SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company is designing a new application that will process messages from an SQS queue. The messages must be processed in real-time with minimal latency, and the processing time per message varies from 100 ms to 5 seconds. The company wants to minimize cost and operational overhead. Which solution should the architect recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
Watch out — candidates often assume EC2 Auto Scaling is required for variable processing times, overlooking Lambda's native ability to scale instantly and cost-effectively for SQS-triggered workloads, or they mistakenly add unnecessary services like SNS or Kinesis that increase latency and cost without benefit.
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
✓
Use an SQS queue as an event source for an AWS Lambda function
Using an SQS queue as an event source for AWS Lambda enables real-time, low-latency processing of messages without any polling infrastructure to manage. Lambda automatically scales to handle variable processing times (100 ms to 5 seconds) and charges only for compute time used, minimizing both cost and operational overhead. This serverless approach eliminates the need for EC2 instances or Auto Scaling groups, aligning perfectly with the requirements for minimal latency and reduced management effort.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use Amazon Kinesis Data Streams and an AWS Lambda function
Why it's wrong here
Kinesis is designed for real-time streaming data, not for simple message processing from SQS.
- ✗
Use an SQS queue and an EC2 Auto Scaling group to poll and process messages
Why it's wrong here
EC2 instances require provisioning and management, increasing operational overhead.
- ✓
Use an SQS queue as an event source for an AWS Lambda function
Why this is correct
Lambda scales automatically with the SQS queue and charges per execution, minimizing cost and overhead.
- ✗
Use SQS to send messages to Amazon SNS, which triggers a Lambda function
Why it's wrong here
Adding SNS introduces unnecessary complexity and latency; Lambda can directly poll SQS.
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
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