- A
Use AWS Budgets to send alerts when costs exceed a threshold.
Why wrong: Alerts do not prevent launches.
- B
Configure Amazon CloudWatch Events to detect launches and terminate instances.
Why wrong: This is reactive and may incur costs before termination.
- C
Attach an IAM policy to each account's root user to deny the ec2:RunInstances action for certain instance types.
Why wrong: IAM policies are per-account and not automatically inherited.
- D
Create a service control policy (SCP) that denies the ec2:RunInstances action for prohibited instance types and apply it to the organization.
SCPs apply to all accounts in the organization.
Question 890 of 1,746
Global EC2 Instance Type Restriction with a Service Control Policy
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design solutions for organizational complexity. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.
A company uses AWS Organizations with multiple accounts. The central IT team wants to restrict the use of specific EC2 instance types across all accounts to control costs. Which approach should the team 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
✓
Create a service control policy (SCP) that denies the ec2:RunInstances action for prohibited instance types and apply it to the organization.
Service control policies (SCPs) are the correct mechanism to centrally restrict permissions across all accounts in an AWS Organization. By creating an SCP that denies the ec2:RunInstances action for specific instance types and applying it to the organization (or relevant OUs), the central IT team can enforce this restriction globally, preventing any IAM principal in any account from launching prohibited instance types, regardless of their IAM permissions.
Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Use AWS Budgets to send alerts when costs exceed a threshold.
Why it's wrong here
Alerts do not prevent launches.
- ✗
Configure Amazon CloudWatch Events to detect launches and terminate instances.
Why it's wrong here
This is reactive and may incur costs before termination.
- ✗
Attach an IAM policy to each account's root user to deny the ec2:RunInstances action for certain instance types.
Why it's wrong here
IAM policies are per-account and not automatically inherited.
- ✓
Create a service control policy (SCP) that denies the ec2:RunInstances action for prohibited instance types and apply it to the organization.
Why this is correct
SCPs apply to all accounts in the organization.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse IAM policies with SCPs, thinking that attaching a deny policy to the root user or individual IAM users is sufficient, but SCPs are the only mechanism that can enforce restrictions across all principals in an AWS Organization account, including the root user.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
SCPs are evaluated before IAM policies and can only deny or allow actions; they do not grant permissions. When an SCP denies ec2:RunInstances for a specific instance type (e.g., using a Condition key like ec2:InstanceType), any IAM principal in the affected accounts will be blocked from launching that instance type, even if their IAM policy allows it. This is because AWS evaluates all policies (SCP, IAM, resource-based) and the effective permission is the intersection of all allows minus any explicit denies, making SCP denies absolute.
KKey Concepts to Remember
- Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
- Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.
TExam Day Tips
- Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
- Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.
Key takeaway
Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.
Real-world example
How this comes up in practice
A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — study guide chapter
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — This question tests Design Solutions for Organizational Complexity — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create a service control policy (SCP) that denies the ec2:RunInstances action for prohibited instance types and apply it to the organization. — Service control policies (SCPs) are the correct mechanism to centrally restrict permissions across all accounts in an AWS Organization. By creating an SCP that denies the ec2:RunInstances action for specific instance types and applying it to the organization (or relevant OUs), the central IT team can enforce this restriction globally, preventing any IAM principal in any account from launching prohibited instance types, regardless of their IAM permissions.
What should I do if I get this SAP-C02 question wrong?
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jul 4, 2026
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