SAA-C03 Question #212: Real Exam Question with Answer & Explanation

Question

A solutions architect is investigating compute options for a critical analytics application. The application uses long-running processes to prepare and aggregate data. The processes cannot be interrupted. The application has a known baseline load. The application needs to handle occasional usage surges. Which solution will meet these requirements MOST cost-effectively?

Options

• ACreate an Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling group. Set the Min capacity and Desired capacity
• BCreate an Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling group. Set the Min capacity, Max capacity, and Desired
• CCreate an Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling group. Set the Min capacity and Desired capacity
• DRe-architect the application to use AWS Lambda functions instead of Amazon EC2 instances.

Explanation

Find the most cost-effective compute solution for a critical analytics application with long-running, uninterruptible processes, a known baseline load, and occasional usage surges.

Common mistakes.

• A. Setting only Min capacity and Desired capacity means the Auto Scaling group will not scale out to handle occasional usage surges, failing to meet that requirement.
• B. Using Spot Instances is unsuitable for processes that 'cannot be interrupted' because Spot Instances can be terminated by AWS with two minutes of notice, leading to data loss or process restarts.
• D. Re-architecting to AWS Lambda functions would likely exceed Lambda's execution duration limits (15 minutes) for 'long-running processes' that prepare and aggregate data, making it an unsuitable and potentially more expensive option for this use case.

Concept tested. EC2 Auto Scaling, On-Demand vs Spot, cost-effectiveness

Reference. https://docs.aws.amazon.com/autoscaling/ec2/userguide/AutoScalingGroup.html

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