Question 1mediummultiple choice
Full question →mediummultiple choiceObjective-mapped
A company has a web application that processes customer orders. The frontend web servers run on Amazon EC2 instances and receive order requests from users. The backend order processing system runs on a separate fleet of EC2 instances. The company wants to decouple these two tiers so that order requests are stored reliably until the backend is ready to process them. The solution must handle occasional traffic spikes without losing any messages and must allow the backend to scale independently. Which AWS service should the company use to meet these requirements?
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
Distractor review
Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS)
Amazon SNS is a pub/sub messaging service; it pushes messages to subscribers but does not store messages persistently in a queue. If a subscriber is unavailable, messages may be lost. It is not suitable for reliable message storage until processing.
B
Best answer
Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS)
Amazon SQS is a fully managed message queuing service that decouples application components. It stores messages durably, handles traffic spikes, and allows independent scaling of producers and consumers. This matches all requirements.
C
Distractor review
Amazon Kinesis Data Streams
Amazon Kinesis Data Streams is designed for real-time streaming of large volumes of data. It is more complex than needed for simple order processing, requires shard management, and is not a simple queue. It also has limited retention periods.
D
Distractor review
AWS Step Functions
AWS Step Functions is a serverless orchestration service for coordinating multiple AWS services into workflows. It does not serve as a message queue and does not store messages directly; it manages state transitions.
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: Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS) — Decoupling application tiers is a best practice for building resilient and scalable architectures on AWS. Amazon SQS is the ideal service for this scenario because it provides a simple, durable, and highly available message queue. Messages are stored redundantly across multiple Availability Zones, and consumers can poll for messages at their own pace. This allows the backend to scale out during peak times without overwhelming the frontend, and messages are not lost if a consumer fails. SNS and Kinesis have different use cases, and Step Functions is for workflow orchestration.
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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