AWS CLF-C02 - Master Study Guide

AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner

Master AWS.

The definitive interactive guide for the CLF-C02 exam. Select a domain below to explore core services and architectural principles.

Foundations

🧭

CAF Framework

The 6 Perspectives to bridge business and technology goals.

🏛️

Well-Architected

The 6 Pillars for high-performing, reliable systems.

🤝

Shared Responsibility

Security "OF" the cloud vs Security "IN" the cloud.

Technical Domains

💻

Compute

EC2, Lambda, ECS, and Serverless architectures.

🗄️

Storage

S3, EBS, EFS, Glacier, Storage Gateway & Snowball.

🗃️

Databases

RDS, DynamoDB, Aurora, Redshift & ElastiCache.

🌐

Networking

VPC, Route 53, CloudFront, and Load Balancing.

📬

App Integration

SQS, SNS, and EventBridge event-driven logic.

🌊

Analytics

Athena, Glue, Kinesis, and Big Data patterns.

🛡️

Security & Compliance

IAM, Shield, GuardDuty, and Infrastructure Protection.

🛠️

Developer Tools

CodePipeline, CodeBuild, and CI/CD automation.

👁️

Management & Governance

CloudWatch, CloudTrail, Config, and Trusted Advisor.

Business & Strategy

📦

Migration (6 Rs)

Migration Strategies (Rehost, Replatform, Refactor...).

💰

Billing & Pricing

Cost management, Support Plans, and Organizations.

Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF)

Well-Architected Framework

Compute Services

💻

Virtual &
Serverless

✦ EC2: Need full control over the OS, custom software, or BYOL.
✦ Lambda: Short-running (< 15 mins), event-driven code. Pay per ms.

🐳

Containers &
Managed

✦ ECS / EKS: Running Docker containers. Use EKS for Kubernetes.
✦ Fargate: Serverless containers. No EC2 management required.
✦ Elastic Beanstalk: PaaS. Upload code, AWS handles deployment/scaling.

⚖️

Compute Options Comparison

Feature	EC2	ECS/EKS	Fargate	Lambda	Beanstalk	Batch	Lightsail	Outposts
Type	VMs (IaaS)	Containers (CaaS)	Serverless Containers	Serverless (FaaS)	PaaS	Batch Processing	VPS (Simple)	Hybrid (On-prem)
Management	You manage OS/Scale	You manage Cluster	AWS manages Cluster	AWS manages all	AWS handles deploy	AWS schedules jobs	Simplified/Fixed	Managed Hardware
Scaling	Minutes	Seconds	Seconds	Milliseconds	Minutes	Dynamic (Jobs)	Manual/Vertical	Physical Rack
Billing	Per Second	Per Second	Per CPU/RAM	Per 1ms/Request	Underlying cost	Underlying cost	Fixed Monthly	Hardware Lease

Application Integration

Analytics & Big Data

Developer Tools

Security & Compliance

Management & Governance

Storage Services

S3 Storage Class Waterfall

S3 Standard Active Data / Millisecond Access

S3 Standard-IA Infrequent Access (≥ 30 Days)

S3 Glacier Deep Archive Long-term Retention (Years)

Database Services

🗄️ Database Quick Reference

Relational (SQL)

Amazon RDS, Aurora (MySQL/PostgreSQL)

Key-Value (NoSQL)

Amazon DynamoDB (Serverless, single-digit ms)

In-Memory Cache

Amazon ElastiCache (Redis/Memcached)

Data Warehouse

Amazon Redshift (OLAP, analytics)

⚖️

Database Category Comparison

Feature	Relational (SQL)	Key-Value	Document (NoSQL)	In-Memory	Graph	Data Warehouse
Structure	Rows & Columns	Key-Value Pairs	JSON-like Documents	In-RAM Key-Value	Nodes & Edges	Columnar (OLAP)
Scaling	Vertical (mostly)	Horizontal (Infinite)	Horizontal	Horizontal	Read Replicas	Horizontal (Nodes)
Schema	Rigid / Fixed	Schema-less	Flexible / JSON	Flexible	Flexible	Structured (OLAP)
Use Cases	ERP, CRM, Finance	IoT, Gaming, Sessions	Catalogs, Profiles	Caching, Real-time	Social, Fraud Analysis	BI, Complex Analytics
AWS Services	RDS, Aurora	DynamoDB	DocumentDB	ElastiCache	Neptune	Redshift

Networking

Shared Responsibility Model

A comprehensive breakdown of Security "OF" the Cloud vs. Security "IN" the Cloud.

👤

Customer
Security "IN" the Cloud

The customer assumes responsibility and management of the guest operating system (including updates and security patches), other associated application software, as well as the configuration of the AWS-provided security group firewall.

Customer Data

You retain absolute control over your data. You are responsible for managing data classification, client-side data encryption, server-side encryption (file system and/or data), and network traffic protection (encryption, integrity, identity).

IAM & Access Control

Configuring robust Identity and Access Management (IAM), enforcing Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), setting password policies, and defining strict resource-level permissions.

OS, Network & Firewall

Patching and maintaining the Guest Operating System (e.g., EC2 instances), configuring Security Groups (virtual firewalls), and setting up Network Access Control Lists (NACLs).

☁️

AWS
Security "OF" the Cloud

AWS is responsible for protecting the infrastructure that runs all of the services offered in the AWS Cloud. This infrastructure is composed of the hardware, software, networking, and facilities.

Global Infrastructure

Physical security and environmental controls of AWS Regions, Availability Zones (AZs), and Edge Locations. This includes power, cooling, and perimeter security.

Foundational Compute & Storage

Maintaining and patching the physical hypervisors, storage arrays, and core networking hardware that power services like Amazon EC2, EBS, and VPC.

Managed Services Software

For abstracted services like Amazon RDS, S3, or DynamoDB, AWS assumes additional responsibility for operating system patching, database software updates, and underlying infrastructure maintenance.

💡 Exam Tip: As you move to managed services (like Lambda or S3), the customer responsibility shifts upward. You remain responsible for your data, IAM, and configuration, while AWS also manages more of the underlying platform for services like RDS.

Migration (6 Rs)

Billing & Pricing

Cost Allocation Workflow

1. Consolidated Billing

One bill for all linked accounts.

2. Cost Allocation Tags

Tag spend by team, app, or environment.

3. Budgets & Alerts

Track spend and prevent bill shock.

Master AWS.

Foundations

CAF Framework

Well-Architected

Shared Responsibility

Technical Domains

Compute

Storage

Databases

Networking

App Integration

Analytics

Security & Compliance

Developer Tools

Management & Governance

Business & Strategy

Migration (6 Rs)

Billing & Pricing

Cloud Adoption Framework (CAF)

Well-Architected Framework

Compute Services

Virtual &Serverless

Containers &Managed

Compute Options Comparison

Application Integration

Analytics & Big Data

Developer Tools

Security & Compliance

Management & Governance

Storage Services

S3 Storage Class Waterfall

Database Services

🗄️ Database Quick Reference

Database Category Comparison

Networking

Shared Responsibility Model

CustomerSecurity "IN" the Cloud

Customer Data

IAM & Access Control

OS, Network & Firewall

AWSSecurity "OF" the Cloud

Global Infrastructure

Foundational Compute & Storage

Managed Services Software

Migration (6 Rs)

Billing & Pricing

Cost Allocation Workflow

Virtual &
Serverless

Containers &
Managed

Customer
Security "IN" the Cloud

AWS
Security "OF" the Cloud