11 Important Questions and Answers for an AWS Interview (2022)
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a cloud platform that helps businesses build apps by using tools like templates and containers to speed up the development process. Amazon is a well-known name in all kinds of technology, and AWS is a popular platform for many websites and services, so enterprise developers need to know how to answer AWS interview questions. This article will tell you what to expect at an AWS interview and give you sample questions and answers to help you get ready.
What to expect at an interview with AWS?
If you have an AWS interview, you can expect most of the questions to be about your technical skills and experience with the platform. It’s likely that you’ll be able to show that you know about AWS and similar systems. Questions can be simple or hard to answer.
Some of the questions will be more general and will try to find out how well you do as an AWS developer. You might want to take an online refresher course on AWS before you go, and you should have a portfolio of your work ready to show.
Use the STAR method to answer interview questions about AWS to show how well you know it. STAR asks you to think about a time when you met a goal or faced a challenge, what your role was in solving the problem, what actions you took, and what the overall result was.
Example answers to common AWS interview questions
Before you go to an AWS developer interview, think about these AWS interview questions and sample answers:
- What is Amazon Web Services (AWS)?
- Describe the differences between AWS and open stack
- How can you improve how well Elastic Block works?
- How are on-demand and spot instances different?
- What is it called when an organization splits its work between the public cloud and its own servers?
- Show how to scale an Amazon Instance up and down.
- Explain in simple terms what the difference is between scaling up and scaling down.
- How many EC2 instances can be used in a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)?
- What feature lets you get rid of instances that aren’t working and replace them with new ones?
- What skills should an AWS developer have?
- Give an example of when you used Auto Scaling.
What is Amazon Web Services (AWS)?
This is an opening question that could be the first in a series of questions that get more complicated as they go on. To answer this, give a detailed explanation of what AWS is and what it does.
Example: “AWS is a platform for building software that makes it easier for companies to build web-based apps and services. Using AWS, businesses can build secure cloud services with features like databases, content delivery, different levels of computing power, and more.”
Describe the differences between AWS and open stack
Interviewers love compare and contrast questions because they give them a chance to ask about two related things in one question. If you want to answer this question, you should define both and talk about how they are the same and how they are different.
Example: “Both AWS and open stack are places to build software. They both have the same kind of user interface, but AWS has EC2 and OpenStack has Nova for computing, S3 and Swift for file storage, EBS and Cinder for block storage, and Swift and Nova for networking (AWS has a VPC while open stack does not). Also, AWS supports big data.”
How can you improve how well Elastic Block works?
This question asks about a certain trait that the employer might find important. To get ready for questions about features, study your AWS coursework or use online resources like this one to learn more about how AWS works.
Example: “Because people have different needs for performance, I like to start by figuring out what the level of performance should be. It may be necessary to make small changes over time to account for problems that may come up. Once I know what the performance should be, I can put certain software in place and do data striping across all volumes. It’s also important to look at performance on a regular basis and set up more rules if more performance improvement is needed.”
How are on-demand and spot instances different?
You can use critical thinking to explain complicated technical ideas by pointing out key differences. You should try to explain what each word means. Using the STAR method for answering interview questions, you can also use your experience as part of your answer.
Example: “Spot instances give developers a cheaper way to take care of non-essential tasks on the AWS platform. You would bid on these instances, and they would start once your bid was higher than the going price, which is based on supply and demand. The biggest problem with spot instances is that they can be ended at any time if the spot price is higher than the bid price. On-demand instances are made based on what the user wants and cost per hour. They can be let go when they are no longer needed.
During my time building services in AWS, I had to make a non-essential cloud service that would sync the phones of Applico Office Supplied Delivery delivery drivers. I chose a spot-instance because this was a service that was nice to have but didn’t have to be there for it to work. When I made the service, the drivers were better able to work together, and the company saved money.”
What is it called when an organization splits its work between the public cloud and its own servers?
This question gives you a situation that should make it easy for you to give a clear answer. In a question that asks you to name a specific approach, you can be brief. Give a clear answer to the question and a short definition.
“This is a hybrid cloud method for managing the cloud.”
Show how to scale an Amazon Instance up and down.
This question checks how well you understand a specific AWS idea called “scaling.” AWS has a lot of specifications that could be important to an employer, so it’s a good idea to make sure you know everything about how it’s used in business before you go to an interview. To answer this question, give clear and simple instructions for how to do vertical scaling.
Example: “To vertically scale on AWS, first create a new, larger instance of AWS and then stop the one you already have. While the process is paused, remove and throw away the server’s root EBS volume. Now stop the live instance to get rid of the root volume it already has. After writing down the ID number, move the root volume to the new server and start it up again.”
Explain in simple terms what the difference is between scaling up and scaling down.
When an interviewer asks you to explain something in a simple way, you can do two things. First, you need to answer the question correctly by giving the right information. Second, you need to use words that people outside of IT can understand.
Example: “Vertical scaling is a way to add more computing power to a machine that is already in use. When a company grows by adding more machines to its infrastructure, this is called horizontal scale.”
How many EC2 instances can be used in a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)?
This is a simple question about the basics that needs a short answer in the form of a value.
Example: “Your instance family can have up to 20 on-demand instances that are set to provide services. When you reach that limit, you can buy spot instances if you need more instances.”
What feature lets you get rid of instances that aren’t working and replace them with new ones?
When an employer asks about certain AWS functions, it could be a sign that they are important to their business. Try to write an answer that is clear and makes sense.
“Group Auto Scaling is the feature that lets you stop instances and start new ones.”
What skills should an AWS developer have?
This question gives you a chance to show how your skills relate to AWS development. You can give a thoughtful answer that includes a number of skills you think are important for the job.
“An AWS developer needs to know C#, Java, Python, have advanced computer networking skills, know how to fix problems with hardware, understand security features, and have experience with AWS.”
Give an example of when you used Auto Scaling.
This is a great chance to talk about your own experience and tell your potential employer about it. Do this by giving an example of how the Auto Scaling feature helped solve a problem.
Example: “As a developer for Render, I designed and built an Auto Scaling web service. I saw that the most people went to the website Monday through Friday between 10:30 and 12:30. I was able to set up the service so that it could handle more users during peak hours by using Auto Scaling. Because of this, all users got better service.”
