The answer is to replace the volume with an io2 EBS volume and provision the required IOPS. This is correct because the gp2 volume relies on a burst credit model, and once BurstBalance is depleted, it can no longer deliver the needed performance, causing latency to spike above 20 ms. The io2 volume, by contrast, is designed for EBS io2 sustained IOPS low latency workloads, offering a provisioned IOPS model that guarantees consistent, single-digit millisecond latency even under continuous load. On the SAA-C03 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of when to choose provisioned IOPS volumes over burstable ones—a common trap is assuming gp3’s baseline performance is sufficient, but gp3 still cannot match io2’s sub-millisecond latency guarantees for sustained random I/O. Remember the memory tip: “Burst is temporary, provisioned is permanent”—if the workload needs more than 16,000 IOPS with low latency, always reach for io2.
SAA-C03 Design High-Performing Architectures Practice Question
This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design high-performing architectures. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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.
Exhibit
Amazon CloudWatch metrics for the instance volume:
- VolumeType: gp2
- VolumeSize: 1 TiB
- ReadOps: 9,000-11,000 sustained
- WriteOps: 8,000-10,000 sustained
- BurstBalance: 0% for long periods
- VolumeQueueLength: elevated during peak use
- VolumeReadLatency p95: 23 ms
- VolumeWriteLatency p95: 19 ms
Application note:
- The working set is random and latency-sensitive
- The storage requirement is persistent block storage attached to one instance
Based on the exhibit, a single EC2 instance hosts a latency-sensitive cache that performs sustained random reads and writes to persistent block storage. The current EBS volume is a general-purpose SSD, but BurstBalance is repeatedly depleted and p95 I/O latency has risen above 20 ms. The workload needs more than 16,000 sustained IOPS. Which change is the best fix?
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.
Amazon CloudWatch metrics for the instance volume:
- VolumeType: gp2
- VolumeSize: 1 TiB
- ReadOps: 9,000-11,000 sustained
- WriteOps: 8,000-10,000 sustained
- BurstBalance: 0% for long periods
- VolumeQueueLength: elevated during peak use
- VolumeReadLatency p95: 23 ms
- VolumeWriteLatency p95: 19 ms
Application note:
- The working set is random and latency-sensitive
- The storage requirement is persistent block storage attached to one instance
A
Move the data to Amazon S3 so the instance can read and write objects directly.
Why wrong: Amazon S3 is object storage and does not provide a directly attached block device interface. It is not an appropriate replacement for a latency-sensitive cache that requires persistent block storage semantics and low-latency random I/O.
B
Replace the volume with an io2 EBS volume and provision the required IOPS.
io2 is designed for mission-critical workloads that need sustained, predictable, low-latency random I/O. Unlike gp2, it does not depend on burst credits for performance. Provisioning the required IOPS directly addresses the exhausted BurstBalance and the sustained throughput requirement above 16,000 IOPS.
C
Keep gp2 and increase the instance size to a compute-optimized family.
Why wrong: The metrics point to a storage bottleneck, not a CPU bottleneck. A larger instance may increase compute capacity, but it does not remove the gp2 burst-credit limitation or guarantee the sustained IOPS level and latency profile that the workload requires.
D
Enable Amazon EFS with bursting throughput mode for the cache data.
Why wrong: Amazon EFS is a shared file system, not a direct attached block volume. Bursting throughput mode also does not provide the same low-latency, high-IOPS characteristics needed for a single-instance cache with sustained random block reads and writes.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Replace the volume with an io2 EBS volume and provision the required IOPS.
The workload requires more than 16,000 sustained IOPS with low latency, and the gp2 volume's burst credits are exhausted, causing high latency. An io2 Block Express or io2 volume can be provisioned with the exact IOPS needed (up to 256,000 IOPS) and provides consistent single-digit millisecond latency, making it the best fix for this latency-sensitive, sustained I/O workload.
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.
✗
Move the data to Amazon S3 so the instance can read and write objects directly.
Why it's wrong here
Amazon S3 is object storage and does not provide a directly attached block device interface. It is not an appropriate replacement for a latency-sensitive cache that requires persistent block storage semantics and low-latency random I/O.
✓
Replace the volume with an io2 EBS volume and provision the required IOPS.
Why this is correct
io2 is designed for mission-critical workloads that need sustained, predictable, low-latency random I/O. Unlike gp2, it does not depend on burst credits for performance. Provisioning the required IOPS directly addresses the exhausted BurstBalance and the sustained throughput requirement above 16,000 IOPS.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Keep gp2 and increase the instance size to a compute-optimized family.
Why it's wrong here
The metrics point to a storage bottleneck, not a CPU bottleneck. A larger instance may increase compute capacity, but it does not remove the gp2 burst-credit limitation or guarantee the sustained IOPS level and latency profile that the workload requires.
✗
Enable Amazon EFS with bursting throughput mode for the cache data.
Why it's wrong here
Amazon EFS is a shared file system, not a direct attached block volume. Bursting throughput mode also does not provide the same low-latency, high-IOPS characteristics needed for a single-instance cache with sustained random block reads and writes.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume increasing instance size (Option C) will improve EBS performance, but EBS IOPS and throughput are tied to the volume type and size, not the instance type (except for EBS-optimized bandwidth), so the gp2 burst credit exhaustion remains the root cause.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
gp2 volumes provide a baseline of 3 IOPS per GB and a burst pool of 5.4 million credits, but once credits are depleted, performance drops to baseline; for a 1 TB gp2 volume, baseline is only 3,000 IOPS, far below the required 16,000. io2 volumes offer a provisioned IOPS-to-GB ratio of up to 1,000:1 and a 99.999% durability SLA, with consistent sub-10 ms latency even under sustained load, making them ideal for latency-sensitive databases or caches like Redis or Memcached.
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 media company stores terabytes of video archives that are accessed once a year for audit purposes. Moving these objects to a cold storage tier (Azure Archive, S3 Glacier, or Google Nearline) costs a fraction of hot storage. Questions like this test whether you understand storage tiers, access frequency tradeoffs, and retrieval latency requirements.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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: Replace the volume with an io2 EBS volume and provision the required IOPS. — The workload requires more than 16,000 sustained IOPS with low latency, and the gp2 volume's burst credits are exhausted, causing high latency. An io2 Block Express or io2 volume can be provisioned with the exact IOPS needed (up to 256,000 IOPS) and provides consistent single-digit millisecond latency, making it the best fix for this latency-sensitive, sustained I/O workload.
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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