SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A company runs a stateless web application on AWS Elastic Beanstalk. The application experiences periodic spikes in traffic that cause CPU utilization to reach 90% on the EC2 instances. The company wants to automatically scale the environment based on CPU usage. They also want to ensure that the scaling is proactive and can handle sudden traffic surges. What should they do?
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 a predictive scaling policy using AWS Auto Scaling.
Predictive scaling policies in AWS Auto Scaling use historical data to forecast future traffic and proactively adjust capacity, handling sudden surges. Option A: Simple scaling policies react after alarms trigger, causing delays. Option C: Manual scaling is not automated. Option D: Scheduled scaling works for known peak times but not for unpredictable surges.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Configure a simple scaling policy based on CPU utilization with a cooldown period.
Why it's wrong here
Simple scaling reacts after the alarm triggers, which may be too slow for sudden surges.
- ✓
Configure a predictive scaling policy using AWS Auto Scaling.
Why this is correct
Predictive scaling uses historical data to forecast and proactively add capacity before spikes.
- ✗
Manually increase the instance count when traffic spikes are expected.
Why it's wrong here
Manual scaling is not automated and may not react quickly enough.
- ✗
Use scheduled scaling to add instances during known peak times.
Why it's wrong here
Scheduled scaling is for predictable patterns, not for unexpected spikes.
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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.