The correct answers are Amazon EFS and Amazon FSx for Lustre, as both provide shared persistent storage for EKS across AZs by supporting concurrent, multi-client access from different Availability Zones. Amazon EFS delivers a fully managed NFS file system that multiple pods can mount simultaneously, while FSx for Lustre offers high-performance parallel file access ideal for compute-intensive workloads. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of storage services that maintain consistency and availability across zones, a common scenario for stateful containerized applications. A frequent trap is selecting Amazon EBS, which is zone-scoped and cannot be shared across AZs, or Amazon S3, which is object storage not mounted as a file system. Remember the memory tip: “EFS and FSx for Lustre share across zones; EBS stays home in one zone.”
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.
A company is deploying a containerized application on Amazon EKS. The application requires persistent storage that can be shared across multiple pods in different Availability Zones. Which TWO storage solutions meet this requirement? (Choose TWO.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Amazon FSx for Lustre
Amazon EFS provides a fully managed, scalable, and elastic NFS file system that can be mounted concurrently by multiple Amazon EKS pods across different Availability Zones, making it suitable for shared persistent storage. Amazon FSx for Lustre is a high-performance file system optimized for workloads like machine learning and HPC, and it supports concurrent access from multiple clients across AZs, meeting the requirement for shared storage.
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.
✗
Amazon EBS with io2 volumes
Why it's wrong here
EBS volumes can only be attached to a single EC2 instance in one AZ; not shareable across AZs.
✗
Amazon S3
Why it's wrong here
S3 is object storage, not a file system; not suitable for shared file system access.
✗
Amazon EC2 Instance Store
Why it's wrong here
Instance Store is ephemeral and tied to a single instance; cannot be shared.
✓
Amazon FSx for Lustre
Why this is correct
FSx for Lustre is a high-performance file system that can be shared across multiple clients in different AZs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Amazon EFS
Why this is correct
EFS provides a scalable, shared file system accessible from multiple AZs.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often assume EBS volumes can be shared across pods because they are persistent, but EBS is a block device with a single-attach limitation, making it unsuitable for multi-pod shared access across AZs.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Amazon EFS uses the NFSv4.1 protocol and automatically scales storage capacity as files are added or removed, with data replicated across multiple AZs within a region for high durability. Amazon FSx for Lustre is based on the Lustre parallel file system, which stripes data across multiple network-attached storage servers to deliver sub-millisecond latencies and high throughput, and it can be linked to Amazon S3 for persistent data storage. Both services support the ReadWriteMany (RWX) access mode in Kubernetes, enabling concurrent pod access across nodes in different AZs.
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 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: Amazon FSx for Lustre — Amazon EFS provides a fully managed, scalable, and elastic NFS file system that can be mounted concurrently by multiple Amazon EKS pods across different Availability Zones, making it suitable for shared persistent storage. Amazon FSx for Lustre is a high-performance file system optimized for workloads like machine learning and HPC, and it supports concurrent access from multiple clients across AZs, meeting the requirement for shared storage.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
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These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company is designing a new container-based application using Amazon EKS. The application requires persistent storage for stateful workloads, such as databases. The storage must be highly available and durable across multiple Availability Zones. Which storage solution should be used?
medium
A.Use Amazon EBS volumes with the EBS CSI driver.
B.Use Amazon FSx for Lustre as a shared file system.
✓ C.Use Amazon EFS with the EFS CSI driver.
D.Use Amazon S3 with the S3 CSI driver.
Why C: Amazon EFS provides a fully managed, elastic NFS file system that is accessible from multiple Amazon EKS worker nodes across different Availability Zones simultaneously. The EFS CSI driver enables Kubernetes pods to mount EFS as a persistent volume, delivering the required high availability and durability for stateful workloads like databases without single-AZ dependency.
Variation 2. A company is designing a new application that will run on Amazon EKS. The application requires persistent storage that can be accessed by multiple pods simultaneously. The storage must be highly available and durable. Which storage solution should be used?
hard
✓ A.Amazon EFS with One Zone storage classes
B.Amazon EBS with gp3 volume type
C.Amazon S3 with Mountpoint for S3
D.Amazon FSx for Lustre
Why A: Option C is correct because Amazon EFS provides a shared file system that can be mounted by multiple pods concurrently, with high availability and durability. Option A is incorrect because EBS volumes can only be attached to a single EC2 instance, not multiple pods. Option B is incorrect because S3 is object storage, not file system. Option D is incorrect because FSx for Lustre is optimized for high-performance computing, not general shared storage.
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Question Discussion
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