SAA-C03 Design Cost-Optimized Architectures Practice Question
A data analytics company uses Amazon Redshift for complex queries. The workload is mostly consistent but experiences heavy spikes during the last three days of every month. What is the most cost-effective way to handle these spikes?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often think they need to resize the Redshift cluster or purchase reserved instances for monthly spikes, forgetting that Concurrency Scaling handles temporary high concurrency automatically.
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
✓
Enable Redshift Concurrency Scaling for the cluster.
Amazon Redshift Concurrency Scaling automatically adds transient cluster capacity to handle increases in concurrent queries. You are only charged for the time the scaling clusters are actually in use, and most clusters earn enough free credits to cover typical monthly spikes, making it more cost-effective than over-provisioning the main cluster.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Manually resize the Redshift cluster to a larger size during the last three days.
Why it's wrong here
Manual resizing (Classic Resize) can take several hours or even days depending on data volume, during which the cluster may be in read-only mode. While Elastic Resize is faster, both methods require manual intervention and involve paying for higher capacity 24/7 during those three days, which is less efficient than automated scaling.
- ✓
Enable Redshift Concurrency Scaling for the cluster.
Why this is correct
Concurrency Scaling is designed for exactly this scenario. It provides extra compute power when needed and scales back down when the spike is over. Since Redshift offers free Concurrency Scaling credits for every 24 hours the main cluster is running, the company may even handle these spikes at no additional cost.
- ✗
Use a Redshift Serverless workgroup for the monthly reporting tasks.
Why it's wrong here
Redshift Serverless is a great option for variable workloads, but migrating an existing, fine-tuned provisioned cluster to serverless just for a 3-day monthly spike is complex and potentially more expensive. Concurrency Scaling allows the company to keep their optimized provisioned cluster while handling spikes seamlessly and economically.
- ✗
Move the data to Amazon S3 and use Amazon Athena for the monthly spikes.
Why it's wrong here
While Athena is cost-effective (pay-per-query), it may not provide the same performance or support the complex SQL features utilized in the Redshift environment. Moving large datasets from Redshift to S3 monthly would also incur significant data movement and operational costs that would likely outweigh the savings from using Athena.
About these practice questions
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
This SAA-C03 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 SAA-C03 exam.