SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company has deployed a web application behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB) with an Auto Scaling group. Users report that the application is slow during peak hours. The CPU utilization of the EC2 instances is consistently below 40%, but the ALB's request count per target is high. Which action would MOST improve 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
✓
Increase the desired capacity of the Auto Scaling group
High request count per target with low CPU utilization suggests the application is I/O bound or waiting on external calls. Adding more instances by increasing the desired capacity distributes the load across more targets, reducing queueing and improving performance. Option A is wrong because the bottleneck is not CPU, so increasing instance size is unlikely to help. Option C is wrong because scaling based on CPU utilization would not trigger since CPU is low. Option D is wrong because changing the ALB routing algorithm to least outstanding requests might help distribute load more evenly but does not add capacity; increasing desired capacity directly addresses the high request count per target.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Increase the instance size (e.g., from t3.medium to t3.large)
Why it's wrong here
CPU is low, so larger instances may not improve performance.
- ✓
Increase the desired capacity of the Auto Scaling group
Why this is correct
Adding more instances reduces request count per target.
- ✗
Configure the Auto Scaling group to scale based on CPU utilization
Why it's wrong here
CPU is low, so this would not scale out.
- ✗
Change the ALB routing algorithm to least outstanding requests
Why it's wrong here
This could help slightly but does not add capacity.
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1 more way this is tested on SAP-C02
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Variation 1. A company runs a web application on EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The application experiences periodic spikes in traffic. The operations team wants to ensure that the application can handle the spikes without manual intervention. What is the MOST cost-effective solution?
easy- A.Use a scheduled scaling policy to add instances during predicted peak hours.
- ✓ B.Create a target tracking scaling policy using the ALB RequestCountPerTarget metric.
- C.Manually add instances when traffic spikes are expected.
- D.Use a simple scaling policy based on CPU utilization.
Why B: A target tracking scaling policy automatically adjusts capacity based on a specific metric, and using the ALB RequestCountPerTarget metric is appropriate for handling traffic spikes in a cost-effective manner. This policy maintains the desired metric value by adding or removing instances as needed, without manual intervention. Option A is incorrect because a scheduled scaling policy assumes predictable peaks, but the traffic spikes are periodic and may not follow a fixed schedule. Option C is incorrect because manual intervention is not cost-effective and defeats the purpose of automation. Option D is incorrect because a simple scaling policy based on CPU utilization may not react quickly enough to sudden traffic spikes and could be less cost-effective than target tracking.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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