hardMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
MLA-C01 Practice Question: A company uses SageMaker endpoints with…
A company uses SageMaker endpoints with auto-scaling based on CPU utilization. During a flash sale, latency increases despite low CPU. What should be done?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates assume CPU utilization is always the best scaling metric for compute-bound workloads, but the MLA-C01 exam specifically tests the understanding that inference endpoints can be I/O-bound, making request count or memory utilization more appropriate for auto-scaling.
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
✓
Use a custom metric such as memory utilization or request count for auto-scaling
CPU utilization is a poor scaling metric for inference workloads that are I/O or memory-bound. During a flash sale, increased request concurrency can cause queuing and latency spikes even when CPU is low. Using a custom metric like request count per instance or memory utilization directly reflects the load on the inference endpoint, enabling the Application Auto Scaling target tracking policy to scale out proactively before latency degrades.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Use a custom metric such as memory utilization or request count for auto-scaling
Why this is correct
Custom metrics can better capture the actual load and scale appropriately.
- ✗
Increase the instance size
Why it's wrong here
Larger instances may not address the root cause if CPU is not the bottleneck.
- ✗
Disable auto-scaling and use a larger instance
Why it's wrong here
This is a static solution; does not handle varying traffic efficiently.
- ✗
Switch to GPU instances
Why it's wrong here
GPU instances are for specialized workloads; not necessarily fixing scaling based on wrong metric.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.