All in one guide to gain your GCP CAP — Google Certified Cloud Architect Professional
My first Cloud Certification Crush was with GCP- Professional Cloud Architect (PCA) in Dec 2017. Not all love succeed in first go right :) My hard-earned 200$ getting invested in this certification wasn’t fruitful. Results were not favoring me, I didn’t give up either. I prepared well for second attempt of GCP — PCA in May 2018 and cleared the same. Generally, Google exam validity is for 2 years. But, as I had given a Beta exam which is double the hours, double the question, my validity remained for 2.5 years with some memorable Google Cloud Certified Swags too for Beta exam takers. I still cherish those warm mementos labelled Google!
Sharing my experience of being Google certified PCA and this Cert Prep guide covers the new updated exam guide too in 2021 with two new case studies (Helicopter Racing League and EHR Health Care) and updated case studies (Mount Kirk Games, TerramEarth)!!
Being a 4x GCP Certified & 6x GCP Certification taker, I believe in cherishing the journey (learning and exploring) more than the destination (testing time). Here are my experiences which can benefit you.
Understanding exam format
· Certification Name: Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect
· Format: Multiple Select & Multiple Choice [ NO negative marking! Don’t let any questions unanswered]
· Exam Duration: 120 minutes [ 2hours exam]
· Number of Questions: 50[ Just 2 mins/question + some review time for questions which you’ve marked for review in case you answer every question less than 2mins/question]
· Passing Score: GCP Certifications, doesn’t give a score! Pass or Fail is the only message after you submit the exam. No score/No breakdown of performance by topic later also unlike other certification providers like AWS/Azure etc. Yes, Google is unique! 😊
· Registration Fee: $200 (plus tax where applicable)
· About Google certified PCA & PCA Exam Guide [ Mapping for this is provided in my PCA Cert Prep Mapping Blog. Do check out later once you are done with this preparatory one!
My thoughts & Prep paths down the lane…
I’ve provided important “Must refer topics” & study links which can benefit you. This is my preparation path as per Google exam study guide to explore GCP better and connected question in Exam! Feel free to explore more and switch between sections if you feel comfortable with that section.
There you go with all Bouquet of links for your preparation !
1.Certification learning path
https://cloud.google.com/training/cloud-infrastructure#cloud-architect-learning-path
Recommends 5 courses and 5 Skills badges including a Prep for PCA exam too as the fifth course which covers Case study discussions, technical watch points, developing technique of proposing solution and some sample questions discussions.
2. Official Training videos from Google
2.1 Qwiklabs your savior!
Above listed 5 courses, 5 skill badges can be covered on Qwiklabs. Qwiklabs is an official training content hosting platform from Google. All courses, labs, quests etc. that is bundled under this Certification as one stop portal is available here under the course Professional Cloud Architect . Sign up with your Official ID and leverage benefits. Most of the partners get it free!
OR
2.2 Coursera offers 50% discount on courses too. Select Google PCA track and can enroll. [ Optional, as it would have been covered on Qwiklabs courses previously shared]
3. Official YouTube series on GCP & Google Next videos for PCA
Binge Watch these series of videos for GCP — PCA exam. Some questions from Google Next[ Their Annual Conference] videos also are asked. Hence sharing some important links to those as well. Recommended to watch these playlists and come back to this blog, once you are done 😊
o Beyond your bill YouTube series on GCP billing. This details everything required for questions around this topic [ 19 videos as on June 2021]
o NetworkingEndtoEnd , Must watch to rewire your GCP Networks right!
o K8s essentials from GCP and GKE , Must read to understand if you feel messed with pods, service, nodes, deployments etc with K8s to get your basics right!
o StackDoctor and do try out these demos. It covers previous Stackdriver version and New Operations videos.
o Class SRE implements Devops [ Mini visual version of SRE books]
Hope the above video playlists from Google Cloud Tech helped. Some more important individual videos
o Where should I run my stuff? Choosing compute options
o Choosing the right compute option in GCP: a decision tree
o Top 3 ways to run your containers on Google Cloud
o Choosing right storage and Database on GCP [ Little old, but covers in detail]
o Choose Right database for Workloads
4. 30-day Free Access Challenge labs on Qwiklabs
5. Official PCA Practice exam — Covers Sample questions . Similar pattern will appear in exam. However , there is no guarantee that if you pass this practice exam, you will clear external. It is just a trailer before the actual movie 😊!
6. Four Case Studies — The Crux of PCA Exam
Google has updated 2 case studies and replaced 2 case studies in Apr 2021. About 10–15 questions might come from the case studies itself. You will get questions from 2 out of 4 case studies . So be prepared with all case studies!
There is no need to remember these case studies, as it will be displayed along with related question in your exam as a drop down . However it is ideal to study these in advance and be ready to propose a solution as per Google Recommended Practices. I may plan to cover these case studies and propose solutions in depth in my next blog as current one already looks heavy! 😊
Updated case studies from launch:
b. TerramEarth
New case studies added in 2021 replacing Dress4Win and JencoMart
And finally last min prep tools and learners favorite 😊
7. Cheat Sheets, Flowcharts, Sketch Notes, GCP Services in 4 words for those last minute checks!
b. Flowchart to pick the right GCP services
d. Google Cloud visual notes (Sketchnotes)
Oh! These were a lot of links to prepare right? Yes , Classic movies are made covering all aspects of Direction and same holds good here:) All round knowledge of Architecting can gain you a Pro CAP on GCP ! Hopefully these inputs so far has helped you gain confidence to crack your GCP PCA exam.
That’s not the end. I’ve some more to help you . Check out the Pre and Post read for this blog!
All details related to Booking/scheduling your exam, System Pre checks, Certification — Testing time, Extra tips, Post exam Certified notices etc. are already covered in my first blog of GCP — ACE. Do check out for all tips and tricks for GCP Exams!
Finally I’m providing Exam Guide Mapping for each section and sub section. Exam guide has 6 major modules and is discussed in my connected blog GCP PCA Exam Guide Mapping exclusively for Cert Prep Map. Do check if you’ve missed anything in your prep & rewire all your learning!
Be sure to take a few minutes to explore these resources, and when you have time, dig deeper into a product that you’ve been wanting to learn more about.
Do hit the clap button 👏👏👏to encourage If you feel worth investing time here to crack your exam, and have an attitude of gratitude , to inspire me blog more, do tag and share your experience via LinkedIn.
I’m eager to hear your feedback on this blog with resources and your ideas for curating such similar content that will help make your learning journey a little bit easier. Share it with me on LinkedIn or do drop a comment here . Feel free to tag me in case this Cert Prep guide help you clear your certification !👍
See you in my next blog for exploring GCP PCA Case studies! 😊
