SAA-C03 Design High-Performing Architectures Practice Question
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 architecture review board prefers a managed AWS-native control.
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
The correct answer is B because an Auto Scaling policy based on an appropriate CloudWatch metric (such as CPUUtilization or request latency) dynamically adds or removes EC2 instances to match demand. This managed AWS-native control directly addresses high CPU and rising latency during peak traffic by scaling out capacity, which is the preferred approach per the architecture review board's requirement for a managed solution.
Key principle: Auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
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
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse monitoring (VPC endpoints) or data protection (S3 Object Lock) with performance scaling, overlooking that Auto Scaling is the direct AWS-native solution for handling variable load and high CPU.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Auto Scaling with a target tracking policy (e.g., targeting average CPUUtilization at 50%) continuously adjusts the desired capacity based on real-time CloudWatch metrics, ensuring the fleet size matches load. Under the hood, the Auto Scaling group uses lifecycle hooks and cooldown periods to prevent thrashing, and the ALB distributes traffic evenly across healthy instances. In a real-world scenario, a travel booking site might see sudden spikes during flash sales; scaling based on request count per target (a custom metric) can preemptively add capacity before latency degrades.
KKey Concepts to Remember
Auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand.
It uses CloudWatch metrics (e.g., CPU, network I/O) to trigger scaling actions.
Auto Scaling groups define min/max capacity and launch configurations.
Managed AWS-native service, ideal for high availability and cost optimization.
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
Auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand.
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 auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand., then practise related SAA-C03 questions on the same topic to reinforce the concept.
Design High-Performing Architectures — This question tests Design High-Performing Architectures — Auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Auto Scaling policy based on an appropriate CloudWatch metric — The correct answer is B because an Auto Scaling policy based on an appropriate CloudWatch metric (such as CPUUtilization or request latency) dynamically adds or removes EC2 instances to match demand. This managed AWS-native control directly addresses high CPU and rising latency during peak traffic by scaling out capacity, which is the preferred approach per the architecture review board's requirement for a managed solution.
What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 question wrong?
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Auto Scaling dynamically adjusts EC2 instance count based on demand.
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Question Discussion
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