Question 1mediummulti select
Full question →mediummulti selectObjective-mapped
A startup runs a 24/7 web tier on Amazon EC2 with a stable baseline of 8 instances and a nightly analytics batch job that can resume from checkpoints if interrupted. The company wants to minimize monthly compute cost without hurting the always-on web tier. Which two actions should it take? Select two.
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
Buy a Compute Savings Plan for the steady web tier baseline.
A Compute Savings Plan reduces cost for the predictable baseline while preserving flexibility across instance families and Regions. That fits a 24/7 web tier that is expected to run continuously. It is cheaper than On-Demand for the committed portion and avoids overcommitting to a specific instance family.
B
Distractor review
Buy Standard Reserved Instances only for the nightly analytics batch job.
Reserved Instances are a poor fit for interruptible batch jobs because the job may not run continuously enough to benefit from a reservation. The workload can tolerate interruption, so committing to fixed capacity usually wastes money compared with more flexible pricing.
C
Best answer
Run the batch job on Spot Instances and checkpoint progress frequently.
Spot Instances are ideal when interruptions are acceptable and the application can resume from checkpoints. The nightly batch job explicitly supports restart, so Spot lowers compute cost significantly without threatening business continuity for the stable web tier.
D
Distractor review
Move the entire workload to On-Demand Instances for maximum flexibility.
On-Demand offers flexibility, but it is not the lowest-cost option for a steady baseline or for interruption-tolerant processing. The scenario specifically asks to minimize monthly cost, so paying full On-Demand rates for everything is unnecessary.
E
Distractor review
Use Dedicated Hosts for the batch job so the fleet is isolated.
Dedicated Hosts are typically chosen for licensing or compliance isolation requirements, not for minimizing cost. They are usually more expensive than other EC2 purchase options and do not add value to a checkpointed batch workload.
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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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: Buy a Compute Savings Plan for the steady web tier baseline. — The best cost-optimized approach is to use a Compute Savings Plan for the predictable, always-on web tier and Spot Instances for the interruption-tolerant batch job. The Savings Plan lowers the cost of steady usage without locking the team into a narrow instance family, while Spot provides the deepest discount for workloads that can resume after interruption. Together, they reduce spend across both workload patterns. Standard Reserved Instances are less flexible and do not match a restartable batch workload. On-Demand everywhere preserves flexibility but leaves savings on the table. Dedicated Hosts are usually used for isolation or licensing requirements, not cost reduction. The scenario already gives two very different usage patterns, so the answer should separate steady baseline capacity from interruptible batch compute.
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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