SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company runs a batch processing application on a scheduled EC2 instance that starts every night. The instance processes a large number of files from an S3 bucket and writes results to another S3 bucket. The job takes approximately 6 hours to complete. Recently, the job has been failing after 4 hours with an error indicating that the instance's EBS root volume is full. The instance type is t3.medium with a 20 GB gp2 root volume. The application writes temporary files to the root volume. The company wants to fix this with minimal changes to the application and infrastructure. What should a solutions architect recommend?
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
✓
Increase the size of the EBS root volume to 100 GB.
Increasing the root volume size provides more space for temporary files without requiring application changes. Option A is wrong because creating an additional EBS volume and mounting it would require application changes to write to a different path. Option B is wrong because instance store volumes are ephemeral and may not be available on t3 instances, and would also require application changes. Option D is wrong because compressing temporary files may not be sufficient and requires code changes.
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 an additional EBS volume and mount it to the instance.
Why it's wrong here
An extra EBS volume leaves the application still writing temporary files to the root volume, so the 20 GB gp2 root still fills after four hours. Additional volumes suit separating data or logs, but here the fix must enlarge the root volume itself without application changes.
- ✗
Change the instance type to one with instance store volumes.
Why it's wrong here
Instance store volumes are ephemeral and tied to the host, so temporary files vanish on stop or failure, and the t3.medium family provides none anyway. Instance store suits scratch data where persistence is irrelevant, not a nightly batch job needing durable root storage.
- ✓
Increase the size of the EBS root volume to 100 GB.
Why this is correct
The application writes temporary files to the root volume, exhausting 20 GB during the six-hour job. Enlarging the gp2 root volume to 100 GB adds capacity without changing the application or instance type, satisfying the minimal-change constraint.
- ✗
Modify the application to compress temporary files.
Why it's wrong here
Compression reduces file size but does not guarantee the temporary data stays under 20 GB, and it requires application code changes the company wants to avoid. Compression suits reducing storage or transfer costs, not resolving a root volume that simply needs more capacity.
Quick reference
AWS S3 Storage Class Comparison
| Storage Class | Min Duration | Retrieval | Use Case |
|---|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard | None | Immediate | Frequently accessed data |
| S3 Standard-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Infrequent access, rapid retrieval |
| S3 One Zone-IA | 30 days | Immediate | Non-critical infrequent data |
| S3 Intelligent-Tiering | None | Immediate–hours | Unknown or changing access patterns |
| S3 Glacier Instant | 90 days | Milliseconds | Archive with instant retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Flexible | 90 days | Minutes–hours | Archive, flexible retrieval |
| S3 Glacier Deep Archive | 180 days | Hours | Long-term compliance archive |
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Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
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