SAP-C02 Continuous Improvement for Existing Solutions Practice Question
A development team deploys a web application on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer. The application experiences intermittent 503 errors. A Solutions Architect notices that the errors coincide with high CPU utilization on the EC2 instances. What is the MOST effective way to improve the application's availability?
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 an Auto Scaling group for the EC2 instances with a scaling policy based on average CPU utilization.
An Auto Scaling group with a scaling policy based on average CPU utilization dynamically adds or removes EC2 instances to handle load spikes, reducing 503 errors. Option A is wrong because increasing the idle timeout on the ALB does not address high CPU utilization on the instances. Option B is wrong because decreasing the health check interval may cause premature instance replacement without resolving the underlying capacity issue. Option D is wrong because using larger instance types may help but does not provide dynamic scaling and may be less cost-effective; it does not automatically adjust to fluctuating demand.
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 idle timeout setting on the Application Load Balancer.
Why it's wrong here
Idle timeout affects connection persistence, not CPU utilization or 503 errors due to overload.
- ✗
Decrease the health check interval on the Application Load Balancer.
Why it's wrong here
Faster health checks may cause instances to be marked unhealthy prematurely, potentially worsening the problem.
- ✓
Configure an Auto Scaling group for the EC2 instances with a scaling policy based on average CPU utilization.
Why this is correct
Auto Scaling dynamically adds/removes instances based on demand, maintaining availability and reducing 503 errors.
- ✗
Use larger EC2 instance types to handle the load.
Why it's wrong here
Scaling up instances may help but does not provide dynamic scalability and may be more expensive.
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