- A
Buy EC2 Spot Instances for the Auto Scaling group to maximize savings
Why wrong: Spot can be interrupted and is a poor fit for 24/7 steady demand when interruption tolerance is not stated.
- B
Purchase a Compute Savings Plan for the region and commit to a dollar-per-hour amount
A Compute Savings Plan reduces cost for steady compute usage and supports flexibility across instance families and sizes.
- C
Purchase Reserved Instances that are limited to a single specific instance type in the Auto Scaling group
Why wrong: Reserved Instances are most beneficial when you commit to a specific instance type and matching scope, which conflicts with changing types.
- D
Use on-demand only, and rely on Auto Scaling to reduce cost during low utilization
Why wrong: With steady 24/7 demand, on-demand pricing does not target the largest savings opportunities from commitments.
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 SaaS company runs a production API on an EC2 Auto Scaling group with steady demand 24/7. The team uses multiple instance types over time (they switch types during tuning) but the overall compute hours are stable. They want a cost reduction without committing to a specific instance type or size. Which AWS pricing option best meets the requirement?
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 a Compute Savings Plan for the region and commit to a dollar-per-hour amount
B is correct because a Compute Savings Plan provides the flexibility to change instance types, sizes, and even compute services (e.g., EC2, Fargate, Lambda) within a region while still receiving discounted rates (up to 66% vs. on-demand). This matches the requirement of reducing costs without committing to a specific instance type or size, as the plan is based on a dollar-per-hour commitment rather than instance family or tenancy.
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.
- ✗
Buy EC2 Spot Instances for the Auto Scaling group to maximize savings
Why it's wrong here
Spot can be interrupted and is a poor fit for 24/7 steady demand when interruption tolerance is not stated.
- ✓
Purchase a Compute Savings Plan for the region and commit to a dollar-per-hour amount
Why this is correct
A Compute Savings Plan reduces cost for steady compute usage and supports flexibility across instance families and sizes.
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 Reserved Instances that are limited to a single specific instance type in the Auto Scaling group
Why it's wrong here
Reserved Instances are most beneficial when you commit to a specific instance type and matching scope, which conflicts with changing types.
- ✗
Use on-demand only, and rely on Auto Scaling to reduce cost during low utilization
Why it's wrong here
With steady 24/7 demand, on-demand pricing does not target the largest savings opportunities from commitments.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Compute Savings Plans with Reserved Instances, assuming that any savings plan requires a specific instance type, but Compute Savings Plans offer full flexibility across instance families and sizes within a region.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Compute Savings Plans apply to any EC2 instance family, size, OS, or tenancy within a region, and also cover AWS Fargate and Lambda usage, making them more flexible than EC2 Instance Savings Plans or Reserved Instances. The discount is applied automatically to eligible usage up to the committed dollar-per-hour amount, with any usage beyond that charged at on-demand rates. In a real-world scenario, if the team switches from c5.large to r6g.xlarge during tuning, the Compute Savings Plan still applies the same discount percentage, whereas a Reserved Instance would require a new purchase or modification.
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.
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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 a Compute Savings Plan for the region and commit to a dollar-per-hour amount — B is correct because a Compute Savings Plan provides the flexibility to change instance types, sizes, and even compute services (e.g., EC2, Fargate, Lambda) within a region while still receiving discounted rates (up to 66% vs. on-demand). This matches the requirement of reducing costs without committing to a specific instance type or size, as the plan is based on a dollar-per-hour commitment rather than instance family or tenancy.
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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