CLF-C02 Cloud Concepts Practice Question
A media company wants to move its video rendering farm to AWS. Render jobs are submitted unpredictably, and each job finishes in under two hours. The finance team wants to pay only for the compute capacity actually consumed and wants no long-term commitment. Which AWS pricing model best fits these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that any discount model is automatically better, when the requirement for no commitment and pay-for-use rules out Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, and Dedicated Hosts.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
On-Demand Instances for the render instances
On-Demand pricing charges per second with no upfront payment, no minimum commitment, and no long-term contract, which is ideal for unpredictable, short-duration workloads such as a render farm. Reserved Instances, Savings Plans, and Dedicated Hosts all assume some form of commitment or continuous allocation, making them a poorer fit for the stated requirements.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
A Savings Plan with a one-year compute commitment
Why it's wrong here
Savings Plans offer lower prices in exchange for a committed amount of hourly compute spend over one or three years. That commitment is precisely what the finance team wants to avoid for this unpredictable workload. If render volume drops, the company still owes the committed spend, so the model does not align with paying only for what is actually consumed. Reserved Instances and Savings Plans suit steady usage instead.
- ✗
Reserved Instances purchased with a three-year term
Why it's wrong here
Reserved Instances require a one- or three-year commitment in exchange for a discount, which conflicts with the finance team's explicit requirement for no long-term commitment. They are best suited to steady, predictable workloads that run continuously. Because the render jobs are unpredictable and short-lived, the company could end up paying for capacity it does not use, defeating the goal of paying only for what is consumed.
- ✗
Dedicated Hosts allocated for the rendering farm
Why it's wrong here
Dedicated Hosts provide a physical server fully dedicated to a single customer, which is typically used for licensing or compliance requirements. They are billed for the host regardless of how much of its capacity the render jobs consume, so idle time is still charged. That directly contradicts the finance team's goal of paying only for capacity actually used, and it adds unnecessary cost and management overhead.
- ✓
On-Demand Instances for the render instances
Why this is correct
On-Demand Instances let the company launch compute when jobs arrive and terminate it when jobs finish, paying per second with no upfront payment or commitment. This matches the unpredictable, sub-two-hour job pattern and the finance team's requirement to pay only for consumed capacity. It is the most flexible pricing model, though it carries no discount, which is acceptable given the stated priorities.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
This CLF-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CLF-C02 exam.