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AWS Certified Machine Learning Study Guide. Associate (MLA-C01) Exam. Edition No. 1. Sybex Study Guide

  • Book

  • 416 Pages
  • September 2025
  • John Wiley and Sons Ltd
  • ID: 6055011
Prepare for the AWS Machine Learning exam smarter and faster and get job-ready with this efficient and authoritative resource

In AWS Certified Machine Learning Study Guide: Associate (MLA-C01) Exam, veteran AWS Practice Director at Trace3 - a leading IT consultancy offering AI, data, cloud and cybersecurity solutions for clients across industries - Dario Cabianca delivers a practical and up-to-date roadmap to preparing for the MLA-C01 exam. You'll learn the skills you need to succeed on the exam as well as those you need to hit the ground running at your first AI-related tech job.

You'll learn how to prepare data for machine learning models on Amazon Web Services, build, train, refine models, evaluate model performance, deploy and secure your machine learning applications against bad actors.

Inside the book: - Complimentary access to the Sybex online test bank, which includes an assessment test, chapter review questions, practice exam, flashcards, and a searchable key term glossary - Strategies for selecting and justifying an appropriate machine learning approach for specific business problems and identifying the most efficient AWS solutions for those problems - Practical techniques you can implement immediately in an artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) development or data science role

Perfect for everyone preparing for the AWS Certified Machine Learning Engineer ndash; Associate exam, AWS Certified Machine Learning Study Guide is also an invaluable resource for those preparing for their first role in AI or data science, as well as junior-level practicing professionals seeking to review the fundamentals with a convenient desk reference.

Table of Contents

Contents

Chapter 1Introduction to Machine Learning1

Understanding Artificial Intelligence2

Data, Information, Knowledge3

Data3

Information4

Knowledge5

Understanding Machine Learning6

ML Lifecycle6

Define ML Problem6

Collect Data8

Process Data8

Choose Algorithm8

Train Model9

Evaluate Model9

Deploy Model9

Derive Inference11

Monitor Model11

ML Concepts11

Features11

Target Variable12

Optimization Problem12

Objective Function13

ML Algorithms vs. ML Models13

Differences Between ML and AI14

Understanding Deep Learning16

Introduction to Neural Networks16

Structure of a Neural Network16

Neuron16

Input Layer18

Hidden Layers18

Output Layer18

How Neural Networks Work18

Neural Networks Types19

Artificial Neural Networks20

Deep Neural Networks20

Convolutional Neural Networks20

Recurrent Neural Networks20

Differences Between DL and ML21

Case Studies21

Case Study 1: Mobileye’s Autonomous Driving Technology21

Case Study 2: Leidos’ Healthcare ML Applications21

Summary22

Exam Essentials23

Review Questions24

Chapter 2Data Ingestion and Storage27

Introducing Ingestion and Storage28

Ingesting and Storing Data28

Data Formats and Ingestion Techniques31

Choosing AWS Ingestion Services34

Amazon Data Firehose35

Amazon Kinesis Data Streams35

Amazon Managed Streaming for Apache Kafka (MSK)36

Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink38

AWS DataSync39

AWS Glue40

Choosing AWS Storage Services41

Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3)42

Amazon Elastic File System (EFS)45

Amazon FSx for Lustre47

Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP49

Amazon FSx for Windows File Server50

Amazon FSx for OpenZFS51

Amazon Elastic Block Storage (EBS)51

Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS)52

Amazon DynamoDB52

Troubleshooting53

Summary54

Exam Essentials55

Review Questions57

Chapter 4Model Selection61

Understanding AWS AI Services63

Vision64

Amazon Rekognition64

Amazon Textract65

Speech66

Amazon Polly66

Amazon Transcribe67

Language67

Amazon Translate67

Amazon Comprehend68

Chatbot69

Amazon Lex69

Recommendation70

Amazon Personalize70

Generative AI71

Amazon Bedrock71

Developing Models with Amazon SageMaker Built-in Algorithms81

Supervised ML Algorithms81

General Regression and Classification Algorithms83

Recommendation102

Forecasting104

Unsupervised ML Algorithms105

Clustering105

Dimensionality Reduction113

Topic Modeling119

Anomaly Detection121

Textual Analysis123

BlazingText124

Sequence-to-Sequence126

Image Processing127

Image Classification127

Object Detection128

Semantic Segmentation130

Criteria for Model Selection131

Summary132

Exam Essentials133

Review Questions136

Chapter 5Model Training and Evaluation141

Training143

Local Training144

Remote Training145

Distributed Training146

Monitoring Training Jobs147

Debugging Training Jobs148

Hyperparameter Tuning149

Model Parameter and Hyperparameter151

Exploring the Hyperparameter Space with Amazon SageMaker AI Automatic Model Tuning152

Evaluation Metrics154

Classification Problem Metrics154

Regression Problem Metrics160

Hyperparameter Tuning Techniques164

Manual Search164

Grid Search165

Random Search165

Bayesian Search165

Multi-algorithm Optimization166

Managing Bias and Variance Trade-Off166

Addressing Overfitting and Underfitting168

Underfitting168

Overfitting170

Regularization170

Advanced Techniques173

Model Performance Evaluation173

Performance Evaluation Methods173

K-Fold Cross-Validation174

Random Train-Test Split175

Holdout Set176

Bootstrap176

Evaluating Foundation Models177

Automatic Evaluations177

Human Evaluations177

LLM-as-a-Judge177

Programmatic Evaluations177

Knowledge Base Evaluations177

Deep Dive Model Tuning Example177

Summary185

Exam Essentials187

Review Questions190

Chapter 6Model Deployment and Orchestration193

AWS Model Deployment Services194

Deploying AI Services195

Amazon Rekognition196

Amazon Textract197

Amazon Polly197

Amazon Transcribe198

Amazon Comprehend198

Amazon Lex199

Amazon Personalize199

Amazon Bedrock200

Deploying Your Model201

Infrastructure Selection Considerations202

Managed Model Deployments203

Unmanaged Model Deployments211

Optimizing ML Models for Edge Devices216

Advanced Model Deployment Techniques218

Autoscaling Endpoints218

Deployment and Testing Strategies221

Blue/Green Deployment221

Orchestrating ML Workflows227

Introducing Amazon SageMaker Pipelines228

Code Repository and Version Control228

Introducing Amazon SageMaker Model Registry229

CI/CD230

MLOps Orchestration230

AWS Step Functions231

Amazon Managed Workflows for Apache Airflow232

Choosing an Orchestration Tool232

Automating Model Building and Deployment233

Define the Workflow Steps234

Create and Configure Pipeline Steps234

Define the Pipeline237

Set Up Triggers and Schedules237

Execute the Pipeline238

Key Considerations238

Deep-Dive Model Deployment Example238

Summary247

Exam Essentials248

Review Questions250

Chapter 7Model Monitoring and Cost Optimization253

Monitoring Model Inference255

Drifts in Models256

Techniques to Monitor Data Quality and Model Performance257

Monitoring Workflow259

Design Principles for Monitoring261

Operational Excellence Pillar261

Security Pillar262

Reliability Pillar263

Performance Efficiency Pillar264

Cost Optimization Pillar266

Sustainability Pillar269

Monitoring Infrastructure and Cost270

Monitoring and Observability Services271

Amazon CloudWatch Logs Insights272

Amazon EventBridge273

AWS CloudTrail274

AWS X-Ray274

Amazon GuardDuty275

Amazon Inspector276

AWS Security Hub277

Cost Tracking and Optimization Services278

AWS Cost Explorer278

AWS Cost and Usage Reports279

AWS Trusted Advisor280

AWS Budgets280

Pricing Models281

Summary283

Exam Essentials284

Review Questions286

Chapter 8Model Security289

Security Design Principles290

Implement a Strong Identity Foundation290

Apply Security at all Layers291

Enable Traceability292

Protect Your Data (At-Rest, In-Use, and In-Transit)293

Automate Security Processes294

Prepare for Security Events295

Securing AWS Services295

Securing Identities with IAM296

Identities296

Access Policies302

Securing Infrastructure and Data305

Network Isolation with VPC305

Private Connectivity306

Data Protection306

Monitoring and Auditing307

Ensuring Compliance307

Summary308

Exam Essentials309

Review Questions311

 

Authors

Dario Cabianca