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SAA-C03 Design High-Performing Architectures Practice Question

Exhibit

fio benchmark from the current volume:
- 4 KiB random read IOPS target: 22,000
- 4 KiB random write IOPS target: 18,000
- 99th percentile latency target: < 2 ms
- Current volume: gp3, 12,000 provisioned IOPS
- Observed latency during peak: 3.8-5.4 ms
- Data must remain attached to one EC2 instance and persist after stop/start

Based on the exhibit, a media rendering job runs on a single EC2 instance and writes a large working set of metadata to block storage. The workload performs sustained random reads and writes and must keep latency consistently low for the entire run. The instance may be stopped and started between jobs, and the data must persist. Which storage choice best meets the requirements?

⚠ Common exam trap

Watch out — candidates often confuse file storage (EFS, FSx) or object storage (S3) with block storage, failing to recognize that sustained low-latency random reads and writes require a block-level device like EBS, not a network-mounted file system.

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

✓

Provisioned IOPS SSD EBS volume (io2).

The workload requires sustained low-latency random reads and writes to block storage, and the data must persist across instance stop/start cycles. Provisioned IOPS SSD EBS volumes (io2) are block-level storage designed for high-performance, low-latency workloads with consistent IOPS, and they persist independently of the EC2 instance lifecycle.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

  • ✗

    Amazon S3 with multipart uploads because it provides durable object storage and high throughput.

    Why it's wrong here

    Amazon S3 is an object storage service, not a block storage device, and it cannot be exposed to an EC2 instance as a raw block device for random I/O. Multipart uploads improve throughput for large object writes but do not reduce latency or provide the low-level random read/write access an I/O-heavy media rendering job requires. The workload needs persistent, low-latency storage attached directly to the instance, which S3 cannot offer without a filesystem gateway that adds further overhead.

  • ✗

    Amazon EFS because it can be mounted by EC2 and supports persistent file access.

    Why it's wrong here

    Amazon EFS is a managed NFS file system that can be mounted on EC2 and provides shared, persistent access, but it is network-attached storage with inherent network latency. For a single-instance random I/O benchmark, EFS's throughput and IOPS depend on file system configuration and can be lower and more variable than provisioned SSD EBS. EBS block storage (especially io2) is designed for exactly this kind of workload, offering consistent low-latency performance that EFS cannot guarantee for high random I/O rates.

  • ✓

    Provisioned IOPS SSD EBS volume (io2).

    Why this is correct

    io2 is designed for sustained high IOPS with low and consistent latency on EC2 block storage. The workload is single-instance, random I/O intensive, and needs persistence across stop/start, which matches EBS block storage behavior well.

  • ✗

    Amazon FSx for Windows File Server because it offers durable storage and low latency.

    Why it's wrong here

    Amazon FSx for Windows File Server is a fully managed Windows file system that uses the SMB protocol and is intended for Windows-based workloads, not for a Linux EC2 instance's block-level storage. It provides durable file storage with low latency, but it is not a block storage service, and mounting it on Linux may be impossible without additional SMB client support. The workload described runs on a single EC2 instance and needs block storage with random I/O capability, so io2 EBS is the appropriate choice.

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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security

Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva

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.