SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A company is designing a serverless event-driven architecture using AWS Lambda, Amazon SQS, and Amazon DynamoDB. The Lambda function processes messages from an SQS queue and writes to DynamoDB. The company expects unpredictable traffic spikes and must ensure that messages are not lost. Which configuration should the company use to meet these requirements?
⚠ Common exam trap
Many candidates confuse Provisioned Concurrency (which reduces cold starts) with reserved concurrency (which guarantees processing capacity), and overlook that SQS alone cannot prevent message loss if Lambda is throttled.
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 a Lambda event source with reserved concurrency on the Lambda function
Using an SQS queue as a Lambda event source with reserved concurrency ensures that messages are not lost during traffic spikes. SQS acts as a durable buffer, and reserved concurrency prevents the Lambda function from being throttled, which would otherwise cause messages to remain in the queue or be sent to a dead-letter queue. This combination guarantees that every message is processed without loss, even under unpredictable load.
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 an SQS queue as a Lambda event source with reserved concurrency on the Lambda function
Why this is correct
Reserved concurrency prevents throttling, and SQS acts as a buffer.
- ✗
Enable DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) for the Lambda function
Why it's wrong here
DAX is a cache, not relevant to message processing.
- ✗
Provisioned Concurrency on the Lambda function
Why it's wrong here
Provisioned Concurrency is for cold starts, not for preventing message loss.
- ✗
Increase the SQS queue visibility timeout and retention period
Why it's wrong here
This does not prevent message loss during throttling.
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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