Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect
Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect Certification (Jan 2021)
Disclaimer: Non official content, errors and omissions excepted
Exam Knowledge Areas
Pre Exam Notes
- Kryterion Sentinel software (Windows/Mac) installation requires administrator rights
- Kyterion system check - do this at least a day before to be on the safe side
- No breaks during two hour exam
- Do the practice exam to build some confidence
- (Try and) get a good nights sleep before the exam
- The exam is multiple choice, so work out the wrong answers first!!
Post Exam Notes
- Pretty comprehensive overview of Google Cloud.
- Exam is much clearer than the one taken a couple of years ago.
- Case Study questions were at the end of the exam - hopefully this is the same for everyone?
- Still no feedback beyond pass/fail (Grrr!)
- 50 Questions
Google Cloud do not indicate the pass mark for the exam, but I would assume its somewhere greater than 70%.
I typically aim to be confident on 80% (i.e. 40/50) of the questions. The table below shows the spectrum of scores, but in simple terms you just need to be on the right side of 80% to be comfortable.
| Percent | 10% | 20% | 30% | 40% | 50% | 60% | 70% | 80% | 90% | 100% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Correct | 5 | 10 | 15 | 20 | 25 | 30 | 35 | 40 | 45 | 50 |
| Incorrect | 45 | 40 | 35 | 30 | 25 | 20 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 0 |
Depending on what type of person you are the above calculation may be of some use.
I think about the exam result in terms of how many answers I can afford to NOT know.
In terms of a list of topics that are potentially covered based on the exam criteria, take a look at the word cloud below.
Once you have read the exam overview, it should be clear this exam is meant to cover the majority of the product areas in GCP.
- Compute
- Networking
- Storage
- Databases
- Operations
- BigData
Training Material
If you have got this far, I havent put you off taking the exam. In which case, the material I used to get ready for the exam is listed below. Note: This is not an exhaustive list. Also try and prioritise the type of material that works best for you!
| Source | Type | Description | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Linux Academy | Course | Exam specific content, good practice questions | 4/5 |
| Coursera | Course | Cloud Architecture with Google Cloud | 3/5 |
| Pluralsight | Course | Cloud Architecture with Google Cloud | 3/5 |
| Create and Manage Cloud Resources | Hands On Labs | Good hands on content for architect exam | 4/5 |
| Set up and configure a cloud environment in Google Cloud | Hands On Labs | Good content | 4/5 |
| Deploy and manage cloud environment with Google Cloud | Hands On Labs | Good content | 4/5 |
| Google Cloud Docs | Docs | Very detailed | 4/5 |
| Google Cloud Platform | YouTube | Next sessions - very helpful | 4/5 |
| Professional Cloud Architect | Book | Very detailed overview of exam syllabus | 4/5 |
| Awesome GCP Certification | Links | Good list of materials and sources | 4/5 |
Best of luck!