This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design high-performing architectures. This is a configuration task: choose the command set that satisfies every stated requirement. Small differences — like 'secret' vs 'password' or 'transport input ssh' vs 'all' — change whether the answer is correct. A key principle to apply: auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand.. 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 travel booking site uses EC2 instances behind an ALB. CPU is consistently high during peak traffic, and request latency rises. What should be configured? The design must avoid adding custom operational scripts.
A VPC endpoint for CloudWatch only
Why wrong: A VPC endpoint changes network path, not instance capacity.
Auto Scaling policy based on an appropriate CloudWatch metric
Auto Scaling adds capacity when load increases and removes it when load falls.
S3 Object Lock
Why wrong: Object Lock controls retention, not EC2 compute capacity.
Disable health checks
Why wrong: Disabling health checks weakens availability and does not improve capacity.
Answer choices
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
Auto Scaling policy based on an appropriate CloudWatch metric
An Auto Scaling policy based on a CloudWatch metric like CPUUtilization or request latency directly addresses the high CPU and rising latency by automatically adding EC2 instances during peak traffic. This eliminates the need for custom scripts and ensures the application scales horizontally to maintain performance.
Key principle: Auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand.
Answer analysis
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
A VPC endpoint for CloudWatch only
Why it's wrong here
A VPC endpoint changes network path, not instance capacity.
Auto Scaling policy based on an appropriate CloudWatch metric
Why this is correct
Auto Scaling adds capacity when load increases and removes it when load falls.
Related concept
Auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand.
S3 Object Lock
Why it's wrong here
Object Lock controls retention, not EC2 compute capacity.
Disable health checks
Why it's wrong here
Disabling health checks weakens availability and does not improve capacity.
Common exam traps
The trap here is that candidates might think a VPC endpoint (Option A) is needed for CloudWatch metrics, but CloudWatch metrics are already available without a VPC endpoint, and scaling requires an Auto Scaling policy, not just metric access.
Detailed technical explanation
Auto Scaling with a target tracking policy can use the ALB's RequestCountPerTarget metric to scale based on load per instance, which is more responsive than CPUUtilization for latency-sensitive applications. Under the hood, the ALB's connection queueing and instance health state influence how quickly scaling decisions propagate, so combining a step scaling policy with a cooldown period prevents thrashing during sudden traffic spikes.
Key takeaway
Auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand.
Real-world example
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
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FAQ
Design High-Performing Architectures — This question tests Design High-Performing Architectures — Auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand..
The correct answer is: Auto Scaling policy based on an appropriate CloudWatch metric — An Auto Scaling policy based on a CloudWatch metric like CPUUtilization or request latency directly addresses the high CPU and rising latency by automatically adding EC2 instances during peak traffic. This eliminates the need for custom scripts and ensures the application scales horizontally to maintain performance.
Review auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
Auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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