There’s a trend to cloudify every aspect of IT. You might think that there’s no need to understand classical networking because “the cloud” solves problems related to routers and switches. The truth is that clouds have massive networks under the hood. Someone needs to connect cloud services and bring users to these clouds in a secure and cost-effective way.
The network is as important and critical as it’s ever been, but the way we consume and operate network resources has changed. This is why hyper-scale cloud providers include networking-related tracks in their certification catalogs.
Some months ago, I decided to start the journey towards one of these certifications. In my case I completed the AWS Advanced Networking Specialist (ANS) certification. I chose it after considering others such as the AZ-700 from Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud’s Professional Cloud Network Engineer. I decided to go for the ANS because I believe it will bring the most opportunities for my career. A quick LinkedIn search shows this certification is in high demand, with hundreds of offers posted with this cert as requirement. After AWS, I plan to focus on an Azure networking certification.
I decided to write this post to share my experience and help readers on the same path.
About The Certification
The AWS Advanced Networking Certification (ANS) focuses on the design, implementation, and troubleshooting of virtual networks in AWS. It also includes the physical networks that allow users and branches to reach cloud-hosted resources. Obviously, it emphasizes AWS-provided services.
This is considered a professional-level certification, which to me means months of preparation and dedicated study. The key for me was to be consistent, and as with any other professional-level exam to have the best learning materials. Remember, the end goal isn’t just to get the certification but to be able to apply your acquired skills to solve real issues.
The AWS ANS certification requires a single exam. The ANS-C01 exam consist of 65 questions that can be multiple choice or multiple response questions. There are no labs in the exam, and you have 170 minutes to complete it.
The official blueprint can be found at this link.
Starting Point
Here’s how I managed to earn my cert. So, first things first. There are no prerequisites to schedule the exam apart from paying $300 USD.
It is not mandatory but recommended to know general AWS concepts before preparing for the ANS. In my case, before starting this certification I had some shallow knowledge of basic concepts like what is an EC2, EBS, and how to use the AWS console. To be honest, I was very far from a Solution Architect Associate level.
The basics of networking are even more important than the AWS concepts. I would say that it is easier for a networking professional to get this certification than for a sysadmin or a developer. In my case I work as a network engineer, so I came into the certification process with a practical background on networking. I suppose that most of the audience of this blog will be in the same situation.
Basic TCP/IP networking is assumed (and yes, you will have to subnet during the exam). You’ll also want to be familiar with basic Linux network commands and keep in the top of your mind concepts like VPNs, MPLS, and BGP because you will need them.
I think if you have CCNA-level networking knowledge and are familiar with core AWS services, you are ready to start the journey towards this certification.
Preparation
Here are the learning resources I used as part my training. I also drew on other sources, but these were the most critical for me.
Video Training
I am a visual learner, so for me is useful to see how things works to understand it. I found this UDEMY course very useful because of the clarity of the explanations. The content is fully aligned with the blueprint topics, so I followed it from the first to the last video.
- Pass the AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty Certification ANS-C01 (Stéphane Maarek and Chetan Agrawal).
Although this course is priced at $120 USD at the time of this writing, is usual to see discounts bigger than the 80% in Udemy. So, be patient to get the best offer.
Books
This book is available in print or if you have an O’Reilly subscription. I read the corresponding chapters in the official guide after each video section to have a detailed view and try to memorize the concepts. At this step, the basic concepts are not new as you have already seen it in the video course. I took notes while I read the chapter, completing the content with the details that are not included in the book but explained in the videos.
- AWS Advanced Networking SCENARIO-BASED KICKSTART
I bought this book to use as a source for reviewing the topics. I think this is not a must-have resource but can be useful for those that learn by repetition.
Labs
- AWS Free Tier
It’s vital to test everything you can in AWS yourself. You won’t be able to try some scenarios, such as Direct Connect which is a core topic in the exam, but practicing within the AWS console is helpful. I tested in the lab the things I learned following in the videos and books. In my case the only way to fix the knowledge in my brain is by doing it, so trust me and leverage this Free Tier level in AWS to put in practice all the concepts you learn.
Exam Preparation
- AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty Practice Exams ANS-C01 by Tutorialsdojo.com
This practice exam was key for my preparation. It simulates the exam questions, and some of them are even more difficult than the actual questions. The best part is that each question comes with a clear explanation of the topic and links to the official AWS documentation. A practice exam can be very helpful to discover your weakest points and reinforce the knowledge in the hardest sections. Once you master the exam simulations you can go to the real exam with confidence.
Exam Day
You have to schedule the exam with PearsonVUE, a testing company that many vendors such as Cisco and Juniper use. Then you have the option to do it in an examination center or online in your home. If you opt for the online test, just ensure that your PC and internet connection are reliable enough and that you can avoid having anyone enter in your room during the exam. I had no technical issues with the online exam.
The exam itself requires A LOT of reading; it is easy to miss some small detail in the scenario that hides the hint towards the correct answer, so you need to read each question carefully and with focus. In my exam there were a huge number of questions related to Hybrid-Connectivity, although I found the Network Management and Operation the most challenging.
Conclusion
This is not an easy exam, but it is worth every hour spent learning due to the high demand for professionals with a mix of skills in cloud and network. The most challenging aspect is that the Network Design section is a big percentage of the exam and you do not just have to know the valid answers, but you need to know which are the ones that best fit some scenarios. This is the key.
My most important advice is don’t just prepare for the test—you should learn from the real world as well. Always think about how to apply the concepts you study in a real environment. At the end, this is an environment that change very quickly, so the exam topics you study will be outdated very soon but the fundamentals will stay with you.
