Question 1hardmulti select
Full question →hardmulti selectObjective-mapped
A retailer runs a reporting-heavy relational app on Amazon RDS MySQL. Peak dashboard traffic lasts only three hours each day, but the database is sized for the peak all day. The business wants lower cost without rewriting the application. Which three actions are best? Select three.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Good practice is not just finding the correct option. The wrong answers often show the exact trap the exam wants you to fall into.
A
Best answer
Right-size the writer based on actual utilization instead of peak guesses.
Correct. Right-sizing removes waste from the always-on primary instance. If the writer is sized for real load rather than a worst-case assumption, the company pays for less unused compute.
B
Best answer
Add read replicas and direct dashboard traffic away from the writer.
Correct. Read replicas let read-heavy dashboards scale without forcing the writer to be oversized for every query. This improves scaling economics while keeping the application relational and largely unchanged.
C
Best answer
Evaluate Aurora MySQL if the current replica-heavy design would be cheaper there.
Correct. Aurora can be more cost-efficient than a replica-heavy RDS topology because storage is shared across the cluster and replicas are simpler to operate. It is a reasonable tradeoff to evaluate when read scaling is the main issue.
D
Distractor review
Migrate to DynamoDB immediately because every relational workload is more expensive.
Incorrect. DynamoDB is not a drop-in replacement for a relational reporting app. A rewrite would be required, and the query pattern may not fit key-value access at all.
E
Distractor review
Increase provisioned IOPS permanently so the monthly bill drops.
Incorrect. More provisioned IOPS increases cost, not decreases it. The issue is overprovisioned compute and topology, not a lack of enough disk performance everywhere.
Common exam trap
Common exam trap: NAT rules depend on direction and matching traffic
NAT is not only about the public address. The inside/outside interface roles and the ACL or rule that matches traffic are just as important.
Technical deep dive
How to think about this question
NAT questions usually test address translation, overload/PAT behaviour, static mappings and whether the right traffic is being translated. Read the interface direction and address terms carefully.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
- PAT allows many inside hosts to share one public address using ports.
- Inside local and inside global describe the private and translated addresses.
- NAT ACLs identify traffic for translation, not always security filtering.
TExam Day Tips
- Identify inside and outside interfaces first.
- Check whether the scenario needs static NAT, dynamic NAT or PAT.
- Do not confuse NAT matching ACLs with normal packet-filtering intent.
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More questions from this exam
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Question 2
A team wants to run containerized services with AWS-managed orchestration and autoscaling. They do NOT require Kubernetes compatibility. Which AWS service choice is most appropriate to meet these goals?
Question 3
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Question 5
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAA-C03 question test?
Static NAT maps one inside address to one outside address.
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Right-size the writer based on actual utilization instead of peak guesses. — The right cost strategy is to remove wasted capacity from the writer, move read-heavy dashboard traffic to replicas, and consider a database architecture that may scale more economically. Right-sizing reduces fixed compute cost immediately. Read replicas prevent the primary instance from being oversized just for reports. Aurora is worth evaluating when the current RDS replica topology has become expensive, because its shared storage and replica model can lower overall cost at similar compatibility. Why others are wrong: DynamoDB is not a quick cost fix for a relational reporting system because it changes the data model and requires a rewrite. Increasing provisioned IOPS makes the bill larger, not smaller. The main saving opportunities here are compute sizing and replica economics, not brute-force storage performance upgrades.
What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?
Then try more questions from the same exam bank and focus on understanding why the wrong options are tempting.
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