- A
Purchase Standard Reserved Instances tied to a specific instance family and region, so the application can only run on the selected family.
Why wrong: Standard Reserved Instances can be scoped to specific attributes (such as instance family/size depending on the RI type). This conflicts with the requirement to freely switch instance families because the discounted capacity primarily applies to the specific scope you purchase.
- B
Purchase Compute Savings Plans so the commitment applies regardless of instance family changes within the selected scope.
Compute Savings Plans provide discounted pricing in exchange for a 1-year or 3-year commitment, while allowing flexibility across instance families/attributes within the scope (for example, region/account and covered usage). This aligns with Auto Scaling that may shift between instance families while maintaining steady overall compute usage.
- C
Purchase Spot Instances for all capacity and disable On-Demand fallback to guarantee the lowest cost.
Why wrong: Spot is not a commitment-based pricing model and cannot guarantee capacity availability. Disabling On-Demand fallback increases the risk of failed capacity during Spot interruptions or capacity shortages, which does not match the goal of stable one-year cost reduction for steady usage.
- D
Rely only on On-Demand and reduce cost by using a CloudFront-only approach for all dynamic content.
Why wrong: CloudFront can reduce delivery costs for cached content, but it does not replace or discount EC2 compute pricing for dynamic workloads in the general case. This option also does not satisfy the requirement to commit for one year to reduce EC2 cost through a pricing commitment instrument.
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 media company runs a fleet of EC2 instances using Auto Scaling across multiple instance families (for example, m-series and c-series) in a single region. The business wants to commit to steady usage for one year to reduce cost, but the application team must retain flexibility to switch instance families and scale up/down as demand changes. They need the cost-reduction approach that best matches this flexibility. Which option is the best fit?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"best"Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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 Compute Savings Plans so the commitment applies regardless of instance family changes within the selected scope.
Compute Savings Plans provide the most flexibility because they apply to any EC2 instance family (including m-series and c-series) within a region, automatically adjusting to instance family changes and scaling. This matches the requirement to commit to steady usage for one year while retaining the ability to switch families and scale up/down, offering up to 66% savings over On-Demand without locking the application to a specific instance type.
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 Standard Reserved Instances tied to a specific instance family and region, so the application can only run on the selected family.
Why it's wrong here
Standard Reserved Instances can be scoped to specific attributes (such as instance family/size depending on the RI type). This conflicts with the requirement to freely switch instance families because the discounted capacity primarily applies to the specific scope you purchase.
- ✓
Purchase Compute Savings Plans so the commitment applies regardless of instance family changes within the selected scope.
Why this is correct
Compute Savings Plans provide discounted pricing in exchange for a 1-year or 3-year commitment, while allowing flexibility across instance families/attributes within the scope (for example, region/account and covered usage). This aligns with Auto Scaling that may shift between instance families while maintaining steady overall compute usage.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Purchase Spot Instances for all capacity and disable On-Demand fallback to guarantee the lowest cost.
Why it's wrong here
Spot is not a commitment-based pricing model and cannot guarantee capacity availability. Disabling On-Demand fallback increases the risk of failed capacity during Spot interruptions or capacity shortages, which does not match the goal of stable one-year cost reduction for steady usage.
- ✗
Rely only on On-Demand and reduce cost by using a CloudFront-only approach for all dynamic content.
Why it's wrong here
CloudFront can reduce delivery costs for cached content, but it does not replace or discount EC2 compute pricing for dynamic workloads in the general case. This option also does not satisfy the requirement to commit for one year to reduce EC2 cost through a pricing commitment instrument.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Reserved Instances (which lock to a specific family) with Savings Plans (which offer family flexibility), leading them to choose Option A despite the requirement for instance family switching.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Compute Savings Plans apply a consistent hourly spend commitment (e.g., $10/hour) across any EC2 instance family, size, OS, or tenancy within a region, automatically applying the discounted rate to eligible usage. Under the hood, AWS calculates the savings based on the On-Demand baseline and applies the plan to the first matching usage each hour, with any excess usage billed at On-Demand rates. In a real-world scenario, if the media company shifts from m5.large to c5.large instances during a compute-intensive event, the Savings Plan seamlessly covers the new instance family without requiring a reservation exchange.
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: Purchase Compute Savings Plans so the commitment applies regardless of instance family changes within the selected scope. — Compute Savings Plans provide the most flexibility because they apply to any EC2 instance family (including m-series and c-series) within a region, automatically adjusting to instance family changes and scaling. This matches the requirement to commit to steady usage for one year while retaining the ability to switch families and scale up/down, offering up to 66% savings over On-Demand without locking the application to a specific instance type.
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: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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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