SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company is running a critical application on Amazon EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group behind an Application Load Balancer. The application needs to process a large batch job that runs once per month and takes 2 hours. The company wants to optimize costs while ensuring the batch job has sufficient capacity. Which THREE steps should a solutions architect recommend?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates assume On-Demand or Reserved Instances are required for reliability, but the question emphasizes cost optimization and the batch job's fault tolerance, making Spot Instances with a scheduled scaling policy the correct approach.
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
✓
Create a scheduled scaling policy that increases the desired capacity before the batch job starts.
A scheduled scaling policy allows you to increase the desired capacity of the Auto Scaling group before the batch job starts, ensuring sufficient resources are available exactly when needed. This proactive approach avoids the latency of dynamic scaling and optimizes cost by not maintaining extra capacity outside the batch window.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✓
Create a scheduled scaling policy that increases the desired capacity before the batch job starts.
Why this is correct
Scheduled scaling ensures capacity is available when needed.
- ✓
Use a launch template with multiple instance types to increase the chances of obtaining Spot capacity.
Why this is correct
Diversifying instance types improves Spot availability.
- ✗
Use On-Demand Instances only for the batch job to ensure availability.
Why it's wrong here
On-Demand is costlier than Spot for this workload.
- ✓
Use Spot Instances in the Auto Scaling group for the batch job.
Why this is correct
Using Spot Instances for the monthly 2-hour batch job reduces compute cost by up to 90% compared to On-Demand, directly addressing the cost optimisation constraint. Spot Instances are interruptible, but the batch job’s short, predictable duration means it can complete within the typical reclaim notice window, satisfying the capacity requirement without risking failure.
- ✗
Purchase Reserved Instances for the batch job capacity.
Why it's wrong here
Reserved Instances require a 1- or 3-year commitment, not suitable for short monthly jobs.
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 1,660 original SAP-C02 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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.