- A
Use Amazon EFS General Purpose performance mode and Throughput mode set to Bursting.
EFS General Purpose performance mode is designed for latency-sensitive use cases with a broad range of I/O sizes, including typical file-sharing and web-content workloads. Throughput mode Bursting provides baseline throughput and allows throughput to scale up during demand spikes, which matches the pattern of short read bursts from many instances. When traffic drops, the system returns to baseline without requiring you to provision peak throughput for all time.
- B
Use Amazon EFS Max I/O performance mode with Throughput mode set to Provisioned.
Why wrong: Max I/O is intended for workloads that sustain very high IOPS (for example, many small, random reads/writes and heavy metadata operations). Provisioned throughput requires you to select a throughput level appropriate for sustained demand; for bursty traffic, this can lead to either throttling during spikes (if set too low) or unnecessary cost when traffic is low.
- C
Use Amazon EFS General Purpose performance mode with Throughput mode set to Provisioned.
Why wrong: General Purpose mode fits low-latency workloads, but Provisioned throughput ties performance to a fixed throughput setting. With bursty spikes and lower baseline demand, you must provision enough throughput for the spikes or risk throttling during the periods of concurrent reads, and you may overpay during off-peak periods.
- D
Use Amazon EFS Max I/O performance mode with Throughput mode set to Bursting.
Why wrong: While Bursting can handle throughput spikes, Max I/O can be unnecessarily optimized/costly for workloads that are not primarily sustained high IOPS or metadata-heavy. For bursty directory reads with varying read patterns, General Purpose plus Bursting is the best fit to balance latency and elasticity without over-optimizing for sustained IOPS.
Quick Answer
The answer is to use Amazon EFS General Purpose performance mode with Bursting Throughput mode. This combination is correct because bursty concurrent reads of the same directory benefit from General Purpose mode’s strong consistency and lower per-operation latency, while Bursting mode allows the file system to accumulate credits during idle periods and spend them during traffic spikes—perfectly matching the described workload without extra cost. On the SAA-C03 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of when to choose General Purpose over Max I/O performance mode, which sacrifices consistency for throughput; a common trap is assuming bursty reads always need Max I/O, but that mode is designed for high-throughput, latency-tolerant workloads, not for many instances hitting the same directory. Remember the memory tip: “Bursty reads need Bursting credits, not Max I/O speed.”
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. 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 containerized service fleet running on EC2 instances needs to share user-uploaded files and access them with low latency. The workload is bursty: sometimes dozens of instances concurrently read the same directory for short periods, and then traffic drops. Which Amazon EFS configuration best matches these performance needs?
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
Use Amazon EFS General Purpose performance mode and Throughput mode set to Bursting.
Option A is correct because the workload is bursty with concurrent reads of the same directory, which favors the General Purpose performance mode for its strong consistency and lower latency per operation. The Bursting Throughput mode is ideal for bursty traffic as it allows the file system to accumulate burst credits during idle periods and consume them during high-demand spikes, matching the described pattern without incurring additional costs.
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.
- ✓
Use Amazon EFS General Purpose performance mode and Throughput mode set to Bursting.
Why this is correct
EFS General Purpose performance mode is designed for latency-sensitive use cases with a broad range of I/O sizes, including typical file-sharing and web-content workloads. Throughput mode Bursting provides baseline throughput and allows throughput to scale up during demand spikes, which matches the pattern of short read bursts from many instances. When traffic drops, the system returns to baseline without requiring you to provision peak throughput for all time.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Use Amazon EFS Max I/O performance mode with Throughput mode set to Provisioned.
Why it's wrong here
Max I/O is intended for workloads that sustain very high IOPS (for example, many small, random reads/writes and heavy metadata operations). Provisioned throughput requires you to select a throughput level appropriate for sustained demand; for bursty traffic, this can lead to either throttling during spikes (if set too low) or unnecessary cost when traffic is low.
- ✗
Use Amazon EFS General Purpose performance mode with Throughput mode set to Provisioned.
Why it's wrong here
General Purpose mode fits low-latency workloads, but Provisioned throughput ties performance to a fixed throughput setting. With bursty spikes and lower baseline demand, you must provision enough throughput for the spikes or risk throttling during the periods of concurrent reads, and you may overpay during off-peak periods.
- ✗
Use Amazon EFS Max I/O performance mode with Throughput mode set to Bursting.
Why it's wrong here
While Bursting can handle throughput spikes, Max I/O can be unnecessarily optimized/costly for workloads that are not primarily sustained high IOPS or metadata-heavy. For bursty directory reads with varying read patterns, General Purpose plus Bursting is the best fit to balance latency and elasticity without over-optimizing for sustained IOPS.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume Max I/O is always better for high concurrency, but they overlook that General Purpose mode provides lower latency and stronger consistency for directory-heavy bursty reads, which is the actual requirement.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, EFS General Purpose mode uses a single metadata server to enforce strong consistency, which is critical when dozens of instances read the same directory concurrently to avoid stale file listings. The Bursting Throughput mode leverages a token bucket algorithm where the baseline throughput is 50 MiB/s per TiB of storage, and burst credits allow up to 100 MiB/s per TiB for short bursts; a typical 1 TiB file system can burst for about 30 minutes after accumulating credits from idle periods. In a real-world scenario, a photo-sharing application with periodic upload surges would benefit from this setup, as the burst credits cover the spike without needing to provision throughput for peak load.
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 High-Performing Architectures — This question tests Design High-Performing Architectures — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Use Amazon EFS General Purpose performance mode and Throughput mode set to Bursting. — Option A is correct because the workload is bursty with concurrent reads of the same directory, which favors the General Purpose performance mode for its strong consistency and lower latency per operation. The Bursting Throughput mode is ideal for bursty traffic as it allows the file system to accumulate burst credits during idle periods and consume them during high-demand spikes, matching the described pattern without incurring additional costs.
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
This SAA-C03 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SAA-C03 exam.
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