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 marketing site runs on x86 EC2 instances and uses open-source software with no architecture-specific licensing restriction. What should be evaluated to reduce compute cost?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
AWS Graviton-based instances after performance testing
Option C is correct because AWS Graviton-based instances (ARM architecture) offer up to 40% better price-performance compared to comparable x86 instances for many workloads. Since the marketing site uses open-source software with no architecture-specific licensing restrictions, migrating to Graviton after performance testing can significantly reduce compute costs without sacrificing performance.
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.
✗
Cross-Region data replication for all data
Why it's wrong here
Replication improves resilience but adds transfer and storage cost.
✗
io2 Block Express volumes for all instances
Why it's wrong here
High-end block storage increases cost unless required by performance needs.
✓
AWS Graviton-based instances after performance testing
Why this is correct
Graviton instances often provide better price performance for compatible workloads.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Dedicated Hosts by default
Why it's wrong here
Dedicated Hosts are usually chosen for licensing or isolation, not basic cost reduction.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates assume Dedicated Hosts (Option D) always reduce costs due to 'dedicated' implying efficiency, but they actually increase costs unless specific licensing requirements (e.g., Windows Server or SQL Server) mandate physical isolation.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Graviton processors are based on ARM Neoverse cores and use a different instruction set architecture (ISA) than x86, requiring recompilation of software. Open-source software like Nginx, Apache, or Node.js often has pre-built ARM binaries or can be compiled from source, but performance testing is critical because some libraries or dependencies may have x86 optimizations that do not translate directly. In real-world scenarios, a marketing site with static content served via a CDN might see negligible performance differences, while a compute-heavy analytics backend could require tuning.
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.
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: AWS Graviton-based instances after performance testing — Option C is correct because AWS Graviton-based instances (ARM architecture) offer up to 40% better price-performance compared to comparable x86 instances for many workloads. Since the marketing site uses open-source software with no architecture-specific licensing restrictions, migrating to Graviton after performance testing can significantly reduce compute costs without sacrificing performance.
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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Question Discussion
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