AWS Control Tower - Certified Solutions Architect Exam Guide

Overview of AWS Control Tower

AWS Control Tower is a service that simplifies the setup and governance of a secure, multi-account AWS environment. It provides a pre-configured environment with best-practice blueprints, automated guardrails, and centralized management, enabling organizations to efficiently manage their AWS environment.

Key Concepts for the Exam

Multi-Account Management

AWS Control Tower helps organizations set up and manage multiple AWS accounts in a structured manner, ensuring governance and compliance across the organization.

• Landing Zone: A pre-configured, secure environment that includes accounts, organizational units (OUs), and guardrails to enforce governance.
• Account Factory: A feature that automates the provisioning of new accounts using predefined account configurations and ensures compliance with organizational policies.

Automated Governance

AWS Control Tower automates the implementation of governance policies and compliance requirements across all accounts in an organization.

• Guardrails: Pre-configured policies that enforce rules such as security baselines, logging, and monitoring across all accounts.
• Compliance Dashboard: A centralized dashboard that provides visibility into the compliance status of all accounts and guardrails.
• Service Control Policies (SCPs): Enforce permissions at the organizational level to ensure that all accounts adhere to governance standards.

Security and Compliance

AWS Control Tower enables organizations to enforce security and compliance best practices consistently across their AWS environment.

• Security Baselines: Pre-configured security settings that ensure all accounts adhere to industry best practices.
• Logging and Monitoring: Automated logging and monitoring of activities across accounts using services like AWS CloudTrail and AWS Config.
• Data Protection: Encryption of data at rest and in transit, along with access controls to secure sensitive information.

Integration with Other AWS Services

AWS Control Tower integrates with various AWS services to provide a comprehensive governance solution.

• AWS Organizations: Used to structure and manage multiple AWS accounts and enforce policies across the organization.
• AWS SSO (Single Sign-On): Simplifies user access management by allowing centralized control over login credentials and permissions.
• AWS CloudFormation: Automates the provisioning of resources and infrastructure in the landing zone environment.
• AWS Config: Continuously monitors and records AWS resource configurations to ensure compliance with governance policies.

Common Exam Scenarios

• Designing a multi-account environment using AWS Control Tower that ensures governance and compliance across an organization.
• Implementing automated guardrails to enforce security and compliance policies in a multi-account environment.
• Integrating AWS Control Tower with AWS Organizations and AWS SSO for centralized management and access control.
• Using AWS Control Tower to monitor and ensure compliance with security baselines and logging requirements.

Exam Tips

• Understand the key components of AWS Control Tower, including landing zones, guardrails, and account factories.
• Be familiar with how AWS Control Tower integrates with other AWS services to provide governance and security.
• Know how to implement AWS Control Tower in various scenarios, such as setting up a multi-account environment and enforcing compliance.
• Practice designing solutions that leverage AWS Control Tower to automate governance and ensure compliance across an organization.