The cloud has been made famous by the apps that run there. Application developers and IT infrastructure professionals have embraced public clouds such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) to build highly available and resilient resources. However, just like how IT has functioned for the last few decades, when these services are not functioning, who gets blamed first? The network.

The network engineers of today have been building scalable and resilient networks for decades and the networks running within AWS cloud environments are no different. AWS cloud computing teams need engineers and architects with strong networking capabilities to support the design and deployment of networks just as they do on-premises. However, networking in the public cloud differs from the way things are done on-premises. Network operators need to be able to effectively build and operate complex networks within AWS to function as an extension of the enterprise networks they are responsible for.

This is the purpose of the AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty (ANS-C01) exam: to demonstrate the skills and knowledge to build and maintain AWS cloud networks. As defined by the blueprint for this exam, individuals looking to take this exam should be able to perform the following tasks:

• Design and deploy core networking functionality within and across AWS accounts
• Implement hybrid networking solutions to connect with traditional networks and third-party networks
• Integrate other core AWS services with networking solutions for functionality with DNS, load balancing, and content distribution
• Implement security within AWS networks utilizing native services and constructs
• Deploy AWS network solutions using infrastructure as code (IaC) for optimization and automation
• Operate AWS networks using native analysis tools and services

The goal of this book is to prepare candidates specifically for the ANS-C01 version of the AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty exam. This book will not only cover the topics outlined in the exam blueprint but also provide real-world examples about operating AWS cloud networks from the experience of the authors.