- A
Increase the Lambda function timeout to 15 minutes and memory to 10240 MB
Why wrong: Increasing timeout may still result in timeouts if API latency varies, and higher memory increases cost.
- B
Use Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose to buffer data and write to S3, then trigger a Lambda function to enrich data asynchronously
Why wrong: Firehose can buffer but enrichment via API call is not supported; writing raw data first then enriching adds complexity.
- C
Enable Provisioned Concurrency on the Lambda function to reduce cold starts
Why wrong: Provisioned Concurrency does not address API latency causing timeouts.
- D
Configure the IoT rule to write messages to an Amazon SQS queue. Then use a Lambda function with reserved concurrency to poll the queue and process messages at a controlled rate
SQS decouples ingestion from processing, preventing message loss, and reserved concurrency ensures consistent performance.
SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 real-time analytics platform that ingests data from thousands of IoT devices. The devices send JSON messages every second to an AWS IoT Core topic. The messages must be processed and stored in Amazon S3 for long-term analysis. The processing includes enrichment by calling a third-party API to add location data. The company expects the workload to vary significantly, with peak traffic of 100,000 messages per second. The solution must be cost-effective and minimize operational overhead. The current architecture uses a Lambda function subscribed to the IoT topic, which processes each message and writes to S3. However, during initial testing, the Lambda function frequently times out due to the third-party API latency, causing message loss. What should the company do to resolve this issue while meeting all requirements?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"minimum / minimize"Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
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
Configure the IoT rule to write messages to an Amazon SQS queue. Then use a Lambda function with reserved concurrency to poll the queue and process messages at a controlled rate
Option D is correct because decoupling the ingestion from the processing using an SQS queue allows the Lambda function to poll messages at a controlled rate, preventing timeouts from third-party API latency. The SQS queue acts as a buffer, absorbing traffic spikes of up to 100,000 messages per second, and Lambda can process messages asynchronously without loss. This approach is cost-effective and minimizes operational overhead by leveraging managed services.
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.
- ✗
Increase the Lambda function timeout to 15 minutes and memory to 10240 MB
Why it's wrong here
Increasing timeout may still result in timeouts if API latency varies, and higher memory increases cost.
- ✗
Use Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose to buffer data and write to S3, then trigger a Lambda function to enrich data asynchronously
Why it's wrong here
Firehose can buffer but enrichment via API call is not supported; writing raw data first then enriching adds complexity.
- ✗
Enable Provisioned Concurrency on the Lambda function to reduce cold starts
Why it's wrong here
Provisioned Concurrency does not address API latency causing timeouts.
- ✓
Configure the IoT rule to write messages to an Amazon SQS queue. Then use a Lambda function with reserved concurrency to poll the queue and process messages at a controlled rate
Why this is correct
SQS decouples ingestion from processing, preventing message loss, and reserved concurrency ensures consistent performance.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
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 may think Kinesis Data Firehose is the best choice for buffering and enrichment, but they overlook that Firehose does not support real-time enrichment via Lambda before writing to S3; it only supports transformation with a Lambda function that has a limited timeout (60 seconds) and cannot handle asynchronous API calls reliably.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SQS can handle up to 300,000 messages per second with batching, and using a Lambda function with reserved concurrency ensures a controlled processing rate, preventing overload from the third-party API. The IoT rule can directly write to SQS using the 'republish' action, and Lambda can poll the queue using the SQS trigger, which automatically scales based on the number of messages. This pattern is commonly used for decoupling ingestion from processing in real-time analytics pipelines.
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 startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
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.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
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 the IoT rule to write messages to an Amazon SQS queue. Then use a Lambda function with reserved concurrency to poll the queue and process messages at a controlled rate — Option D is correct because decoupling the ingestion from the processing using an SQS queue allows the Lambda function to poll messages at a controlled rate, preventing timeouts from third-party API latency. The SQS queue acts as a buffer, absorbing traffic spikes of up to 100,000 messages per second, and Lambda can process messages asynchronously without loss. This approach is cost-effective and minimizes operational overhead by leveraging managed services.
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.
Are there clue words in this question I should notice?
Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
This SAP-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SAP-C02 exam.
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