The following is the basic process that I used to study and train for my AWS Solutions Architect - Associate certification.



1. Start with the Exam overview:

https://aws.amazon.com/certification/...associate/

2. Buy and read the Sybex (Wiley) AWS Certified Solutions Architect Study Guide 4th edition (or later). This book is particularly good for those with existing IT / physical server experience. Use the practice questions at the end of each chapter.

3. Use the Wiley online question test bank that is included with the book purchase. Note that a small percentage of the questions had out-dated (wrong) answers or were just poor / ambiguous questions in the first place... but overall the test bank is helpful.

4. Read the Well-Architected Framework materials and know the Pillars -

web-based summary:
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/en_us/wel...ework.html

5. Read as many AWS service technical whitepapers or FAQs as possible, especially on areas where one performed poorly on the sample tests.

Amazon EC2 - https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/faqs/
Amazon S3 - https://aws.amazon.com/s3/faqs/
Amazon VPC - https://aws.amazon.com/vpc/faqs/
Amazon Route 53 - https://aws.amazon.com/route53/faqs/
Amazon RDS - https://aws.amazon.com/rds/faqs/
Amazon SQS - https://aws.amazon.com/sqs/faqs/
Amazon CloudFront - https://aws.amazon.com/cloudfront/faqs/

6. Learn Security and IAM

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepape...cture.html

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/whitepape...ntrol.html

7. Learn Subnetting

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/vpc/lates...locks.html

Free subnetting questions - https://subnetting.org/

Youtube series -
EP 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWZ-MHIhqjM
EP 5 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pj_ubhpi0WQ

Note that during the exam you may not write any notes, you would need to memorize the subnetting cheat sheet and use it inside your head!

8. Use AWS Skillbuilder - "Free Exam Prep Standard Course" (there is also a longer paid training course that includes labs that I did not use). The free course includes AWS Official Practice Question Sets thru benchprep.com

9. For those content areas with poor practice test performance, go build real resources in AWS to cement the concepts.

10. Additional resources that I didn't actually use but would use if I had failed the test, or if I just had more time to spend on the certification:

AWS Well-Architected Labs
(requires an AWS account to deploy actual resources)
https://www.wellarchitectedlabs.com/

The full Well-Architected Framework document (over 900 pages!):
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/pdfs/well...mework.pdf

Since the last time I posted anything about my job, a number of things have happened.

First, IRIS merged with UNAVCO to become EarthScope Consortium.

I was promoted from Database Administrator to Cloud Operations Engineer III and joined the Cloud Enablement team.

I also earned a couple of industry certifications:

Certified Kubernetes Application Developer (CKAD)




AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate

Different programming languages and data storage engines use different names for IEEE 754 double-precision floating point (aka "approximate") numbers:

 

Language / Engine	IEEE 754 double-precision data type name
SQL (Strict Standard)	DOUBLE PRECISION
PostgreSQL	double precision or float8 or float
Avro	double
Python	float or sqlalchemy.Float
Java	Double
Perl	Floats are platform dependent (double precision on 64-bit x86)
C	double
Go	float64
Rust	f64

 

Fixed precision Decimal types are often but not always provided by the stdlib:

 

Language	Fixed precision / decimal data type name
SQL (Strict Standard)	NUMERIC
PostgreSQL	numeric
Avro	NA
Python	Decimal
Java	BigDecimal
Perl	Math::BigFloat (library)
C	NA
Go	decimal (via github.com/shopspring/decimal library)
Rust	Decimal (via rust_decimal library)

 

Floating point naming mahem:

The SQL Standard (SQL-99) defines the following approximate numeric data types:

- FLOAT specifies the data type approximate numeric, with binary precision equal to or greater than the value of the specified _precision_. The maximum value of _precision_ is implementation-defined. _precision_ shall not be greater than this value.

- REAL specifies the data type approximate numeric, with implementation-defined _precision_.

- DOUBLE PRECISION specifies the data type approximate numeric, with implementation-defined precision that is greater than the implementation-defined _precision_ of REAL.

PostgreSQL provides 'real' and 'double precision' but also supports the aliases 'float', 'float8', and 'float4'.  The only alias that maps to 'real' is 'float4' (single precision).  'float' maps to 'double precision'.

At least in Python, where 'float' is the language data type for double precision floating point, a database abstraction layer would need to make some bad choices to end up with single precision / Real data type in the persistence layer when talking to a PostgreSQL backend.

The Avro storage enginue uses 'float' for single precision, and only 'double' is mapped to IEEE 754 double precision.  At this point it is dubious to me what a python 'float' would get mapped to when writing to Avro.

 

Last week I started my new job as a Database Administrator (DBA) with Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS). My focus will be working on PostgreSQL databases.



This position is a true Remote job, so I will be working from my home office and hopefully occasionally from other interesting locations.

I assembled the sit-stand desk in my office from an UPLIFT Standing Desk Frame (V2-Commercial) and some used desk surfaces that I picked up from our local salvage yard, The Repurpose Project. This frame is fantastic, remarkably stable (no bounce when typing), and strong enough to support a lot of equipment or heavy surfaces.

I prefer a standing desk. With the COVID-19 work from home orders causing me to become a full-time Remote worker, my home desk area setup is much more important than it was before.

I know some people who stand up at a table or breakfast bar and use their laptops, but that is a terrible neck angle for long periods of time.

If your laptop will open to 180 degrees, then the following configuration with an external keyboard and mouse may help the screen position considerably:



Otherwise, I suggest a laptop stand such as this one from 1home:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077JZSBS2

which works very well compared to some others I have tried.

Here I am using it in combination with my Ergotron WorkFit sit-stand workstation: