This page answers the practical question: “How do I structure SOA-C03 prep?”
Use the timeline that matches your availability, then run this loop: Syllabus -> drills -> miss review -> mixed sets -> timed runs.
Recommended study time
| Your starting point |
Typical total study time |
Best-fit timeline |
| You already operate AWS workloads daily |
35-55 hours |
30-60 days |
| You know AWS services but less operations depth |
55-80 hours |
60 days |
| You are newer to AWS operations and troubleshooting |
80-110+ hours |
90 days |
| Time available |
Recommended plan |
| 8-12 hrs/week |
30-day intensive |
| 5-7 hrs/week |
60-day balanced |
| 3-4 hrs/week |
90-day part-time |
Weight-driven allocation
| Domain |
Weight |
Focus |
| Domain 1 |
22% |
Monitoring, logs, alarms, remediation, performance |
| Domain 2 |
22% |
HA, scaling, backup/restore, DR |
| Domain 3 |
22% |
Provisioning and automation (CloudFormation, SSM, event-driven ops) |
| Domain 4 |
16% |
Security controls, encryption, compliance operations |
| Domain 5 |
18% |
VPC/DNS/content delivery troubleshooting |
Spend early prep at ~60% learning / 40% practice, then shift to ~30% learning / 70% practice in the final 1-2 weeks.
30-Day Intensive
| Week |
Focus |
What to do |
| 1 |
Domain 1 |
Build signal literacy (CloudWatch, CloudTrail, alarms, logs, EventBridge paths). |
| 2 |
Domain 2 |
Drill reliability and business continuity: scaling, Multi-AZ patterns, RPO/RTO decisions. |
| 3 |
Domain 3 |
Focus on deployment/provisioning/automation: CloudFormation + Systems Manager + runbooks. |
| 4 |
Domain 4 + 5 + review |
Security/compliance controls and network troubleshooting; do 2 mixed sets + 1 timed run. |
60-Day Balanced
| Weeks |
Focus |
What to do |
| 1-2 |
Domain 1 |
Daily short drills + one mixed set each week. |
| 3-4 |
Domain 2 |
Practice backup/restore and reliability scenarios repeatedly. |
| 5-6 |
Domain 3 |
Drill CloudFormation/SSM/event-driven automation workflows. |
| 7 |
Domain 5 |
Focus on VPC routing, SG/NACL, DNS, and connectivity troubleshooting. |
| 8 |
Domain 4 + final review |
Security/compliance operations + two timed runs. |
90-Day Part-Time
| Weeks |
Focus |
| 1-3 |
Domain 1 |
| 4-5 |
Domain 2 |
| 6-7 |
Domain 3 |
| 8-9 |
Domain 5 |
| 10-11 |
Domain 4 |
| 12 |
Final review + timed runs |
Use weekly spaced re-drills on weak tasks (48-72 hour spacing works well).
Daily workflow in the app
- Pick one task from the Syllabus
.
- Run a focused set in Practice
.
- Write 3-5 miss rules (for example: alarm symptom -> likely root cause -> first safe action).
- Re-drill weak tasks in 2-3 days.
Direct practice link: /app/cloud/#/topic-selection/aws-soa-c03