for the new Microsoft Azure certifications. Various platforms also provide practice tests to take after the certification training. Here are a few steps that will help you prepare for the certification exam: 1. Exam detailsGet all the information you can get regarding the certification. This will also help you know about the criteria. 2. Checking prerequisites and course contentTo prepare for the Azure certification, you need to check out the course content. Also, before you select the certification path, you need to take a look at the prerequisites as well. 3. Checking exam overviewThe overview includes information, domains and objectives of the exam. You need to check this out before selecting the training. 4. Taking help of exam guideExam guides will help you understand the roadmap and the components of the Microsoft Certification deeply. 5. Studying Certifications WhitepapersThe certification whitepapers will help you understand the exam objectives and prepare you for the Microsoft Azure Certifications Path. 6. Reading recommendation booksRecommended books are a great way for knowing more about the certifications. For this to work, you need to follow every instruction given in the book. 7. Taking sample questions and practice testsYou need to check out the sample questions and take practice tests after preparing for the certification path. Whether you should go for the Microsoft Azure Certifications or not depends on its scope in the future. There are different aspects covered by this certification including storage, integration, security, reliability, networking, and administration. As you know that all these certifications are cloud-based, you should pursue these certifications to get ahead in your Azure career path.  Now you know all there is to know about the Microsoft Azure Certifications and how they can benefit your career. This will help you in selecting the best certification for you. For more information on Azure cloud and certification, try the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals course by KnowledgeHut. 
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What is the Microsoft Azure Certification Path?
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What is the Microsoft Azure Certification Path?

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Which Azure Certification is Good for You?

Over the past few years, there has been a paradigm shift in the world of computing, with cloud computing being on the forefront. It is a computing model based on the internet and it provides on-demand data and shared computer processing to computers and devices.  With cloud computing, a pool of computing resources can be shared and accessed. This allows the transfer of information in an effortless manner. Cloud computing has enabled enterprises and users to store and process data in third-party data storage centers. This makes it cost effective for companies as overhead costs for IT infrastructure is avoided.  Since a large majority of organizations all over the world are adopting cloud computing, there is a high demand for professionals who are skilled in this particular area. Cloud computing experts have a wide range of options in addition to getting lucrative salaries, which is why it is an extremely sought-after position in the world of IT. Do you need to be cloud certified? Before thinking of Azure certification, it is important to know whether getting any cloud certification is worth it for your career. Immense growth of the cloud: The cloud has taken the IT industry by storm and its use is growing by leaps and bounds. Looking at the figures provided by IDC (International Data Corporation), Gartner, Forbes, and others, it is evident that the market revenue for cloud services is increasing at an annual rate of 20% on an average.  Businesses of all sizes are being powered by the cloud: Both small businesses and big enterprises are being positively impacted by the cloud. Enterprises have the confidence of PaaS being a scalable and secure application development platform of the future. It is predicted that in a few years, a majority of IT expenditure will amount for cloud-based infrastructure, application, middleware and business process services. Shortage of cloud expertise: Cloud services are becoming the focal point of the IT infrastructure of enterprises. Businesses will have tremendous opportunity if they decide on moving to the cloud. However, they aren’t actually being able to utilize these benefits, mainly because skilled resources are lacking. Lack of skill can cause a company to lose revenue. Also, the skill gap is  preventing several enterprises from deploying more cloud platforms.  Why Azure Certification over AWS Certification? An IT professional considering taking a cloud certification may be confused whether to go for Microsoft Azure or AWS (Amazon Web Services) certification. For such professionals, the following points should be considered before making a decision: Azure is growing rapidly: The rate of growth of Azure has been better in comparison to AWS over the recent past. It seems Microsoft is beginning to bridge the gap that exists between the two. Microsoft is also improving integration with on-premise software. Azure for Microsoft products: Microsoft has always been associated with large enterprises. Microsoft’s products and services are being used by almost all Fortune 500 companies. Azure remains a worthy proposition for those enterprises that have heavily invested in Microsoft based developer skills and technology.  Open source and Linux incorporation: Microsoft didn’t have an open source community until recently. On the other hand, AWS has been open source since the beginning, which is what gave it an advantage over Azure in the open source cloud hosting space. Microsoft and Azure are incorporating open source both in the cloud and on-premises. Moreover, around 1 in every 3 Azure virtual machines run on Linux. .NET Core and PowerShell are open sourced, Hyper-V will run Docker and SQL Server is running on Linux.  What certifications and exams are on offer? Microsoft has a vast platform with lots of features. Furthermore, new features are released by Microsoft on a regular basis. As such, the landscape of Azure continuous to evolve regularly. Having said that, with an Azure certification exam, you will gain a good understanding on certain feature sets that form the core of the entire platform. These features include Cloud Services, Web Apps, Messaging, Storage, Virtual Machines and a lot more.  Microsoft doesn’t have certifications specifically for each set of Azure features. Instead, the certifications target a particular work role through more encompassing exams. The three main roles targeted in this regard are IT Professional, Developer and Architect. Hence, the materials for each specific exam do end up overlapping, although they target a particular work role.  Why Microsoft Azure Certification? Getting certified in Microsoft Azure is indicative of a skill that certainly increases the chances of a candidate getting hired. Given the increasing demand, there has also been a drastic increase in opportunities for Microsoft Azure certified aspirants in recent years. According to reports from Microsoft, more than 1000 new customers daily sign up to MS Azure. This means that around 365,000 companies adopt Azure over the course of a year More than 57% of the Fortune 500 companies are using Azure With the help of Azure, the commercial cloud revenue of Microsoft has increased by 104%.  The UK government has officially accredited MS Azure There is also MS Azure Government offering that is backed by the US Government.  Key reasons to get a certification in Microsoft Azure Public cloud is on the focus: Around 88% of companies have already used the public cloud, 13% of which are already running over 1000 virtual machines in the public cloud. It is an impressive statistic that should convince you to take some time to learn cloud technologies such as MS Azure. Microsoft Azure holds a fair share of the market: Azure is catching up to its competition at an amazing rate. In fact, a recently conducted survey has found the user base of Azure to be quite comparable to that of AWS.  A future-proof technology: The rate at which cloud technologies such as Azure are evolving is tremendous. It is growing at a rate that is faster than the IT sector in its entirety.  Easy to learn and adaptable: Microsoft has monopolized the American personal computer market. Most regular users are familiar with the Windows operating system from Microsoft. What this means is that the learning curve for Microsoft is flatter as compared to other platforms. It is definitely advantageous to be aware of the working principles of Azure. If you are exposed to Microsoft tools at work, you will find it easy to learn concepts like Operational Insights and Azure automation.  Extreme Potential: The IT space is set to be dominated by the cloud infrastructure. The potential of MS Azure is evident from its rate of growth, which is faster than any other cloud services provider. Extremely efficient tool: Azure can handle most of the conventional tasks of designing, deploying and managing platforms. For gauging the efficiency of cloud platforms such as Azure, the following factors need to be considered: The value added to a large app development project Assistance provided to the Ops facet of Dev/Ops Integration provided with Powershell integration Microsoft Azure meets all the needs for satisfying millions of users across the world.  Which certification exam should you take? The industry recognized Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) certifications demonstrate your IT professional and developer technical expertise through various industry-recognized exams. On passing your first qualifying MCP exam, you will automatically become a Microsoft Certified Professional. Note that the Microsoft Certified Professional(MCP) certification is no longer available, but will be added to your transcript when you pass an MCP exam. However, you may not be able to get all the program benefits until you successfully earn your first certification. The main consideration is which exam should you take first? To decide that you need to consider the following factors: Your technological experience: The experience you have in technical field will help you determine whether you should go for advanced certification or start with a fundamental one. For instance, a professional having 2 years of experience can’t take up architect-level certification. A strong technical background is a must if you are willing to take an architect-level certification Your present job role: It is always advisable to take a certification that is relatable to your present job role. For instance, a windows or network admin should consider attempting Azure Infrastructure Solutions whereas a .NET developer may attempt Azure developer certification. If you are a professional who is completely new to the technology, it is recommended that you first begin with the Fundamentals certification.  Your objective: Any certification that you wish to attempt should align with your goal for the future. For instance, if your aspiration in the future is to become a big data architect, you should first take a big data cloud certification followed by an architect level certification. There is a prerequisite for each exam. Although not mandatory, a good background prepares you for job roles in future that align with the certification you plan on attempting.  Azure certifications for IT professionals In 2018, new Azure certifications were added for the IT professionals and some of the existing ones were retired. The new Azure role-based Azure certifications were launched after getting feedback from the previous exam takers. To select the best certification, you must know about all the certifications Microsoft has to offer. Here, we are providing you with six different Azure Certifications path based on the roles: Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 is the foundational level exam created for IT professionals wanting to validate their knowledge of the Microsoft Azure platform. You can take this exam even if you are not from a technical background but have a basic knowledge of the cloud concepts. This exam is also a stepping stone for other associate and expert level Azure certifications. The exam will cover the cloud concepts, the core services of Azure, Azure support and pricing, and security, trust, compliance, and privacy. The exam is available in English and costs $99 USD. Azure Administrator Associate For this role, you need to pass Exam AZ-103. To be eligible for this exam, you must have an understanding of Azure applications, cloud, operating systems, and storage infrastructure. Apart from this, you must know how the virtualization tools and networking components work. Having a basic understanding of Command Line Interface and PowerShell will act as an advantage. In the exam, there will be a number of different domains covered including Implementing and managing storage, configuring and managing virtual networks, managing Azure resources and subscriptions, managing identities, and deploying and managing virtual machines. It is available in English and costs $165 USD. Azure Developer Associate For this role, you need to pass AZ-203 exam. The prerequisites for this exam include expertise in developing apps and services by implementing tools and technologies provided on the Azure platform. At least 1 year of working experience in developing solutions that are scalable is required. Also, the candidate must be proficient in at least one programming language supported by the cloud. During the exam, you will be asked questions regarding developing for Azure storage, developing Azure infrastructure as a solution for service compute, implementing Azure security, troubleshooting, monitoring, and optimizing Azure solutions, and connecting and consuming services from third-parties and Azure. The exam is only available in English and costs $165 USD. Azure Solutions Architect Expert You need to pass two exams for this role, AZ-300 and AZ-301. For the AZ-300 exam: Microsoft Azure Architect Technologies, you must have at least 1 year of experience working with the Azure platform. A basic knowledge of data management, identity, security, and IT operations is also required. Also, you must be familiar with DevOps, Azure administration, and Azure development. The exam covers several domains including deploying and configuring infrastructure, implementing security and workloads, creating and deploying apps, architecting solutions using cloud technology, developing for the cloud, securing data, and implementing authentication. The exam, costing about $165 USD, is only available in English.  For the AZ-301 exam: Microsoft Azure Architect Design, the prerequisites are the same as for the AZ-300. However, you also need to pass the AZ-300 exam to be eligible for the AZ-301 exam. The domains of this exam include determining requirements of the workload, designing for security and identity, designing a strategy for business continuity, designing a solution for data platform, designing to deploy, migrate, and integrate, and designing a strategy for infrastructure. The exam is only available in English and costs $165 USD. Azure DevOps Engineer Expert The exam for this role is the AZ-400: Microsoft Azure DevOps Solutions. To be eligible for this exam, candidates must have knowledge of Azure administration and development. You must have the ability of designing and implementing DevOps practices for version control, infrastructure as code, configuration management, releasing, compliance, building, and testing using the Azure technologies. Also, you must be proficient in Agile practices. The exam will include domains like designing a DevOps strategy, implementing continuous integration and delivery, DevOps Development Processes, continuous feedback, dependency management, and application infrastructure. The exam costs $165 USD and is only available in English. Azure Security Engineer Associate For this new role, you need to pass the AZ-500 exam: Microsoft Azure Security Technologies. The prerequisites for this exam include knowledge of how to implement security controls on the Azure platform, virtualization, Amazon Kubernetes Service, and cloud N-tier architecture. You must have the ability of using security tools for recognizing and addressing vulnerabilities and protecting applications, data, and networks by implementing the security solutions. Expertise in maintaining security status, identity and access management, and scripting and automation is also required. The domains covered in this exam include management of identity and access, and security operations, implementing platform protection, and securing applications and data. The exam is available in English and costs $165 USD. Now that you have all the information regarding the different Azure certifications, you can select the one that best suits your needs. To learn about the Microsoft Azure cloud platform, check out Microsoft Azure Fundamentals course.  
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Which Azure Certification is Good for You?
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Which Azure Certification is Good for You?

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Google Cloud vs AWS- Which is Better: A Comparison

Cloud computing has become an integral part of the IT sector. The days of struggling with complicated networking and on-premise server rooms are long gone. Thanks to cloud computing, services are now secure, reliable, and cost-effective.  When we talk of top cloud computing providers, there are 2 names that are ruling the markets right now- AWS and Google Cloud. Here, we are going to compare both of them, determining the pros and cons of both. Before we start with the comparison, you should have an understanding of the latest trends in the field of cloud computing.  In the sixth annual State of the Cloud Survey of the RightScale, where over 1,000 professionals were interviewed, there were some interesting findings that came out: One of the biggest challenges the cloud computing industry faces is the lack of expertise and resources. Some professionals were worried about the security related to using the services provided by cloud computing.  There were a few professionals who thought that performance was a major challenge they faced while using cloud computing services. The report was published in 2016, and since then significant changes have occurred in the field of cloud computing. Hosting sites at AWS and Google Cloud has become fairly easy. There are multiple WordPress hosting providers allowing you to use the cloud without worrying about the technical aspects of cloud computing. Several large enterprises are investing in their engineers and employees and helping them gain certifications offered by cloud computing platforms: AWS –AWS Solutions Architect, AWS Developer, DevOps Engineer, SysOps Administrators Google Cloud - Cloud Architect, G Suite Administrator, Data Engineer Over the past couple of years, security and performance have significantly improved. This is because cloud computing providers have come up with new ways of securely hosting data and delivering it faster. All the traffic between the data centers is now encrypted by default. When it comes to public cloud adoption, AWS is still the leader. The main reason behind this being that AWS was the first cloud computing service to be launched and has significantly shaped the cloud industry. However, other cloud computing providers like Google Cloud and Azure have seen significant growth too.  Let’s take an in-depth look at these two market leaders in cloud computing to help you select the best one for your organization. Google Cloud Platform With all the different solutions and services provided by the Google Cloud Platform, you will be able to use the same hardware and software infrastructure used by Google for its own products like Gmail and YouTube. Their first service, Google App Engine, was launched in 2008 in public purview. Here are some of their products: Google Compute Engine Google Cloud Bigtable Google Cloud CDN Google Cloud Datastore Google Cloud DNS Google Cloud Functions Google Container Engine Google BigQuery Google Storage According to the Chief Executive Officer of Google, Sundar Pichai, Google Cloud Platform is one of the top three priorities for the company. The annual run rate for the platform is over $8 billion.  Amazon Web Services (AWS) A subsidiary of Amazon.com, this cloud computing service was launched in 2006. Since then, it has offered multiple solutions and services. Here are a few of their products: Amazon CloudFront Amazon DynamoDB Amazon EC2 Container Service Amazon Elastic Beanstalk Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud Amazon Lambda Amazon Redshift Amazon Route 53 Amazon S3 There are some big brands that are using the service provided by the AWS Cloud including Netflix, Nasa, Lamborghini, Time Inc., Airbnb, Expedia, etc. Comparisions Between Google Cloud vs AWS There are many services that are similar between Google Cloud and AWS. With so many products offered by both, we can’t compare them product wise. Instead, we will be covering them according to their compute instances, storage, networking, and billing features. 1. Cloud Let’s compare how both the providers handle their instances i.e., their virtual machines. For virtual machines, Google cloud uses KVM while AWS EC2 uses Xen. Both the technologies offer predefined configurations with a specified amount of network, RAM, and virtual CPU. However, Amazon EC2 refers to them as instance types while Google Compute Engine refers to them as machine types. With AWS EC2, you can equip up to 3,904 GB of RAM and 128 vCPUs. For Google Compute Engine instances, you can equip 3,844 GB of RAM and 160 vCPUs. Google Cloud also allows departing from the predefined configuration and customizing your RAM and CPU resources for fitting your workload. There are other types including AWS EC2 Spot Instances and Google Cloud Preemptible VMs. 2. StorageThis is a very important consideration as it will directly impact the performance of your applications like max IOP per instance/volume, expected throughput (IO), and the ability of bursting capacity for short times. When comparing AWS and Google, there are two types of primary storage that need to be considered: object storage and block storage. Block storage is the virtual disk volume that is used in conjunction with cloud-based virtual machines. AWS EC2 provides this with its Elastic Block Store (EBS) while Google Compute engine uses persistent disks. Object Storage, also known as distributed object storage, are hosted services used to store and access a large number of blobs or binary data. Google Compute Engine uses Google Cloud Storage to provide this service while AWS uses the S3 service for this. Apart from the above-mentioned, both the providers also allow the usage of disks locally attached to the physical machine that is used to run the instance. When compared to persistent disks, this local storage provides very low latency, very high input/output operations per second, and superior performance. You can even achieve several GBs of read and write speeds with this storage, which is incredibly huge. AWS EC2 calls them instance store volumes while Google Cloud refers to them as local SSDs. Google Cloud allows attaching local SSDs to any type of instance. In the case of AWS, only the X1, R3, M3, I3, I2, HI1, G2, F1, and C3 can support instance store volumes. In 2017, Google Cloud announced a price cut on local SSDs for preemptable and on-demand instances. 3. NetworkBoth the providers use different partners and networks for interconnecting their data centers and delivering content to end users via ISPs. For accomplishing this, different products are used. When it comes to Google Compute Engine instances, the achievable network capacity is based on your VM’s CPUs quantity. For peak performance, every core is provided with a 2 Gbits/second cap. Every core increases the network capabilities to a maximum of 16 Gbps for every virtual machine. Amazon EC2 instances, for the large instance sizes, have a maximum bandwidth of 25 Gbps. 10 Gbps/second is the maximum speed for standard instances. When you are comparing the network capabilities of both the providers, network latency plays a major part. When you are working with the business with visitors from a particular geographic location, latency is important. For example, if you have a website in Frankfurt and more than 90% of your customers are from Germany, you will benefit from placing the site on a server in Germany rather than placing it in Asia or the United States. This can make a difference of about 2 seconds. It includes other factors as well like TTFB, DNS, etc. Both, the AWS and Google Cloud, have multiple locations across the globe for you to choose from. On a latency test conducted using Cloud Harmony that offers impartial, reliable, and objective analysis of the performance, 50 servers located around the globe were utilized. The results showed that Google Cloud offered better latency. But the test was run from a specific location. Different location can give different results. For measuring ping times and latency, you can try spinning up small instances on both the providers and running your own tests. 4. BillingBoth providers have a different approach for billing. Both of them also have a very complicated way of doing it. You can try checking out their monthly calculators: Google Cloud Platform Pricing Calculator AWS Simple Monthly Calculator Calculating this monthly amount is not an easy task. There are tools like Cloudability and reOptimize that are built entirely for helping you better understand your bills. Google Cloud Platform uses its BigQuery tool for providing estimated exports. AWS has a dashboard providing insights to your bill. However, both of the cloud platforms are working their best to reduce costs and making billing easier. In September 2017, AWS announced per second billing. This works great for clients who are working on spinning up new instances and carry out a large amount of work in a short duration. After this, Google Cloud also launched the per second billing. This just shows the intense competition between the two where they are simultaneously launching new products. If you are seriously invested in one of the platforms, they will provide you with various ways to save costs. Reserved Instances is one such way by which AWS EC2 offers a significant discount and when used in a particular availability zone, provides a capacity reservation. There are 3 types of reserved instances: Standard Reserved Instances Scheduled Reserved Instances Convertible Reserved Instances Google Cloud uses Committed Use Discounts to all the customers of Compute Engine. So basically, in return for discounted prices, you have to buy the committed use contracts. After analysis, it was found that on using the 1 year standard RI of AWS vs the 1 year committed use discount of Google, the Google’s environment cost 28 percent less than AWS. The 3 year program for both the discount types led to 35 percent less cost in Google environment as opposed to the AWS. 5. Support and UptimeBoth, the AWS and Google Cloud, have multiple community forums and documentation that can help you understand their services for free. AWS Forums Google Cloud Forums AWS Documentation Google Cloud Documentation However, you will have to pay for instant support or assistance. Both of them have support plans. We strongly recommend that you read the fees involved in both before availing of the assistance services. Both of them offer unlimited number of billing and account support cases without any long-term contracts. For Google, there are 3 levels of support available - Silver, Gold, and Platinum. The cheapest plan is the Silver one starting at $150/month. The Gold plan starts at $400/month. You will also be charged a product usage fee of minimum 9% which will decrease as your spend increases. AWS provides 4 levels of support - Basic, Developer, Business, and Enterprise. The cheapest paid plan is the developer starting at $29 per month of 3% of your monthly usage. The Business plan starts at $100 per month along with 10% of product usage fees which will also decrease as the spend increases. When it comes to monthly uptime percentage, both have SLAs providing at least 99.95%. For staying up to date with the incidents, you need to subscribe to their status page. However, both the providers have delayed updating their status dashboards. With AWS, you have the advantage of having different machines within multiple availability zones per region. On the Google Cloud, the same machine per region might have all your instances. However, with Google Cloud you have the ability of live migrating the virtual machines which allow addressing issues like patching, updating and repairing without worrying about the machine reboots. 6. SecurityIn the Clutch’s Second Annual Cloud Computing Survey, it was found that about 70% of professionals felt secure storing their data in the cloud than on their previous, on-premises legacy systems. With Google Cloud Security, you get the benefit of a security model that has been developing over a period of 15 years and is securing products like Gmail, Search, etc. There are about 500 full-time security professionals employed by Google. It provides security features like: All the data in the cloud platform services and in transit between Google, data centers, and the customers is encrypted by default. 256-bit AES is used for encrypting the data stored on persistent disks. A set of regularly changed master keys are used for encrypting the encryption key. Regular audits are used to commit to the security certifications of the enterprise for PCI, SSAE16, ISO 27018, ISO 27017, and HIPAA compliance. Thanks to Google’s relationship with the biggest ISPs in the world, there are fewer hops across the public internet which improves data security. The layers of the storage stack and Google application require that all requests coming from other components must be authorized and authenticated. Google Cloud’s Identity and Access Management uses predefined roles for giving granular access to the specific resources of the Google Cloud Platform. This helps in preventing unwanted access. AWS platform also has a security model with the following features: All the data in transit between the AWS, data centers and the customers is encrypted. 256-bit AES is used for encrypting the data stores on EC2 instances. All the encryption keys are encrypted using regularly changed master keys. It allows creating private networks and controlling access to the applications and instances through AWS WAF’s web application firewall capabilities and Amazon VPC’s network firewalls. AWS Key Management Service allows selecting whether you or AWS will be managing the encryption keys and controlling them. Using AWS CloudHSM, you get hardware-based cryptographic key storage that satisfies all the compliance requirements. You can define, enforce, and manage user access policies using AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM), AWS Directory Services, and AWS Multi-Factor Authentication. It has service features like SOC, PCI, HIPAA, ISO and other compliance standards that are audit-friendly. From the above it is clear that both cloud computing providers have their pros and cons. Google Cloud has seen rapid global expansion over the past few years. It is also the one to go for if you favour speed and affordable pricing. AWS has been a long-standing name in the history of cloud computing. AWS started it all and is still being copied by other major players in the market. AWS redundancy, support and availability per region have helped it stay at the top. Rest assured, the constant battle between both the cloud providers will result in increased performance, more services and products, and lower prices benefitting hosting partners and customers. You can try the AWS Certification course  for learning about all the services offered by AWS. 
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Google Cloud vs AWS- Which is Better: A Comparison
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Google Cloud vs AWS- Which is Better: A Comparison...

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How to Pass the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam?

Are you planning to appear for the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification in 2019? Looking for some guidance in the right direction? Well, your search ends here. Here is a complete and comprehensive guide of all the things you can expect from the AWS exams and how to best prepare for them!   What is the Need for Cloud Computing: Cloud Computing is one of the biggest industries in Information Technology. It has ventured into several sectors and industries over the globe changing the way we commute, communicate and conduct business. Cloud Computing is allowing businesses and clients transact better and incorporate innovative ideas in an effective way and on a massive scale. Plus, the fact that there is no need for up-front investment, only makes things better for small scale enterprises.  What is Amazon Web Services: Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the global leader in cloud computing. AWS offers over 100 patented services and other additional courses through the Marketplace that can be accessed by people from all across the world. AWS is a credible and reliable cloud computing platform that has abusiness in digital areas such as Silicon Valley, Seattle, and New York. AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification- An OverviewAWS Cloud Practitioner Certification is one of the basic platforms that offers Cloud Certifications including those like AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. CloudPractitioner Certification is accessible to anyone who is interested in a career in technology and IT. AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification is meant for Systems Engineers, Network Engineers, Developers, Sales, Marketing, and IT leaders. Here is the list of AWS certified roles that you can apply for with the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification: AWS Certified Solution Architect Associate  AWS Certified Solution Architect Professional AWS Certified Developer Associate AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate AWS Certified DevOps Professional AWS Certified Networking Specialist AWS Certified Security Specialist AWS Certified Bigdata Specialist. Eligibility Criteria for AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification:Here are some of the basic criteria need to be satisfied to be able to take AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification exam: Minimum ½ year practice of AWS cloud concepts in either of these sectors- purchasing, financial, sales, technical, managerial, etc. Understanding of IT services and their application in AWS Cloud platform. Exam Pattern for AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification: There are two basic types of questions that you’ll find in the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification Exam- objective and subjective. The multiple-choice questions have 4 options, out of which candidates have to select the right one. The other kind is called the multiple-response question where candidates have to think of all possible responses of a question. Beginner level candidates generally opt for the AWS distractor options as they’re easier and have no negative marking for selecting a wrong answer. You will be given 90 minutes to finish the exam. Also, the exam is available in English, Korean, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese at a price of 100 USD. For more information regarding the exam, download the exam guide CLF-C01. What are the ObjectivesAWS Cloud Practitioner Certification Exam: AWS CCP is an exam that aims at testing the candidates practical and theoretical understanding of cloud computing. Acing this exam would make you a certified cloud based developer or analyst. This certification exam evaluates candidate’s knowledge to: Explain the chief characteristics of operating and deploying in the AWS Cloud Identify the key sources of technical help or documentation Define common security model, security and compliance concepts Clarify the elementary principles of AWS Cloud Architecture Elucidate AWS cloud standards Describe the account management, billing, and pricing Explain AWS cloud and its basic infrastructure AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification Subject Areas The curriculum for AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification exam has been categorized into four subject areas, such as: S.No.DomainsWeightage1Cloud Concepts28%2Security24%3Technology36%4Billing & Pricing12%1. Cloud Concepts A basic knowledge of Cloud Computing Concepts is mandatory if candidates want to clear the AWS exam. There are generally broad questions asked from this section and includes topics like Fault Tolerance, High Availability, Scalability, and Elasticity. 2. Security Security is another topic that is essential for AWS applicants. This includes various questions related to culpable management, compliance, and security. Below are some of the topics that you may find in your exam: IAM- Managing users, Password policies, and MFA DDoS Protection Cloud Logs Shared Security Model 3. Technology Technology is the most significant field of AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification exam. You should be familiar with the main AWS services if you want to be proficient in this section. Some of the AWS services that you must know include Route 53, Lambda, S3, ELB, SNS, RDS and EC2.  4. Billing & Pricing As AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification exam focuses on the commercial application of AWS, Billing & Pricing becomes an integral topic for applicants. You must have a basic understanding of  knowledge of general account information, AWS support, billing processes and how services are billed, cost calculation, taxation and more.  How to Prepare for AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification: As we all know that training for any certification course is no piece of cake. Candidates need to put in considerable time and effort in the right direction to get a decent score. Here is how one can prepare for the exams;  Start with AWS Training Lessons Here are three AWS Training courses that will help you to pass this certification. AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials: This course caters to candidates who want to get a complete understanding of AWS Cloud. This course comprises of cloud concepts, AWS amenities, pricing, architecture, security, and support. AWS Technical Essentials: This course enlightens you about AWS services, goods, and some commonplace solutions. It makes you more competent in analysing AWS services so that you will be able to resolve IT issues.  AWS Business Essentials: AWS Business Essentials supports candidates who want to know about the advantages of cloud computing, plus monetary profits and cloud-based approaches to help people crack business goals. This course even advises you about safety and acquiescence concepts and helps you understand AWS cloud computing approach. Consult the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification Exam Guide People preparing for AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Exam should definitely consult the AWS CCP guides available online and offline. These books offer a deeper understanding of the core areas that candidates need to focus on. Get Familiar with the Subject Areas When you are preparing for an exam, the subject area or topic is an important part that you should be concentrating on. Objectives of AWS CCP certification exam have already been discussed above, go through them carefully, and then start your training through the suggested study material for each topic area. Go through AWS Whitepapers Since we know that white papers are fashioned to instruct the listeners about a specific and precise methodology. AWS whitepapers are detailed reliable and cover the basic topics such as security, architecture, and economics. Here are some popular AWS whitepapers that will help you in the preparation of AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner certification exam Overview of AWS How AWS Pricing Works Maximizing Value with AWS AWS Security Best Practices An Overview of the AWS Cloud Adoption Framework The Business Value of AWS: Succeeding at Twenty-First Century Business Infrastructure Self-Study AWS Cloud Practitioner certification exam covers the rudimentary concepts and information regarding AWS Cloud. People who have the experience or expertise of working on AWS cloud platform, can easily pass the exam through self-study. We would recommend online courses for candidates who have trouble understanding the concepts and ideas of AWS cloud computing. Browse through the FAQs and blogs to get a better idea about how things work.  Take Free Cloud Practitioner Practice Test Taking practice tests for any certification exam is the best way to evaluate yourself for the exam and test your knowledge. If you want to accomplish good grades, you must opt for the free AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner practice exam. These tests are designed in a pattern that resembles the actual exam structure and contents.  Schedule the Exam and Get Certified Now that you are done with your preparation and feel confident enough, it is the right time to enrol for the exam. Candidates can choose any testing centre in their locality. A quick look at the AWS training website would give you a list of all the centres near you. Pick a centre and register yourself.  Best AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner Certification Books There are several books and notes that candidates can consult while preparing for AWS exams. AWS Exam Guide will give people a step by step guide in order to prepare for the tests. It is a well organised and comprehensive tool for first timers and professionals alike. We have enlisted some important books that will help you to prepare for the AWS certified cloud practitioner exam. Read all or few of these to clear your notions of AWS cloud and pass the certification exam with flying colours. So, here are the suggested AWS certified cloud practitioner books – AWS: The Beginners Guide to Amazon Web Services by Dennis Hutten AWS Basics: Beginner’s Guide by Gordon Wong Learning AWS by Aurobindo Sarkar and Amit Shah Amazon Web Services for Dummies by Bernard Golden Amazon Web Services in Action by Andreas Wittig and Michael Wittig AWS Automation Cookbook – Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment using AWS Services by Nikit Swaraj Suggestions to Follow While Taking AWS Cloud PractitionerExam: Now that you have prepared for the exam, and registered for the same, it is time to face the music and actually appear for the exams. Don’t be nervous, you have done your best and are absolutely prepared for the tests. Take a deep breath, and follow these tips if you feel unsure or under confident about the papers;  Start the exam by answering the questions you are sure about. Tackle the simplest problems first. You can then have more time on your hands to think about the difficult questions. Also, don’t spend a lot of time on a single question Keep a watch with you and always check the time when you’re at the exam time. Keeping track of how much time you’ve spent is a great way to manage your answers better. This way you can even attempt all the questions Don’t panic, take a deep breath, and avoid rushing into the answers. Don’t try to complete the questions as fast as you can, try to be accurate as well. Although there is no negative marking, it would be better if you get maximum answers correct  The AWS exam lasts for 90 minutes, with enough practice, you can easily solve the papers in the stipulated time. Give mock exams and tests to practice your skills The objective questions are usually the easiest to answer, so do them first, next, pick the questions that have multiple right answers. It is not always the case that only one answer will only be the best answer. Think about all the possible ways in which the question can be answered, and pick the best-case scenario The AWS pattern does have sub questions and sub sections in a single large question. Not every question has the same weightage or answering requirement. Read through the marking scheme and instructions carefully before you answer Don’t rush with the question, read it carefully to understand exactly what is asked of you before you begin with your answer.  The Bottom Line  Preparing for AWS CCP exams are not a piece of cake, however, it is not as difficult as most people make it sound as well. What you need is the right balance of resources and training. Start with the basics and slowly work your way from there. You don’t need to ace the subjects in one go, take your time, be through with your preparation and we’re sure you will be able to crack the exams. Try out the AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification Training course of KnowledgeHut to prepare for the exam. Good luck! 
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How to Pass the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam?
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How to Pass the AWS Cloud Practitioner Exam?

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How to Pass AWS Solutions Architect Exam?

 The  AWS Solutions Architect exam is one of the most popular and sought after exams offered by the AWS. The reason behind this is that AWS Certified Solutions Architects are one of the highest paid individuals in the IT industry.  Now, for an exam that is so popular and tough, selecting the correct roadmap is very essential. There are so many articles available on the internet regarding the exam and its preparation. To get through all the content will take a lot of time and effort. So, to help you, we have created this guide that will help you get through all the important content required for passing the AWS Solutions Architect exam. We will be discussing exam information, guide for preparation, topics related to exam, mock tests and practice questions. Let’s start with discussing the role of the AWS Certified Solutions Architect. What is the Role of a Solutions Architect? A Solutions Architect is an IT professional with a deep understanding and technical expertise of principles of cloud architecture. These principles are used to design and deploy reliable, scalable and robust business solutions on the AWS platform. The AWS Solutions Architect certifications allow learning, recognizing, validating and demonstrating your skills and expertise to architect and deploy secure and robust applications on the AWS platform. There are two certifications available for Solutions Architect by the AWS: AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional  AWS Solutions Architect Exam In February 2018, a new version of the AWS Solutions Architect exam was launched where a few changes were made to the exam structure as well as exam blueprint. This exam is for candidates who are currently working as a Solutions Architect. All the candidates appearing for the exam must have the ability to: Define a solution using the architectural design principles on the basis of the requirements of the customer. Provide guidance to the enterprise regarding the implementation of the best practices during the complete lifecycle of the project. If you wish to take this exam, it is essential to read the  AWS SAA-C01 Exam guide. This will help you understand the objectives of the exam and get all the required information on the same. There are no prerequisites for the exam. It will be in the format of multiple choice and multiple answer questions. The exam is 130 minutes long. The registration fee for this exam is $150. Currently, the exam is available in English, Japanese, Korean and Simplified Chinese. You will have to renew the certification by taking the exam every 3 years. What are the Domains covered by the Exam: Here are the different domains of the exam and their weightage in the examination: Defining operationally excellent architecture - 6% Designing architectures that are cost-optimized - 10% Designing performant architectures - 24% Specifying secure applications and architectures - 26% Designing resilient architectures - 34%How to Prepare for the AWS Solutions Architect Exam: Now, depending on whether you are a beginner with no knowledge of the AWS platform or a professional who is currently using AWS services, you need to have different preparation plans. To ace the AWS Solutions Architect exam, you need to find the correct exam path for you and follow that with focus and dedication. With the right preparation guide, you will be able to pass the exam in your first attempt.  Recommended books for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Exam The best resource for preparing for any certification exam is through books. It is definitely your best companion as it isn’t dependent on an internet connection or anything else. There are several books that can help you prepare for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect exam. The most recommended official book for preparing for the exam is the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Official Study Guide. Here are the books that can aid your preparation: 1. AWS Certified Solutions Architect Official Study Guide AWS has been leading the cloud computing industry for quite some time. This book will help you expand and validate your skills by preparing you to ace the Solutions Architect exam. It contains expert content, key exam essentials, real-world knowledge, chapter review questions, etc. Also, you will have access to Sybex’s interactive online learning environment. 2. Amazon Web Services in Action Written by Andreas Wittig and Michael Wittig, this book will provide an introduction to storing, computing and networking in the AWS cloud. You will be learning about the best services and practices regarding high availability, scalability, and security. You will begin with an overview of AWS and cloud computing and gradually move on to spinning up servers from and command line and manually. It also teaches you to programmatically call the AWS API for automating the infrastructure and controlling every part of AWS. 3. Learning AWS - Design, Build, and Deploy Responsive Applications using AWS Cloud Components Authored by Amit Shah and Aurobindo Sarkar, it is written for programmers and architects who want to learn AWS. You must have previous experience in cloud and programming concepts. This book will help you in building scalable and highly-available, real-time applications on the AWS platform. After reading it, you will be able to build cost-effective applications by making architectural decisions. It will allow you to learn implementation of functional and non-functional requirements. There are exercises that will provide you with hands-on experience working with service-based applications. 4. Amazon Web Services for Dummies This is a user-friendly guide written by Bernard Golden for people who want to use the cloud platform to create dynamic applications. It helps you to start learning AWS from basic and gives the perfect introduction to the AWS platform. These books will provide you with knowledge of the AWS toolset, implementation of AWS, and the different Amazon services and glacier. A thorough reading of the book will help you learn how to use AWS for storage, deploying push notifications, sending emails, taking payments, managing big data and much more. 5. AWS Basics: Beginners Guide This book by Gordon Wong explores the concepts of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud. It is the best guide for people wanting to learn EC2. You will learn how to create an AWS account for learning and working on EC2. Since all the AWS accounts belong to some security group, you will learn how to create a security group. There is a separate chapter on MongoDB and how it is used as DaaS. In this, you will learn how to install and implement it in the EC2 instance. Other Resources For exam preparation, books might not be enough. To tackle this, AWS has recommended a list of white papers. You can find this list in the AWS CSAA exam guide. They are helpful resources that can help you prepare better for the exam. They will expand your technical understanding. All these whitepapers are written by the AWS team, AWS partners, and Independent analysts. For this exam, you need to focus on the Well-Architected Framework. It helps in building secure, resilient, high-performing and efficient infrastructure. Here are the whitepapers you need to study for this exam. Framework - This provides you with an introduction to the  Well-Architected Framework of AWS. Covering the basic concepts and the architectural design principles of the cloud, this whitepaper will help you prepare for the AWS Solutions Architect exam.  Operational Excellence - It focuses on running and monitoring systems for delivering business value and improving the procedures and processes involved. It covers topics like responding to events, automating and managing changes, and defining standards for successfully managing daily operations. Check out the  operational Excellence whitepaper here. Security - The prime focus of this  Security whitepaper is protecting systems and information. With this whitepaper, you will have an understanding of identification and management of privilege, establishing controls for detecting security events, protecting systems, and maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of data. Reliability - This  reliability whitepaper will help you learn to prevent and quickly recovering from failures for meeting the demand of the business and customers. The key topics included in the whitepaper are cross project requirements, handling changes, foundational elements around setup, and recovery planning.  Performance Efficiency - This whitepaper will help you in using your computing and IT resources efficiently. The main topics covered in this paper are choosing the right type and size of the resources based on the requirements of the workload, making an informed decision for maintaining the efficiency as the business evolves, and monitoring performance. Download the  Performance Efficiencywhitepaper. Cost-optimization - This whitepaper will help you learn how to avoid unnecessary costs. You will get a thorough understanding of where the money is spent, analyzing spend over time, selecting the right number and the most appropriate resources, and scaling for meeting the needs of the business. Check out the  Cost-Optimization whitepaper. Serverless Application - This  Serverless Application whitepaper will help you learn how to use the AWS cloud for designing, deploying, and architecting the serverless application. Topics covered in this whitepaper include stream processing, web application, mobile back-ends, and RESTful Microservices. Using this Well-Architected lens, you will be able to build serverless application workloads on AWS.  High Performance Computing (HPC) - This whitepaper introduces you to the HPC lens used for designing, deploying, and architecting high performance workloads on the AWS platform. You will be learning about Tightly Coupled/High Performance Computing and Loosely Coupled/ High Throughput Computing. Check  HPC whitepaper. IoT (Internet of Things) - The focus of this whitepaper is on designing, deploying, and architecting IoT workloads on the AWS platform. The topics covered in this whitepaper are device commands, device provisioning, firmware updates, and device telemetry. You can download  IoT Whitepaper here. Why to take AWS Practice Test: Once you have covered all the books and whitepapers, it is time to check the level of your preparation using practice tests. This will also give you an exam-like experience and act as the final step of your preparation. The format of the  AWS practice test is the same as the real exam. Also, acing the mock test will help you get confident. There are several online mock test providers. You can try the free tests as they will help in determining the level of the full-length practice tests. If you are willing to pay for the practice tests, be very sure about the vendor you are choosing. For the AWS Certified Solutions Architect exam, AWS offers 10 free sample questions. You will have to pay $20 for 20 practice questions. Before you take the exam, it is recommended that you practice with as many questions as possible.  There are a number of certifications offered by AWS depending on the job roles. Not only will they aid in validating your knowledge and technical skills but also grab a high salary. They increase the credibility for a position. There are 11 AWS certifications that are currently available. To ace these exams, you need to get the right knowledge and prepare well. You can even take the professional or a specialty level certification directly.  When you are applying for a job, an AWS certification will be invaluable. All you need to do is get the certification and crack the interview to start your journey towards a successful career as an AWS Solutions Architect. So, if you want to have a bright and successful future in AWS architecting, you need to validate your skills by acing the AWS Solutions Architect exam.  If you are new to AWS, don’t have much knowledge regarding the platform, and want to build your career as an AWS Solutions Architect, this certification exam is the perfect start for you. You can try the courses available on the AWS website. With all the books and whitepapers mentioned above, you will be able to start preparing for the AWS Solutions Architect exam from scratch. Once you have given the exam and aced it, you can start preparing for your interview for the position of the AWS Solutions Architect. In this article, we have prepared a study guide for you that will help you ace the AWS Solutions Architect exam. Get yourself enrolled in the  AWS Certification: Solutions Architect Certification course by KnowledgeHut for the best preparation.  
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How to Pass AWS Solutions Architect Exam?
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How to Pass AWS Solutions Architect Exam?

 The  AWS Solutions Architect exam is one of the... Read More