The correct answer is that each instance receives an equal share of traffic. This is because when cross-zone load balancing is enabled on an Application Load Balancer, the ALB distributes incoming requests evenly across all registered targets, regardless of which Availability Zone they reside in. The load balancer node in each zone sends traffic proportionally to instances in all zones, ensuring that every healthy instance gets the same number of requests over time. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this concept tests your understanding of how ALB routing differs from Network Load Balancer behavior, where cross-zone is disabled by default. A common trap is confusing this with zone-level distribution, where traffic is split equally per AZ first, then among instances within that zone—that is the behavior without cross-zone load balancing. Remember the mnemonic: “Cross-zone crushes zones—each instance gets an equal portion.”
SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. 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.
Network Topology
A company has three EC2 instances as shown in the exhibit. The company wants to use an Application Load Balancer to distribute traffic across these instances with cross-zone load balancing enabled. How will the traffic be distributed?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Each instance receives an equal share of traffic.
With cross-zone load balancing enabled, the ALB distributes traffic evenly across all registered instances regardless of the availability zone. Each instance receives an equal share of traffic. Option B is correct. Option A is wrong because that is without cross-zone. Option C is wrong because it's not per AZ. Option D is wrong because it's not sticky.
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.
✗
Traffic is distributed evenly across the two availability zones.
Why it's wrong here
Cross-zone enabled means distribution is across instances, not AZs.
✗
Instances in us-east-1a receive 67% of traffic, us-east-1b receives 33%.
Why it's wrong here
That would be without cross-zone.
✓
Each instance receives an equal share of traffic.
Why this is correct
Cross-zone load balancing distributes traffic evenly across all instances.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Traffic is sent to the instance with the least outstanding requests.
Why it's wrong here
That's the default routing algorithm, but not related to cross-zone distribution.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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
An e-commerce site experiences heavy traffic on Black Friday and near-zero traffic during off-peak weeks. Rather than provisioning permanent large VMs, the team uses auto-scaling groups that add capacity automatically under load and reduce it overnight. Questions like this test whether you understand elasticity, availability zones, and cloud compute scaling patterns.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Design for New Solutions — This question tests Design for New Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Each instance receives an equal share of traffic. — With cross-zone load balancing enabled, the ALB distributes traffic evenly across all registered instances regardless of the availability zone. Each instance receives an equal share of traffic. Option B is correct. Option A is wrong because that is without cross-zone. Option C is wrong because it's not per AZ. Option D is wrong because it's not sticky.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which SAP-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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