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CLF-C02 · Free study guide

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner

The starting point: you explain what the AWS Cloud is, how it is secured and priced, and which core service fits a need. No hands-on experience is required.

Questions
65 (50 scored)
Time
90 minutes
Passing score
700 / 1000
Level
Foundational

What the exam covers

Domains and key topics

Domain 124% of the exam

Cloud Concepts

  • Benefits of the cloud: agility, elasticity, global reach, economies of scale
  • Design principles of the AWS Well-Architected Framework
  • Migration strategies and the AWS Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF)
  • Cloud economics: fixed vs. variable cost, total cost of ownership
Official domain details ↗
Domain 230% of the exam

Security and Compliance

  • The shared responsibility model and how it shifts by service
  • Security, governance and compliance: AWS Artifact, Config, CloudTrail
  • Access management: IAM users, groups, roles, MFA, root user protection
  • Security services: GuardDuty, Inspector, Shield, WAF, Security Hub
Official domain details ↗
Domain 334% of the exam

Cloud Technology and Services

  • Ways to use AWS: console, CLI, SDKs, infrastructure as code
  • Global infrastructure: Regions, Availability Zones, edge locations
  • Compute, databases, networking and storage: what each core service is for
  • AI/ML and analytics services at a glance
  • Other in-scope categories: messaging, end-user computing, IoT
Official domain details ↗
Domain 412% of the exam

Billing, Pricing, and Support

  • Pricing models: On-Demand, Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, Spot
  • Billing tools: Cost Explorer, Budgets, Pricing Calculator, cost allocation tags
  • AWS Organizations and consolidated billing
  • Support plans and technical resources: re:Post, Trusted Advisor, AWS Health
Official domain details ↗

Know these well

Key AWS services

Amazon EC2

Virtual servers, instance types and purchase options.

Amazon S3

Object storage with storage classes for every access pattern.

Amazon RDS & DynamoDB

Managed relational and NoSQL databases.

Amazon VPC

Your private network in AWS: subnets, gateways, security groups.

AWS Lambda

Run code without managing servers.

Amazon CloudFront & Route 53

Content delivery and DNS.

AWS IAM

Who can do what in your account.

Amazon CloudWatch & CloudTrail

Monitoring and an audit trail of API activity.

AWS Trusted Advisor

Recommendations on cost, security, performance and limits.

Cost Explorer & AWS Budgets

See spending and get alerts before it grows.

How to prepare

A simple study plan

  1. 1Read the official exam guide once, end to end.
  2. 2Learn the shared responsibility model until you can place any task on the right side.
  3. 3Spend the most time on domain 3 (34%): match each core service to its use case.
  4. 4Learn the pricing models and support plans side by side; they are easy points.
  5. 5Take a timed practice exam and review every explanation, right and wrong.

Always check the official CLF-C02 exam guide ↗ for the current version of the exam.

Preparing for more than one exam?

Every AWS certification has a free study guide here, from Foundational to Specialty.

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