AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty

ANS-C01 · ● Active · Expert · AWS

Exam facts

Vendor source — AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty ↗

AWS Portal — AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty ↗

Official exam guide — ANS-C01 Exam Guide PDF ↗

Exam objectives — ANS-C01 Content Domains ↗

About

AWS Certified Advanced Networking – Specialty validates deep expertise in designing, implementing, and managing complex hybrid and multi-cloud network architectures on AWS. Launched July 2022 as the successor to ANS-C00, this certification targets network architects and cloud infrastructure engineers with 5+ years networking background. It emphasizes VPC design at scale, Direct Connect deployment patterns, SD-WAN integration, Route 53 hybrid DNS resolution, and network security governance — making it distinct from architect certs that touch networking as one domain.

Domain context — Networking / Cloud

Enterprise hyperscale cloud connectivity spanning VPC design, hybrid networking (Direct Connect, VPN, SD-WAN), multi-account Transit Gateway architectures, DNS resolution at scale, and network security/compliance.

Read full deep dive — AWS Ecosystem →

Topics covered

Official exam blueprint weights (4 domains):

• Network Design (30%) — VPC architecture, hybrid connectivity models, Transit Gateway design, Direct Connect, SD-WAN, multi-account networks
• Network Implementation (26%) — VPC peering, TGW setup, Direct Connect MACsec/LAG/BGP, VPN acceleration, Route 53 inbound/outbound endpoints, Network Firewall
• Network Management and Operation (20%) — Network Manager, CloudWatch metrics, VPC Flow Logs, route optimization, traffic analysis, cloud operations
• Network Security, Compliance, and Governance (24%) — IAM network policies, VPC endpoints (interface/gateway/GWLB), WAF, Shield, GuardDuty network insights, traffic mirroring, compliance automation

Source: AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty Exam Guide ↗

Common skills at Networking · Expert

Shared content for the Networking domain at Expert level — not specific to ANS-C01.

• BGP (Border Gateway Protocol): Large-scale multi-path routing, BGP communities, route aggregation, failover patterns
• OSPF & IS-IS: Interior routing protocol architecture, multi-area design, convergence tuning, MPLS LSP interaction
• MPLS / VRF: Virtual routing and forwarding for multi-tenant isolation, MPLS tunneling, service provider backbone patterns
• Hybrid connectivity: On-prem to cloud bridging, redundancy, failover, bandwidth management, encryption
• IPv6 at scale: Dual-stack architecture, address planning for large enterprises, migration strategies
• Multicast & traffic engineering: PIM, source trees, multicast DNS, traffic steering, QoS hierarchies
• Network automation: Intent-based design, declarative config (Terraform/CloudFormation), policy as code, CI/CD for infrastructure

Recommended courses at Networking · Expert

Course-selection rule: Each course listed is ANS-C01 specific. Adrian Cantrill and Pluralsight are top recommendations for hands-on lab depth; AWS Skill Builder is official and included in many enterprise subscriptions.

Practice exams

Books

Typical job titles at Networking · Expert

Cloud Network Architect · AWS Network Engineer · Hybrid Network Architect · Senior Network Engineer (Cloud) · DevNet Cloud Engineer · Infrastructure Architect (Network) · Principal Network Engineer

(Job titles drawn from current job-board postings that list ANS-C01 or equivalent cloud networking expertise as required or preferred.)

Salary

Salary rule: ANS-C01 typically commands a 15–20% premium over general AWS architect roles due to specialization depth. Salary varies by geography, years of networking experience (5+ baseline), and company size. ZAR figures for senior networking roles in RSA tech sector.

Skills validated

Cert-specific — what ANS-C01 actually tests, distinct from shared Networking · Expert skills above.

• VPC peering vs. Transit Gateway: Architecture selection, shared TGW design patterns, multi-account sharing via RAM
• Transit Gateway (TGW) advanced: TGW Connect for SD-WAN, Central Egress, RouteThru Transit, cross-region peering
• AWS Network Manager: Visual topology, on-prem link integration, intent-based routing, cloud WAN
• AWS Direct Connect: Private/Public/Transit VIFs, MACsec encryption, LAG (Link Aggregation Group), BGP communities, resilience patterns
• Direct Connect resilience: Multi-site active-active, failover strategies, BFD integration, prefixes announced
• Site-to-Site VPN: BGP dynamic routing, VPN acceleration (accelerated VPN), ECMP (equal-cost multipath), tunnel optimization
• AWS Cloud WAN: Centralized policy application, multi-cloud integration, SD-WAN as alternative transport
• Route 53 hybrid DNS: Inbound/outbound Resolver endpoints, hybrid.example.com patterns, multi-account DNS architecture
• Route 53 Application Recovery Controller: Cross-region failover automation, endpoint evaluation, readiness checks
• Global Accelerator: Static IP, DDoS protection, sub-millisecond routing, traffic steering
• CloudFront: Origin shield, geo-restriction, cache behaviors, Lambda@Edge security
• Network Firewall: Stateless/stateful rules, IDS/IPS integration, domain name filtering, encryption inspection
• AWS WAF: Rate-limiting, geo-blocking, IP reputation lists, rule groups
• Shield Advanced: DDoS detection + response team (DRT), cost protection, real-time alerts
• VPC Flow Logs: Capture at ENI/subnet/VPC level, analysis patterns, Security Hub integration
• GuardDuty for VPC: Network findings (unusual DNS queries, crypto mining, lateral movement), threat intelligence
• VPC endpoints (Interface): PrivateLink for SaaS access, endpoint policies, DNS resolution per-AZ
• VPC endpoints (Gateway): S3/DynamoDB selective routing, resource policies, multi-VPC access
• Gateway Load Balancer (GWLB): Network virtual appliances, appliance auto-scaling, cross-zone support
• Traffic Mirroring: Packet capture for IDS/IPS, SPAN equivalent, source/target rules
• IPv6 dualstack VPC: Dual addressing, ENI IPv6 assignment, egress-only IGW, dual-stack load balancing
• Multi-account networking: Service Control Policies (SCPs) for network compliance, CloudFormation StackSets for TGW expansion
• AWS Cloud Map: Service registry for hybrid networks, health checks, DNS-based service discovery
• BGP path selection: AS path prepending, local preference, MED (Multi-Exit Discriminator), weight
• Hybrid DNS resolution: .local vs. .internal, conditional forwarders, split-view DNS at scale
• Network performance tuning: Jumbo frames (MTU 9000), TCP window scaling, EC2 placement groups, network acceleration
• Terraform/CloudFormation for IaC: VPC module composition, TGW resource automation, drift detection

Related certifications

• Stacks with: AWS Solutions Architect Professional (SAP-C02) ↗
• Prerequisite for: AWS Principal Architect certification (if launched) ↗ · Enterprise migrations requiring hybrid networking expertise
• Replaces: ANS-C00 (retired Aug 9, 2022)
• Equivalents at this level: Cisco CCNP Enterprise + CCNP Security (advanced routing/switching + security) · Azure AZ-700 (Azure Network Engineer Expert) · Juniper JNCIE-Cloud (cloud networking at expert depth)
• Vendor overview: AWS Vendor Overview ↗

Sources

• AWS Certified Advanced Networking Specialty portal: https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-advanced-networking-specialty/
• ANS-C01 Exam Guide PDF: https://d1.awsstatic.com/training-and-certification/docs-advnetworking-spec/AWS-Certified-Advanced-Networking-Specialty_Exam-Guide.pdf
• AWS Network Manager documentation: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/network-manager/latest/tgwnm/
• AWS Direct Connect MACsec: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/directconnect/latest/UserGuide/direct-connect-mac-sec-getting-started.html
• AWS Route 53 Resolver endpoints: https://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/resolver-getting-started.html
• Glassdoor Cloud Network Architect salary: https://www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/cloud-network-architect-salary-SRCH_KO0,25.htm
• Robert Half 2026 Tech Salary Guide: https://www.roberthalf.com/us/en/insights/salary-guide
• Levels.fyi AWS compensation: https://www.levels.fyi/
• IT Jobs Watch (UK): https://www.itjobswatch.co.uk/
• Pnet ZA salary data: https://www.pnet.co.za/
• Adrian Cantrill training: https://learn.cantrill.io/
• Tutorials Dojo practice exams: https://portal.tutorialsdojo.com/
• Whizlabs AWS courses: https://www.whizlabs.com/aws-certification/

Last verified: 2026-05-01
Parent ecosystem: AWS Ecosystem
Parent domain: Networking Domain
Vendor overview: AWS Vendor Overview