SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
A startup is designing a new web application that will be hosted on AWS. The application consists of a static frontend and a backend API. The frontend is built with React and the backend is a RESTful API built with Node.js. The startup expects low traffic initially but wants to be able to scale to millions of users. The team wants to minimize operational overhead and cost. Which architecture should they use?
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
✓
Host the frontend on Amazon S3 with static website hosting and the backend as AWS Lambda functions behind Amazon API Gateway.
S3 for static hosting and API Gateway with Lambda provides a serverless, scalable solution with low overhead. Option A is wrong because EC2 requires management. Option C is wrong because Lightsail has limited scalability. Option D is wrong because Elastic Beanstalk has more overhead than serverless.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Host the frontend and backend on a single EC2 instance using Amazon Lightsail.
Why it's wrong here
Lightsail has limited scalability and is not suitable for millions of users.
- ✓
Host the frontend on Amazon S3 with static website hosting and the backend as AWS Lambda functions behind Amazon API Gateway.
Why this is correct
Serverless architecture minimizes operational overhead and scales automatically.
- ✗
Host the frontend on EC2 instances behind an ALB and the backend on EC2 instances behind another ALB.
Why it's wrong here
EC2 instances require management and scaling overhead.
- ✗
Host the frontend on S3 and the backend on Amazon Elastic Beanstalk with a load balancer.
Why it's wrong here
Elastic Beanstalk still requires environment management and has more overhead than Lambda.
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
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.