Exhibit
Benchmark summary from current fleet: - Current instances: c6i.2xlarge - Average CPU during processing: 88%-96% - Disk and network utilization remain below 30% - Application runtime on test ARM build: 11% faster than x86 build - Engineering note: binaries are already compatible with ARM64 - Business goal: lower cost while keeping or improving throughput
Based on the exhibit, a batch-processing service runs on Amazon EC2. The workload is Linux-based, can run on ARM64, and is CPU-bound during its nightly processing window. The team wants the best throughput per dollar without changing the application logic. Which EC2 instance family should the solutions architect recommend?
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.
Best answer
C7g instances based on AWS Graviton processors
C7g instances are compute optimized and use Graviton processors, which often deliver strong price-performance for CPU-bound Linux workloads that can run on ARM64. The exhibit shows the application is compatible and even benchmarks faster on ARM.
Distractor review
R7i instances because more memory will improve CPU-bound job throughput.
Memory-optimized instances help memory-heavy workloads, but the benchmark shows CPU is the bottleneck, not RAM.
Distractor review
M7a instances because general-purpose families are always the safest performance choice.
General-purpose instances are versatile, but they are not usually the best throughput-per-dollar choice for a clearly CPU-bound workload.
Distractor review
T3 instances because burstable instances can handle occasional nighttime spikes at lower cost.
Burstable instances are better for variable, low-average-CPU workloads, not sustained CPU-heavy batch processing that runs near saturation.
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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More questions from this exam
Keep practising from the same exam bank, or move into a focused topic page if this question exposed a weak area.
Question 1
A team needs to distribute TCP traffic (not HTTP) across multiple services. The services must see the original client source IP for auditing. Which AWS load balancer is the best fit?
Question 2
A team wants to run containerized services with AWS-managed orchestration and autoscaling. They do NOT require Kubernetes compatibility. Which AWS service choice is most appropriate to meet these goals?
Question 3
A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a IoT ingestion API. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure? The design must avoid adding custom operational scripts.
Question 4
A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a claims portal. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure?
Question 5
A team wants to delegate IAM management to developers, but must ensure developers can never grant themselves permissions beyond a specific limit. Which AWS mechanism best matches this requirement?
Question 6
A solutions architect is designing an S3 bucket for a healthcare document service. The objects must never be publicly accessible, even if a developer later adds an overly broad bucket policy. What should the architect configure?
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: C7g instances based on AWS Graviton processors — The exhibit shows a CPU-bound batch workload with ARM64 compatibility and a measured performance gain on ARM test builds. That makes a Graviton-based compute-optimized family the best fit for throughput per dollar. C7g is optimized for CPU-intensive processing and typically provides excellent price-performance for workloads like batch transformation, analytics, and rendering. The other choices either target the wrong bottleneck or rely on burst behavior that would not suit sustained nightly processing. R7i focuses on memory capacity, which the exhibit shows is not the limiting factor. M7a is balanced, but the workload is clearly compute bound, so it is not the best price-performance option. T3 is a burstable family and is inappropriate for sustained CPU-heavy processing because credits can become a constraint and throughput becomes less predictable.
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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