Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A company operates a seasonal e-commerce website. During holiday sales, traffic can increase by 500% within minutes. The company uses AWS Auto Scaling to automatically add Amazon EC2 instances when CPU utilization exceeds a threshold and remove instances during off-peak hours. The company pays only for the compute capacity it actually consumes, with no upfront commitment. This scenario best demonstrates which essential characteristics of cloud computing?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Best answer
Rapid elasticity and measured service
Correct. Rapid elasticity allows automatic scaling of resources in response to demand changes, as shown by adding and removing instances. Measured service means the provider meters usage and charges only for consumed resources – the company pays only for actual compute capacity.
B
Distractor review
On-demand self-service and broad network access
Incorrect. While on-demand self-service (provisioning without human interaction) is present in the scenario, it is not the primary focus. Broad network access refers to resources accessible over the network via standard protocols, which is also true but not the key characteristic demonstrated.
C
Distractor review
Resource pooling and high availability
Incorrect. Resource pooling means the provider's physical resources are shared among multiple customers, which is not highlighted here. High availability refers to system uptime and fault tolerance, not scaling or pay-per-use.
D
Distractor review
Fault tolerance and disaster recovery
Incorrect. Fault tolerance and disaster recovery are design principles for resilience against failures. The scenario does not describe any failure event or recovery process; it focuses on scaling and cost alignment.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
- Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
- Underline the problem statement mentally.
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A developer needs to launch a test server for a new application prototype. The developer logs into the AWS Management Console, selects an Amazon EC2 instance type, configures the security group, and starts the instance. The instance is running within two minutes, and the developer did not need to submit a formal request to the company's IT procurement team or wait for approval from a cloud administrator. Which essential characteristic of cloud computing does this scenario best demonstrate?
Question 2
A solutions architect is planning a new web application on AWS. The workload will include 3 Amazon EC2 instances (t3.medium) running 24/7, an Application Load Balancer, and an Amazon RDS for MySQL db.t3.small database. The architect needs to estimate the monthly cost for the first year, considering different purchasing options (On-Demand, 1-year All Upfront Reserved Instance, and Compute Savings Plan). Which AWS tool should the architect use to create this estimate?
Question 3
A company's development team frequently needs temporary test environments. A developer can log into the AWS Management Console, select an Amazon EC2 instance type, configure storage, and launch the instance within minutes without any interaction with the IT infrastructure team. This capability is an example of which essential characteristic of cloud computing?
Question 4
A company's finance team needs to analyze AWS spending in detail. They require a report that includes hourly cost data for each AWS service, each individual resource (e.g., a specific EC2 instance), and any cost allocation tags applied. The team plans to export this data to an Amazon S3 bucket and then import it into a custom business intelligence (BI) analytics dashboard. Which AWS tool should the finance team use to generate this level of detailed cost data?
Question 5
A company uses AWS for its development environment. The finance team wants to set a monthly budget of $10,000. They want to receive an email notification when the actual costs reach 80% of the budget ($8,000) and again when costs exceed the budget. The team needs a managed AWS service that can automatically send these alerts without requiring custom code or third-party tools. Which AWS service should the team use?
Question 6
A company uses AWS Organizations to manage multiple accounts. The security team needs to enforce a policy that restricts SSH access (port 22) from the internet (0.0.0.0/0) in all VPCs across all accounts. The team wants to centrally define the allowed rules and automatically apply them to newly created VPCs and security groups, while also automatically remediating any existing non-compliant security groups. Which AWS service should the team use?
FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this CLF-C02 question test?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Rapid elasticity and measured service — The scenario clearly illustrates rapid elasticity (the ability to quickly scale resources up and down based on demand) and measured service (usage is metered and customers pay only for what they consume). These are two of the five essential characteristics defined by the NIST SP 800-145 framework for cloud computing. The other options either pair incorrect characteristics or describe different aspects of cloud computing.
What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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