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Question 239 of 1,040

Design Cost-Optimized Architectures →mediumMultiple SelectObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The correct actions are to set the CloudWatch Logs retention period to 7 days and export the logs to Amazon S3 for the full 90-day audit requirement. This reduces cost because CloudWatch Logs charges for storage and searchable data, so by deleting logs older than 7 days you eliminate ongoing storage and search fees, while S3 provides extremely cheap storage with no search costs for archived logs. On the SAA-C03 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of balancing operational needs with cost optimization—a common trap is keeping logs searchable in CloudWatch for the full 90 days, which would incur unnecessary expense. The key insight is that CloudWatch is for real-time search and monitoring, while S3 or S3 Glacier is for long-term, low-cost archival. Memory tip: think "7 for search, 90 for archive"—keep only a week hot in CloudWatch, then ship cold to S3.

SAA-C03 Design Cost-Optimized Architectures Practice Question

This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design cost-optimized 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 development team stores application logs in Amazon CloudWatch Logs and has enabled detailed EC2 monitoring on every instance. Auditors require the logs to be retained for 90 days, but the operations team only needs the last 7 days to remain searchable in CloudWatch. Which two actions should they take to reduce monitoring cost? Select two.

Question 1mediummulti select

Full question →

A
Set the CloudWatch Logs retention period to 7 days and export or archive older logs in Amazon S3 or S3 Glacier for the remaining retention period.
CloudWatch Logs is the expensive searchable tier, so keeping only the last 7 days there reduces stored log volume and ongoing cost. Older logs can be archived to S3 or S3 Glacier to satisfy the 90-day retention requirement without paying CloudWatch prices for data that is rarely queried.
B
Disable detailed EC2 monitoring and rely on basic monitoring unless a one-minute metric collection interval is specifically required.
Detailed monitoring adds cost for each instance and is only justified when one-minute metrics are needed for autoscaling, troubleshooting, or compliance. If the team can work with the default five-minute metrics, turning detailed monitoring off is an immediate and recurring savings.
C
Set the CloudWatch Logs retention period to 90 days so everything stays searchable in CloudWatch.
Why wrong: This meets the retention requirement but keeps all logs in the more expensive searchable store. The scenario says only 7 days must remain searchable in CloudWatch, so retaining 90 days there is unnecessary spend.
D
Send logs to DynamoDB because it is cheaper for long-term retention.
Why wrong: DynamoDB is not a log archive service and is not a good fit for time-based log retention. It does not provide the right cost model or retrieval pattern for archived logs.
E
Enable detailed monitoring only during peak business hours on every instance.
Why wrong: Time-based toggling adds operational complexity and still leaves the team paying for detailed monitoring during many periods when it is unnecessary. The cleaner cost reduction is to use basic monitoring by default and archive logs outside CloudWatch.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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

✓

Set the CloudWatch Logs retention period to 7 days and export or archive older logs in Amazon S3 or S3 Glacier for the remaining retention period.

Option A is correct because CloudWatch Logs charges for data storage and search capabilities. By setting the retention period to 7 days, logs older than 7 days are automatically deleted from CloudWatch, eliminating ongoing storage and search costs. Exporting or archiving these logs to Amazon S3 or S3 Glacier satisfies the 90-day audit requirement at a much lower cost, as S3 and Glacier have minimal storage fees and no search costs.

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.

✓
Set the CloudWatch Logs retention period to 7 days and export or archive older logs in Amazon S3 or S3 Glacier for the remaining retention period.
Why this is correct
CloudWatch Logs is the expensive searchable tier, so keeping only the last 7 days there reduces stored log volume and ongoing cost. Older logs can be archived to S3 or S3 Glacier to satisfy the 90-day retention requirement without paying CloudWatch prices for data that is rarely queried.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Disable detailed EC2 monitoring and rely on basic monitoring unless a one-minute metric collection interval is specifically required.
Why this is correct
Detailed monitoring adds cost for each instance and is only justified when one-minute metrics are needed for autoscaling, troubleshooting, or compliance. If the team can work with the default five-minute metrics, turning detailed monitoring off is an immediate and recurring savings.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Set the CloudWatch Logs retention period to 90 days so everything stays searchable in CloudWatch.
Why it's wrong here
This meets the retention requirement but keeps all logs in the more expensive searchable store. The scenario says only 7 days must remain searchable in CloudWatch, so retaining 90 days there is unnecessary spend.
✗
Send logs to DynamoDB because it is cheaper for long-term retention.
Why it's wrong here
DynamoDB is not a log archive service and is not a good fit for time-based log retention. It does not provide the right cost model or retrieval pattern for archived logs.
✗
Enable detailed monitoring only during peak business hours on every instance.
Why it's wrong here
Time-based toggling adds operational complexity and still leaves the team paying for detailed monitoring during many periods when it is unnecessary. The cleaner cost reduction is to use basic monitoring by default and archive logs outside CloudWatch.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates may think keeping logs searchable in CloudWatch for the full 90 days is simpler and cost-effective, overlooking the fact that CloudWatch Logs storage and search costs far exceed S3/Glacier for long-term retention, and that detailed monitoring is an independent cost driver unrelated to log retention.

Trap categories for this question

Scenario analysis trap
This meets the retention requirement but keeps all logs in the more expensive searchable store. The scenario says only 7 days must remain searchable in CloudWatch, so retaining 90 days there is unnecessary spend.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

CloudWatch Logs charges $0.03 per GB for ingested data and $0.03 per GB per month for storage, with additional costs for log group searches (e.g., $0.005 per GB of data scanned by Insights queries). In contrast, S3 Standard storage costs ~$0.023 per GB per month, and S3 Glacier Deep Archive costs ~$0.001 per GB per month, with no search costs. Detailed EC2 monitoring (1-minute metrics) costs $3.50 per instance per month, while basic monitoring (5-minute metrics) is free; disabling it when not required directly reduces per-instance costs.

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

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this SAA-C03 question test?

Design Cost-Optimized Architectures — This question tests Design Cost-Optimized Architectures — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Set the CloudWatch Logs retention period to 7 days and export or archive older logs in Amazon S3 or S3 Glacier for the remaining retention period. — Option A is correct because CloudWatch Logs charges for data storage and search capabilities. By setting the retention period to 7 days, logs older than 7 days are automatically deleted from CloudWatch, eliminating ongoing storage and search costs. Exporting or archiving these logs to Amazon S3 or S3 Glacier satisfies the 90-day audit requirement at a much lower cost, as S3 and Glacier have minimal storage fees and no search costs.

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.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

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Same concept, more angles

1 more ways this is tested on SAA-C03

These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.

Variation 1. A team stores application logs in Amazon CloudWatch Logs. They enabled long retention and detailed dashboards, resulting in higher-than-expected monthly spend. Compliance requires retaining logs for 90 days, but operations only needs aggregated views. Which change most directly reduces CloudWatch Logs cost while meeting the requirement?

easy

✓ A.Set the CloudWatch Logs log group retention period to 90 days for the relevant log groups.
B.Disable VPC flow logs so the applications stop producing logs automatically.
C.Increase the logging level to DEBUG to reduce the number of log events by batching them.
D.Turn off CloudWatch alarms so logs stop being ingested into CloudWatch Logs.

Why A: Setting the CloudWatch Logs log group retention period to 90 days directly reduces storage costs by automatically expiring logs after the compliance-required duration. This eliminates the cost of storing logs beyond 90 days, which was the primary driver of the higher-than-expected spend, while still retaining the data for the mandated period and allowing aggregated views via dashboards.

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