- A
Switch the instances to Spot Instances and use interruption handling because it is the largest discount.
Why wrong: Spot Instances provide strong discounts, but interruption tolerance is required, which the workload lacks.
- B
Purchase a Compute Savings Plan for the expected steady hourly usage in that Region.
Compute Savings Plans discount the usage while allowing flexibility across instance families and sizes in the Region.
- C
Purchase a Standard Reserved Instance tied to a single specific instance type for the next 3 years.
Why wrong: Standard RIs can reduce cost, but they are less flexible when the team needs instance-type changes.
- D
Keep On-Demand and rely on Auto Scaling to reduce capacity when utilization is low.
Why wrong: Auto Scaling can help, but for interruption-intolerant 24/7 usage it usually cannot match Savings Plans.
Quick Answer
The answer is a Compute Savings Plan. This is the correct choice because it delivers the lowest cost for steady-state, interruption-intolerant workloads while offering compute savings plan flexibility for instance family changes, allowing the company to switch between instance families, sizes, operating systems, or tenancy within a Region without losing the discounted rate. On the SAA-C03 exam, this scenario tests your ability to distinguish between Savings Plans and Reserved Instances—a common trap is selecting a Standard Reserved Instance, which locks you to a specific instance family, or an EC2 Instance Savings Plan, which only offers flexibility within a single family. Remember that a Compute Savings Plan applies to any EC2 instance, including Fargate and Lambda, making it the most flexible option for planned optimizations. Memory tip: “Compute = Complete flexibility across families.”
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. A key principle to apply: compute Savings Plans offer flexible discounts across EC2 instance families, sizes, OS, and tenancy.. 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 media company runs a 24/7 recommendation engine on EC2 in one AWS Region. The workload is interruption-intolerant, and the team expects steady usage but may change instance families and sizes during planned optimizations. Compared to the current On-Demand setup, they want the lowest cost while avoiding the rigidity of locking to a specific instance type.
What should the solutions architect recommend?
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 expected steady hourly usage in that Region.
A Compute Savings Plan offers the lowest cost for steady-state usage without locking to a specific instance type, providing up to 66% discount over On-Demand while allowing flexibility to change instance families, sizes, OS, or tenancy within a Region. This matches the requirement for cost savings with instance flexibility during planned optimizations.
Key principle: Compute Savings Plans offer flexible discounts across EC2 instance families, sizes, OS, and tenancy.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Switch the instances to Spot Instances and use interruption handling because it is the largest discount.
Why it's wrong here
Spot Instances provide strong discounts, but interruption tolerance is required, which the workload lacks.
- ✓
Purchase a Compute Savings Plan for the expected steady hourly usage in that Region.
Why this is correct
Compute Savings Plans discount the usage while allowing flexibility across instance families and sizes in the Region.
Related concept
Compute Savings Plans offer flexible discounts across EC2 instance families, sizes, OS, and tenancy.
- ✗
Purchase a Standard Reserved Instance tied to a single specific instance type for the next 3 years.
Why it's wrong here
Standard RIs can reduce cost, but they are less flexible when the team needs instance-type changes.
- ✗
Keep On-Demand and rely on Auto Scaling to reduce capacity when utilization is low.
Why it's wrong here
Auto Scaling can help, but for interruption-intolerant 24/7 usage it usually cannot match Savings Plans.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Reserved Instances with Savings Plans, assuming a Standard Reserved Instance is the only way to get significant discounts, but the question explicitly requires flexibility to change instance families, which a Compute Savings Plan provides while a Standard Reserved Instance does not.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Compute Savings Plans apply to any EC2 instance, including those in AWS Fargate and Lambda, and automatically cover usage across instance families within the same Region. The discount is applied to the first portion of usage up to the committed hourly spend, and any usage beyond that is charged at On-Demand rates. This flexibility is ideal for workloads that undergo planned instance type changes, as the plan adjusts without manual intervention.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Compute Savings Plans offer flexible discounts across EC2 instance families, sizes, OS, and tenancy.
- Savings Plans require a commitment to a consistent spend (USD/hour) for 1 or 3 years.
- They provide significant cost savings for steady-state workloads compared to On-Demand.
- Compute Savings Plans also cover Fargate and Lambda usage.
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
Compute Savings Plans offer flexible discounts across EC2 instance families, sizes, OS, and tenancy.
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 — Compute Savings Plans offer flexible discounts across EC2 instance families, sizes, OS, and tenancy..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Purchase a Compute Savings Plan for the expected steady hourly usage in that Region. — A Compute Savings Plan offers the lowest cost for steady-state usage without locking to a specific instance type, providing up to 66% discount over On-Demand while allowing flexibility to change instance families, sizes, OS, or tenancy within a Region. This matches the requirement for cost savings with instance flexibility during planned optimizations.
What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?
Review compute Savings Plans offer flexible discounts across EC2 instance families, sizes, OS, and tenancy., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Compute Savings Plans offer flexible discounts across EC2 instance families, sizes, OS, and tenancy.
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Same concept, more angles
4 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 media company runs a 24/7 recommendation engine on EC2 in one AWS Region. The workload is interruption-intolerant, and the team expects steady usage but may change instance families and sizes during planned optimizations. Compared to the current On-Demand setup, they want the lowest cost while avoiding the rigidity of locking to a specific instance type. What should the solutions architect recommend?
medium- A.Switch the instances to Spot Instances and use interruption handling because it is the largest discount.
- ✓ B.Purchase a Compute Savings Plan for the expected steady hourly usage in that Region.
- C.Purchase a Standard Reserved Instance tied to a single specific instance type for the next 3 years.
- D.Keep On-Demand and rely on Auto Scaling to reduce capacity when utilization is low.
Why B: B is correct because a Compute Savings Plan offers the lowest cost for steady-state workloads without locking to a specific instance type, providing up to 66% discount compared to On-Demand while allowing flexibility to change instance families, sizes, OS, or tenancy within a Region. This matches the requirement for cost savings and flexibility during planned optimizations.
Variation 2. A company runs EC2 workloads in one region with somewhat steady overall demand. Over time, the team frequently changes instance families (for performance/optimization) and sometimes changes instance size, but wants predictable cost discounts. Which purchase option provides the best balance of cost savings and flexibility?
easy- A.Standard Reserved Instances for a specific instance family and size only.
- ✓ B.Savings Plans (Compute Savings Plans), scoped for flexible EC2 usage in the region.
- C.Spot Instances for all workloads, assuming interruptions will never happen.
- D.On-Demand only, because it avoids the complexity of purchase option scopes.
Why B: Compute Savings Plans offer the best balance of cost savings and flexibility because they provide up to 66% discount in exchange for a commitment to a consistent amount of compute usage (measured per hour) in a region, but they automatically apply to any EC2 instance family, size, OS, or tenancy, as well as AWS Fargate and Lambda. This matches the team's need to frequently change instance families and sizes while still getting predictable discounts, unlike Standard RIs which lock you to a specific family and size.
Variation 3. A web service runs continuously on AWS 24/7. The team expects steady compute usage for the next 12–24 months, but may change instance families/sizes as performance tuning continues. Which purchase option best reduces cost while keeping flexibility to change instance types?
easy- A.Buy EC2 On-Demand instances and rely on future Spot capacity for discounts
- ✓ B.Use Compute Savings Plans for the expected steady usage
- C.Buy Reserved Instances with a fixed instance type and region
- D.Buy Spot Instances and stop scaling to avoid interruption risk
Why B: Compute Savings Plans offer the lowest prices (up to 66% off On-Demand) in exchange for a commitment to a consistent amount of compute usage (measured in $/hour) for a 1- or 3-year term. Unlike Reserved Instances, they automatically apply to any EC2 instance family, size, OS, or region, giving you the flexibility to change instance types as performance tuning evolves, while still reducing costs for steady-state workloads.
Variation 4. A production internal reporting portal 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? The design must avoid adding custom operational scripts.
medium- A.Spot Instances only
- B.Dedicated Instances
- ✓ C.Compute Savings Plan
- D.S3 Intelligent-Tiering
Why C: Compute Savings Plans offer the lowest prices on EC2 instance usage (up to 66% off On-Demand) in exchange for a 1- or 3-year commitment, while allowing flexibility across instance families, sizes, OS, and regions. This matches the requirement for a discount on predictable, continuous usage without locking into a specific instance type, and requires no custom scripts.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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