SAA-C03 Design High-Performing Architectures Practice Question
A video transcoding application runs on EC2 instances. The processing is highly CPU-intensive and can be interrupted if the job is resumed later. Which compute strategy offers the best cost-performance balance?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates might choose On-Demand instances out of concern for interruption, missing the specific clue that the transcoding workload is fault-tolerant and capable of resuming, making it ideal for cheap Spot Instances.
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 Spot Instances for the transcoding tasks.
Spot Instances provide up to a 90% discount over On-Demand pricing. Since the transcoding workload is fault-tolerant and capable of resuming work, it is a perfect candidate for Spot Instances. By using an Auto Scaling group with a mix of Spot and On-Demand instances, the application can achieve high performance at a fraction of the cost, utilizing cheaper capacity while maintaining a safety net of On-Demand instances.
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 Reserved Instances for the entire workload.
Why it's wrong here
Reserved Instances require a long-term commitment and are best for predictable, steady-state workloads. Since the transcoding application's processing needs might vary, paying for fixed capacity is inefficient compared to using Spot Instances for burstable or highly flexible workloads that can handle interruptions and dynamic scaling requirements.
- ✗
Use On-Demand instances for all processing tasks.
Why it's wrong here
On-Demand instances are expensive for large-scale, CPU-intensive batch processing. While they offer reliability, they do not provide the cost efficiency required for this workload type. Spot Instances are explicitly designed for workloads like transcoding where cost savings are prioritized over constant, guaranteed availability of specific instances.
- ✓
Use Spot Instances for the transcoding tasks.
Why this is correct
Spot Instances are ideal for fault-tolerant, batch-oriented workloads like video transcoding. They offer significant cost savings, and since the application can handle interruptions by resuming jobs, the risk associated with Spot capacity reclamation is mitigated, resulting in an optimal high-performance and low-cost architectural design for this specific use case.
- ✗
Use Dedicated Hosts for the transcoding tasks.
Why it's wrong here
Dedicated Hosts are used for compliance and licensing requirements where physical server isolation is mandatory. They are the most expensive compute option and provide no performance benefit for this type of distributed transcoding workload. Using them would unnecessarily inflate costs without improving the actual processing throughput of the application.
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Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Amazon Web Services exam blueprint
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