- A
Purchase SageMaker Savings Plans for the endpoint
Why wrong: Savings Plans provide discounts for consistent usage but require a commitment; they do not reduce cost for idle time.
- B
Deploy as a serverless endpoint
Serverless endpoints scale down to zero during inactivity, reducing costs for intermittent usage.
- C
Use a batch transform job for each request
Why wrong: Batch transform is designed for bulk inference on a dataset, not for real-time or intermittent inference requests.
- D
Deploy as a real-time endpoint with a multi-model endpoint
Why wrong: Multi-model endpoints do not scale to zero; they incur costs even when idle.
Question 387 of 1,000
MLA-C01 Practice Question: ML Solution Monitoring, Maintenance, and Security
This MLA-C01 practice question tests your understanding of ml solution monitoring, maintenance, and security. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company plans to deploy a large foundation model using SageMaker JumpStart. They are concerned about costs because the model will be used intermittently. Which deployment option is MOST cost-effective for intermittent traffic?
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
✓
Deploy as a serverless endpoint
Serverless endpoints in SageMaker automatically scale to zero when not in use, so you pay only for the compute time consumed during inference requests. This makes them the most cost-effective option for intermittent traffic, as you avoid paying for idle compute capacity.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Purchase SageMaker Savings Plans for the endpoint
Why it's wrong here
Savings Plans provide discounts for consistent usage but require a commitment; they do not reduce cost for idle time.
- ✓
Deploy as a serverless endpoint
Why this is correct
Serverless endpoints scale down to zero during inactivity, reducing costs for intermittent usage.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use a batch transform job for each request
Why it's wrong here
Batch transform is designed for bulk inference on a dataset, not for real-time or intermittent inference requests.
- ✗
Deploy as a real-time endpoint with a multi-model endpoint
Why it's wrong here
Multi-model endpoints do not scale to zero; they incur costs even when idle.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse 'multi-model endpoints' with 'serverless' and assume they both scale to zero, but multi-model endpoints still run on provisioned instances that incur hourly costs regardless of traffic.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SageMaker serverless endpoints use AWS Lambda-like scaling, where the underlying compute is provisioned on-demand per invocation and released after a configurable idle timeout (default 5 minutes). This is ideal for spiky or unpredictable workloads, but cold starts can add latency (typically 1–10 seconds) as the container initializes, which is a trade-off to consider for latency-sensitive applications.
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.
TExam Day Tips
- 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.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
What to study next
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this MLA-C01 question test?
ML Solution Monitoring, Maintenance, and Security — This question tests ML Solution Monitoring, Maintenance, and Security — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Deploy as a serverless endpoint — Serverless endpoints in SageMaker automatically scale to zero when not in use, so you pay only for the compute time consumed during inference requests. This makes them the most cost-effective option for intermittent traffic, as you avoid paying for idle compute capacity.
What should I do if I get this MLA-C01 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
This MLA-C01 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 MLA-C01 exam.
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