SAA-C03 Design High-Performing Architectures Practice Question
Exhibit
Application topology: - 12 EC2 instances in one Region - Instances process small jobs and send frequent messages to each other - Observed inter-node latency: 2.8 ms to 4.1 ms - Requirement: lowest possible latency between application nodes
Based on the exhibit, which AWS feature should the team use to minimize network latency between EC2 instances that exchange messages very frequently?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse placement group types, incorrectly assuming a spread or partition group reduces latency when they actually prioritize fault isolation over network performance.
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 a cluster placement group to place instances close together.
A cluster placement group is the correct choice because it groups EC2 instances within a single Availability Zone with low-latency, high-bandwidth networking, achieving single-digit millisecond latency between instances. This is ideal for applications that exchange messages very frequently, as it minimizes network hops and maximizes throughput.
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 a spread placement group to maximize instance separation across hardware.
Why it's wrong here
Spread placement groups increase isolation, but they do not optimize for the lowest possible latency between instances.
- ✓
Use a cluster placement group to place instances close together.
Why this is correct
A cluster placement group is designed for workloads that need very low network latency and high packet-per-second performance between instances. The exhibit describes frequent small-message traffic and a need for the lowest possible latency, which makes a cluster placement group the right choice. It keeps instances physically close in the AWS network for faster communication.
- ✗
Use a partition placement group to distribute instances across many partitions.
Why it's wrong here
Partition placement groups are better for reducing correlated hardware failures in large distributed systems, not for minimizing latency between tightly coupled nodes.
- ✗
Use multiple Auto Scaling groups to spread traffic across more subnets.
Why it's wrong here
More Auto Scaling groups do not reduce latency between the existing instances. This is a placement problem, not a scaling problem.
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