My experience of becoming a Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect
Preparing for the Google Cloud Platform Professional Cloud Architect Exam
My journey to becoming a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) Professional Architect started in April 2020, giving myself a little over 3 months to learn the material.
If you have been using GCP as part of your daily work, and you have a good technical knowledge, this is a good amount of background to have before taking the exam, however if you are new to the material, expect to give yourself a lot more time.
At the time of writing, Google Cloud offers a kickstarter program with free access to some of the tools below, making it a very accessible time to start your learning.
My notes below are based on personal experience, and everyone has their own path to success. Work out which tools suit your learning style, knuckle down regularly, and have fun as you go.
Recommended resources
A Cloud Guru (Formerly Linux Academy)
Google Cloud Certified Professional Cloud Architect
After asking successful exam passers what resources they would recommend, Linux Academies Professional Architect Course cropped up again and again. The course covers more of the smaller details of each of the solutions and tools, and has a full 50 question practice exam that feels pretty representative.
There is a monthly cost for the platform, however the resources are great, and thorough, plus they offer a 7 day free trial, well worth a look to see if the offering is right for you.
Qwiklabs
Cloud Architecture quest and Cloud Architecture: Design, Implement, and Manage
The primary platform that comes directly recommended by Google Cloud. Qwiklabs offers hands on experience on the platform, and checks your progress against the criteria of a lab as you go. It can be a bit fussy at times with naming of resources, but in general it’s a great way to get a true feel for the kind of knowledge you need.
Coursera (Soon to be retired)
Preparing for the Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect Exam
The Coursera course comes recommended, and taught by Google Cloud themselves, so it is a natural first step to learning the material. Each lesson is a bite size at around 5 minutes, and is sandwiched by hands-on labs that take a deeper dive into each topic. It looks to be retired in the coming months, but still is an invaluable tool that can cover handy tidbits.
Likely Topics
Disclaimer: Due to the nature of the GCP exam, and the terms of taking the exam, no specific details regarding questions that could come up are mentioned, instead, I am focusing on known guidance by Google as to likely topics that can help.
Literally Everything GCP offers
A little knowledge on all the areas of Google Cloud is a good thing. A question relating to any product could come up, so it’s good to have an overarching view of the platform. That being said, don’t stress about deep diving into every nook and cranny. A deep dive into Machine Learning isn’t going to be a good use of your time, but knowing what AutoML is compared to other products may help.
Kubernetes and the command line
Kubernetes is a rock of modern cloud architecture, and is a prominent feature of Google Cloud itself. Know your pods from your clusters, how to deploy, rolling updates, and what third party tools are commonplace.
Knowing the difference between CLI commands
Do you know the difference between when to use gsutil or gcloud in the terminal for a particular service? Commands like these are fundamental to using the platform, and understanding them at even the top level is important to any practitioner.
Understanding what the case studies are looking for
Everyone says it, but it’s true. The better you know the case studies, the smoother your journey will be. Do you know what has a GCP ‘managed’ equivalent e.g. MySQL > Cloud SQL, and what is a priority for each ‘client’?
Know the different database types
You can save yourself a lot of pain by knowing your databases. Knowing the best time to use Cloud Spanner over Cloud Datastore, and the differences between BigTable and BigQuery will help you get whittle down to the correct solution to a thorny problem.
Know your networking (VPCs, VPNs, Subnets etc.)
A good part of the exam will be about communicating between cloud services, on premise, and the permissions to do so. Know your networking.
Remember the weird little bits
There are a few details that are more like trivia, but they can come up, so be aware of these little facts that pop up in the Coursera course. They are things that can trip folks up, and feel like GOTCHAs that people should be aware of.
You’ll be great
Most importantly, don’t stress about the exam, enjoy learning the content and using GCP. Give yourself plenty of time to study, and you will smash it. Good luck, and I hope you do well
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