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MLA-C01 Practice Question: A company uses SageMaker endpoints with…
A company uses SageMaker endpoints with auto-scaling. The endpoint is experiencing high latency during peak hours. The metrics show CPU utilization is low but memory is high. What is the most likely cause?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often assume high latency always means CPU is the bottleneck, but the exam tests understanding that auto-scaling must be based on the correct metric; memory pressure can cause latency without CPU spikes, and a CPU-based policy will fail to scale.
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
✓
The auto-scaling policy is based on CPU utilization, which does not trigger scaling.
The auto-scaling policy is based on CPU utilization, which remains low during the memory-bound issue. Since the scaling trigger is not met, the endpoint does not add more instances to handle the increased load, leading to high latency. Memory pressure without CPU spikes indicates the bottleneck is memory, not compute, so a CPU-based metric fails to scale appropriately.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The model is not optimized for inference, causing memory leaks.
Why it's wrong here
Memory leaks could cause high memory but this is less common than scaling misconfiguration.
- ✓
The auto-scaling policy is based on CPU utilization, which does not trigger scaling.
Why this is correct
CPU is low so scaling not triggered, but memory high indicates need for more instances.
- ✗
The instance type has insufficient network bandwidth.
Why it's wrong here
Network bandwidth would not cause low CPU and high memory.
- ✗
The endpoint is deployed in a VPC without a NAT gateway.
Why it's wrong here
NAT gateway affects outbound internet access, not latency.
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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.