This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design high-performing architectures. 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 runs a stateless application tier behind an Application Load Balancer. Match each observed scaling pattern on the left to the best Auto Scaling strategy or metric on the right.
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue: "best"
Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Drag a concept onto its matching description — or click a concept then click the description.
Scale the Auto Scaling group on ALB RequestCountPerTarget.
Scale on SQS queue depth using a custom CloudWatch metric.
Use scheduled scaling to add capacity before the recurring surge.
Use target tracking on EC2 CPUUtilization.
Correct answer & explanation
Steady increase uses step scaling for gradual adjustments; sudden spikes use simple scaling; cyclical patterns use scheduled scaling; consistent low traffic may need no scaling; unpredictable bursts use target tracking; gradual decrease uses simple scaling.
Key principle: NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Common exam traps
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Detailed technical explanation
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
Key takeaway
NAT direction and interface roles matter as much as the IP address mapping. Inside/outside designation controls which traffic is translated.
Real-world example
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related SAA-C03 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
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FAQ
Design High-Performing Architectures — This question tests Design High-Performing Architectures — Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address..
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic: NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Review the four NAT address types (inside local, inside global, outside local, outside global), PAT port overload, and static vs dynamic NAT use cases. Then practise related SAA-C03 NAT questions on configuration and troubleshooting.
Yes — watch for: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
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Last reviewed: May 17, 2026
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.
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