SAA-C03 Design High-Performing Architectures Practice Question
Exhibit
Database storage review: - Current volume type: gp2 - Peak Read/Write IOPS observed: 9,700 - VolumeQueueLength increases during busy periods - ReadLatency reaches 8-12 ms - Requirement: provision about 10,000 IOPS without buying much extra capacity
Based on the exhibit, which EBS volume type should the team use to meet the performance need at lower cost than overprovisioning capacity?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many exam-takers assume all EBS volume types require overprovisioning capacity to achieve higher IOPS, overlooking gp3's ability to independently scale performance from storage size, which is a key differentiator tested on the SAA-C03 exam.
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 gp3 and provision the needed IOPS independently of volume size.
The gp3 volume type allows you to provision baseline performance of 3,000 IOPS and 125 MiB/s regardless of volume size, and you can independently increase IOPS up to 16,000 and throughput up to 1,000 MiB/s without needing to add more storage capacity. This decoupling of performance from size means you can meet the required IOPS at a lower cost compared to gp2, where performance scales with volume size and often forces overprovisioning of capacity to achieve the needed IOPS.
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 gp3 and provision the needed IOPS independently of volume size.
Why this is correct
gp3 is the best fit because it lets you provision IOPS and throughput separately from volume size. The exhibit shows the workload needs around 10,000 IOPS and experiences queue buildup on gp2. With gp3, the team can raise performance without unnecessarily increasing storage capacity, which is usually more cost-effective for this kind of database workload.
- ✗
Use sc1 because it is optimized for infrequent access and large objects.
Why it's wrong here
sc1 is for cold, sequential workloads, not for low-latency databases that need thousands of random IOPS.
- ✗
Use st1 because it provides high throughput for streaming data.
Why it's wrong here
st1 is designed for throughput-heavy sequential access, not low-latency random I/O for transactional databases.
- ✗
Use standard magnetic storage because it is compatible with all EC2 instances.
Why it's wrong here
Magnetic storage is legacy and far below the performance needed for a database showing high IOPS and latency pressure.
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
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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.