SAA-C03 Design Resilient Architectures Practice Question
This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design resilient architectures. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. A key principle to apply: amazon EFS is a regional service, storing data redundantly across multiple AZs.. 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 patient portal must use shared file storage across Linux EC2 instances in multiple Availability Zones. The storage must remain available during an AZ failure. Which service should be used? The design must avoid adding custom operational scripts.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Amazon EFS with mount targets in multiple Availability Zones
Amazon EFS provides a fully managed, scalable, and shared file system that can be mounted concurrently on multiple Linux EC2 instances across different Availability Zones. By creating mount targets in each AZ, the file system remains accessible even if one AZ fails, meeting the high availability requirement without custom scripts.
Key principle: Amazon EFS is a regional service, storing data redundantly across multiple AZs.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
✗
Instance store volumes
Why it's wrong here
Instance store is ephemeral and tied to a single instance.
✓
Amazon EFS with mount targets in multiple Availability Zones
Why this is correct
EFS is regional file storage and supports mount targets across AZs.
Related concept
Amazon EFS is a regional service, storing data redundantly across multiple AZs.
✗
An EBS volume attached to all instances
Why it's wrong here
A standard EBS volume is zonal and cannot be attached broadly as shared file storage.
✗
S3 mounted as a POSIX file system without a file gateway
Why it's wrong here
S3 is object storage and does not provide native POSIX shared file semantics.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse EBS multi-attach (which is limited to specific instance types and a single AZ) with a true cross-AZ shared file system, or assume S3 with a FUSE mount provides POSIX compliance without operational overhead.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
EFS uses the NFSv4.1 protocol, allowing concurrent access from thousands of EC2 instances across AZs. Mount targets are Elastic Network Interfaces (ENIs) in each AZ's subnet, providing low-latency access and automatic failover. Under the hood, EFS replicates data across multiple AZs within a region, ensuring durability and availability even during an AZ outage.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Amazon EFS is a regional service, storing data redundantly across multiple AZs.
EFS supports the NFSv4 protocol for Linux EC2 instances.
EFS automatically scales storage capacity up or down as needed.
EFS provides shared file access across multiple EC2 instances in different AZs.
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
Amazon EFS is a regional service, storing data redundantly across multiple AZs.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Review amazon EFS is a regional service, storing data redundantly across multiple AZs., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
Design Resilient Architectures — This question tests Design Resilient Architectures — Amazon EFS is a regional service, storing data redundantly across multiple AZs..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Amazon EFS with mount targets in multiple Availability Zones — Amazon EFS provides a fully managed, scalable, and shared file system that can be mounted concurrently on multiple Linux EC2 instances across different Availability Zones. By creating mount targets in each AZ, the file system remains accessible even if one AZ fails, meeting the high availability requirement without custom scripts.
What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?
Review amazon EFS is a regional service, storing data redundantly across multiple AZs., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Amazon EFS is a regional service, storing data redundantly across multiple AZs.
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Question Discussion
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