- A
Buy Compute Savings Plans for the expected steady usage.
Compute Savings Plans reduce the hourly cost of predictable usage while preserving flexibility across supported compute services. They are a strong fit when the workload is steady and the team wants savings without interruption risk.
- B
Purchase Standard Reserved Instances for the EC2 fleet.
Standard Reserved Instances are designed for steady EC2 usage in a specific Region and can significantly lower the effective hourly rate versus On-Demand. They align well with a one-year predictable workload that must remain continuously available.
- C
Move the fleet to Spot Instances.
Why wrong: Spot Instances can be much cheaper, but they may be interrupted when spare capacity is reclaimed. That directly conflicts with the requirement to avoid capacity interruptions for a continuously running application.
- D
Use Dedicated Hosts to reserve physical servers for the application.
Why wrong: Dedicated Hosts are typically chosen for licensing or isolation requirements, not for the lowest general-purpose compute price. They usually cost more than commitment-based pricing options for a normal steady-state workload.
- E
Stay entirely on On-Demand Instances because they are already the cheapest option.
Why wrong: On-Demand provides the highest flexibility, but it is not the lowest-cost model for predictable 24/7 usage. The scenario explicitly calls for reducing cost, which requires a commitment-based discount.
Quick Answer
The answer is Standard Reserved Instances and Compute Savings Plans. Both reduce costs versus On-Demand by requiring a 1- or 3-year commitment for predictable, steady-state workloads, with Reserved Instances offering up to 72% off for a specific instance family in a region and Compute Savings Plans providing up to 66% off with flexible coverage across instance families, regions, and even Fargate or Lambda. On the SAA-C03 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between commitment-based discounts that guarantee no capacity interruptions—a common trap is choosing Convertible Reserved Instances or Spot Instances, which either lack interruption protection or require instance flexibility trade-offs. Remember the key distinction: if the workload is steady and you want the highest discount with capacity assurance, pick Standard Reserved Instances; if you need flexibility across compute services, pick Compute Savings Plans. A useful mnemonic is “Steady and Standard, Flexible and Savings.”
SAA-C03 Design Cost-Optimized Architectures Practice Question
This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design cost-optimized 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 line-of-business application runs on EC2 instances 24/7 with predictable usage for the next year. The application will stay in the same Region, and the team does not want to manage capacity interruptions. Which two purchase options can reduce cost compared with pure On-Demand pricing? Select two.
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
Buy Compute Savings Plans for the expected steady usage.
Compute Savings Plans (A) offer a flexible discount (up to 66%) in exchange for a 1- or 3-year commitment to a consistent amount of compute usage (measured in $/hour), automatically applying to any EC2 instance family, region, or even AWS Fargate/Lambda. This reduces cost compared to On-Demand while avoiding capacity interruptions, as the commitment covers the predictable steady-state usage. Standard Reserved Instances (B) provide a similar discount (up to 72%) for a specific instance family in a specific region, also with a 1- or 3-year term, and guarantee capacity for the specified AZ if you choose a zonal reservation, ensuring no interruptions.
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.
- ✓
Buy Compute Savings Plans for the expected steady usage.
Why this is correct
Compute Savings Plans reduce the hourly cost of predictable usage while preserving flexibility across supported compute services. They are a strong fit when the workload is steady and the team wants savings without interruption risk.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
Purchase Standard Reserved Instances for the EC2 fleet.
Why this is correct
Standard Reserved Instances are designed for steady EC2 usage in a specific Region and can significantly lower the effective hourly rate versus On-Demand. They align well with a one-year predictable workload that must remain continuously available.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Move the fleet to Spot Instances.
Why it's wrong here
Spot Instances can be much cheaper, but they may be interrupted when spare capacity is reclaimed. That directly conflicts with the requirement to avoid capacity interruptions for a continuously running application.
- ✗
Use Dedicated Hosts to reserve physical servers for the application.
Why it's wrong here
Dedicated Hosts are typically chosen for licensing or isolation requirements, not for the lowest general-purpose compute price. They usually cost more than commitment-based pricing options for a normal steady-state workload.
- ✗
Stay entirely on On-Demand Instances because they are already the cheapest option.
Why it's wrong here
On-Demand provides the highest flexibility, but it is not the lowest-cost model for predictable 24/7 usage. The scenario explicitly calls for reducing cost, which requires a commitment-based discount.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think Spot Instances are always cheaper and safe for steady workloads, but they forget the interruption risk, or they may confuse Dedicated Hosts with Reserved Instances as a cost-saving measure, when Dedicated Hosts actually increase cost for physical isolation.
Trap categories for this question
Scenario analysis trap
On-Demand provides the highest flexibility, but it is not the lowest-cost model for predictable 24/7 usage. The scenario explicitly calls for reducing cost, which requires a commitment-based discount.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Compute Savings Plans apply to any EC2 instance within a region, automatically covering new instance types or sizes as long as the hourly spend stays within the commitment, making them ideal for dynamic or multi-family workloads. Standard Reserved Instances require you to specify the instance family (e.g., m5.large) and offer a capacity reservation if you select a specific Availability Zone, which guarantees no interruption from reclamation. Both options require a 1- or 3-year term, and the discount is applied at the billing level, not at the instance level, so partial usage of the commitment is still charged.
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: Buy Compute Savings Plans for the expected steady usage. — Compute Savings Plans (A) offer a flexible discount (up to 66%) in exchange for a 1- or 3-year commitment to a consistent amount of compute usage (measured in $/hour), automatically applying to any EC2 instance family, region, or even AWS Fargate/Lambda. This reduces cost compared to On-Demand while avoiding capacity interruptions, as the commitment covers the predictable steady-state usage. Standard Reserved Instances (B) provide a similar discount (up to 72%) for a specific instance family in a specific region, also with a 1- or 3-year term, and guarantee capacity for the specified AZ if you choose a zonal reservation, ensuring no interruptions.
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.
About these practice questions
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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 production log archive runs continuously on EC2 with predictable usage for the next three years. The team wants a discount while retaining some instance-family flexibility. What should they buy?
medium- A.S3 Intelligent-Tiering
- B.Dedicated Instances
- ✓ C.Compute Savings Plan
- D.Spot Instances only
Why C: The Compute Savings Plan (C) is correct because it offers a discount (up to 66%) in exchange for a commitment to a consistent amount of compute usage (measured in $/hour) for a 1- or 3-year term, while allowing flexibility to change instance families, sizes, OS, tenancy, and even regions within EC2, Fargate, and Lambda. This matches the requirement of predictable usage for three years with instance-family flexibility, unlike Reserved Instances which lock to a specific instance family.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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