A company is launching a new application and expects user demand to grow gradually over the next 12 months. To control upfront costs, the company plans to start with a small number of Amazon EC2 instances and manually add more instances each month as the user base increases. The operations team will monitor usage and adjust capacity based on observed trends. Which cloud computing concept does this approach BEST illustrate?
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.
Distractor review
Elasticity
Elasticity involves automatically provisioning and de-provisioning resources in response to real-time demand changes, typically using Auto Scaling. The scenario describes manual, planned additions, not automatic scaling, so this is incorrect.
Best answer
Scalability
Scalability is the ability to increase capacity to handle greater load. The company's approach of manually adding EC2 instances as user demand grows is a direct example of scaling up over time, making this the correct answer.
Distractor review
High availability
High availability focuses on minimizing downtime and ensuring application access through redundant resources and failover mechanisms. This scenario does not mention redundancy or failure recovery, so this option is incorrect.
Distractor review
Fault tolerance
Fault tolerance is the ability to maintain operation even when components fail, often requiring built-in redundancy. The scenario discusses adding capacity for growth, not handling failures, so this option is incorrect.
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: Scalability — Scalability is the ability of a system to handle increased load by adding resources. In this scenario, the company is manually adding EC2 instances to accommodate growing demand, which is a demonstration of scalability. Elasticity (option A) refers to the ability to automatically scale resources up or down in response to real-time demand changes, which is not the case here because scaling is manual and planned. High availability (option C) focuses on ensuring the application remains accessible despite failures, often through redundant resources across multiple Availability Zones. Fault tolerance (option D) is the ability of a system to continue operating after a component failure without interruption. While all are important cloud concepts, the described manual, growth-driven addition of resources best represents scalability.
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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