The answer is to attach the Auto Scaling group to an Application Load Balancer and use a launch template with user data to bootstrap the web servers. This combination ensures that each new instance is stateless, as user data scripts can install and configure the web server software from scratch, while the ALB distributes incoming traffic evenly across the pool, enabling seamless horizontal scaling and high availability. On the AWS Certified Solutions Architect Professional SAP-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding of the stateless web tier pattern, where no session data is stored locally on instances—a common trap is to assume that sticky sessions or a database for session state are required, but the correct approach is to offload state to an external service like ElastiCache or DynamoDB. Remember the memory tip: "Boot, Balance, and Offload"—user data boots the software, the ALB balances the load, and the stateless design offloads session data elsewhere.
SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. 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 designing a new application on AWS that requires a highly available and scalable web tier. The web servers must be stateless and scale automatically based on CPU utilization. Which TWO actions should the company take to meet these requirements?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Configure an Auto Scaling group with a launch template that includes a user data script to bootstrap the web server
Option A is correct because a launch template with user data allows the Auto Scaling group to bootstrap web server software automatically when new instances launch, ensuring they are stateless and ready to serve traffic. Option B is correct because attaching an Application Load Balancer (ALB) distributes incoming traffic across the Auto Scaling group's instances, enabling horizontal scaling and high availability. Together, these actions support stateless web servers that scale based on CPU utilization via Auto Scaling policies.
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.
✓
Configure an Auto Scaling group with a launch template that includes a user data script to bootstrap the web server
Why this is correct
Auto Scaling group provides automatic scaling and high availability.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Attach the Auto Scaling group to an Application Load Balancer
Why this is correct
ALB distributes HTTP traffic and works with Auto Scaling.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Configure lifecycle hooks in the Auto Scaling group to drain connections
Why it's wrong here
Lifecycle hooks are not needed for scaling based on CPU.
✗
Use a single large EC2 instance (e.g., c5n.18xlarge) to handle all traffic
Why it's wrong here
Single large instance is not highly available.
✗
Use a Network Load Balancer to distribute traffic to web servers
Why it's wrong here
NLB is for TCP/UDP; for HTTP traffic, ALB is better.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may confuse lifecycle hooks (Option C) as necessary for scaling or connection draining, when in fact the ALB handles connection draining automatically, and lifecycle hooks are an optional feature for custom workflows like patching or logging.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Under the hood, the Auto Scaling group uses the launch template's user data to execute scripts (e.g., installing Apache or Nginx) at instance boot, ensuring each new instance is identical and stateless. The ALB performs health checks on the instances and automatically reroutes traffic away from unhealthy ones, while the Auto Scaling group adjusts the instance count based on a CloudWatch alarm tied to CPU utilization. A real-world scenario is an e-commerce site that scales out during flash sales; without the ALB, traffic would not be evenly distributed, and without user data, new instances would not be configured correctly.
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: Configure an Auto Scaling group with a launch template that includes a user data script to bootstrap the web server — Option A is correct because a launch template with user data allows the Auto Scaling group to bootstrap web server software automatically when new instances launch, ensuring they are stateless and ready to serve traffic. Option B is correct because attaching an Application Load Balancer (ALB) distributes incoming traffic across the Auto Scaling group's instances, enabling horizontal scaling and high availability. Together, these actions support stateless web servers that scale based on CPU utilization via Auto Scaling policies.
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.
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Question Discussion
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