- A
Purchase a Compute Savings Plan for the steady Fargate and Lambda usage.
Compute Savings Plans apply across EC2, Fargate, Lambda, and other supported compute services, so they fit steady mixed compute well.
- B
Purchase Standard Reserved Instances for the steady Fargate and Lambda usage.
Why wrong: Standard Reserved Instances are narrower and do not cover Lambda or Fargate usage, so they are too inflexible here.
- C
Run the batch render farm on Spot Instances.
Spot Instances are ideal for interruptible workloads that can tolerate eviction and restart, which lowers the batch cost substantially.
- D
Use On-Demand Instances for the batch render farm to avoid interruptions.
Why wrong: On-Demand avoids interruptions, but it does not provide the cost savings the scenario asks for on a fault-tolerant batch fleet.
- E
Move the render farm to Dedicated Hosts to improve price predictability.
Why wrong: Dedicated Hosts are for isolation and licensing controls, not for minimizing cost on an interruptible batch workload.
Quick Answer
The answer is a Compute Savings Plan for the always-on inventory API and Spot Instances for the batch render farm. A Compute Savings Plan is the correct choice for the steady Fargate and Lambda workloads because it provides the lowest predictable discount—up to 66% off On-Demand—while automatically covering both services without requiring instance family or regional commitments, making it ideal for mixed, always-on compute. For the interruptible batch jobs, Spot Instances offer the lowest possible cost, often 70-90% cheaper than On-Demand, perfectly matching workloads that can be retried. On the SAA-C03 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between Savings Plans (which give predictable, flexible discounts across compute services) and Spot Instances (which trade reliability for maximum savings). A common trap is choosing a Reserved Instance, which lacks the flexibility to cover Fargate and Lambda. Memory tip: “Steady savings with a Plan, spotty jobs on the Spot.”
SAA-C03 Design Secure Architectures Practice Question
This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design secure architectures. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 steady inventory API on AWS Fargate and AWS Lambda during the day, plus a nightly batch render farm on EC2 that can be interrupted and retried. The finance team wants the lowest predictable discount for the always-on compute and the lowest possible cost for the batch jobs. Which two purchasing choices should the architect recommend? Select two.
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"always"Why it matters: Absolute qualifier. An answer using 'always' is only correct if there are genuinely no exceptions — absolute statements are often wrong in networking.
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
Purchase a Compute Savings Plan for the steady Fargate and Lambda usage.
Option A is correct because a Compute Savings Plan offers the lowest predictable discount (up to 66% compared to On-Demand) and automatically applies to Fargate and Lambda usage, covering the always-on inventory API without requiring instance family or region commitments. This provides flexibility while still delivering significant savings over On-Demand pricing.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Purchase a Compute Savings Plan for the steady Fargate and Lambda usage.
Why this is correct
Compute Savings Plans apply across EC2, Fargate, Lambda, and other supported compute services, so they fit steady mixed compute well.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "always" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Purchase Standard Reserved Instances for the steady Fargate and Lambda usage.
Why it's wrong here
Standard Reserved Instances are narrower and do not cover Lambda or Fargate usage, so they are too inflexible here.
- ✓
Run the batch render farm on Spot Instances.
Why this is correct
Spot Instances are ideal for interruptible workloads that can tolerate eviction and restart, which lowers the batch cost substantially.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "always" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use On-Demand Instances for the batch render farm to avoid interruptions.
Why it's wrong here
On-Demand avoids interruptions, but it does not provide the cost savings the scenario asks for on a fault-tolerant batch fleet.
- ✗
Move the render farm to Dedicated Hosts to improve price predictability.
Why it's wrong here
Dedicated Hosts are for isolation and licensing controls, not for minimizing cost on an interruptible batch workload.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Reserved Instances (which apply only to EC2) with Savings Plans (which cover Fargate and Lambda), leading them to select Standard Reserved Instances for serverless workloads, which is incorrect.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
On-Demand avoids interruptions, but it does not provide the cost savings the scenario asks for on a fault-tolerant batch fleet.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Compute Savings Plans apply to any compute usage across EC2, Fargate, and Lambda, with a 1- or 3-year term, providing up to 66% discount over On-Demand. Spot Instances can offer up to 90% discount and are ideal for fault-tolerant, interruptible workloads like batch rendering; they can be integrated with EC2 Auto Scaling and Spot Fleet to handle interruptions gracefully. The combination of a Savings Plan for steady-state serverless compute and Spot for batch jobs achieves the lowest cost while maintaining predictability for the always-on workload.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAA-C03 question test?
Design Secure Architectures — This question tests Design Secure Architectures — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Purchase a Compute Savings Plan for the steady Fargate and Lambda usage. — Option A is correct because a Compute Savings Plan offers the lowest predictable discount (up to 66% compared to On-Demand) and automatically applies to Fargate and Lambda usage, covering the always-on inventory API without requiring instance family or region commitments. This provides flexibility while still delivering significant savings over On-Demand pricing.
What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "always". Absolute qualifier. An answer using 'always' is only correct if there are genuinely no exceptions — absolute statements are often wrong in networking.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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