- A
EC2 instances with enhanced networking and high-throughput (e.g., p4d, p3dn)
These instance types offer high network bandwidth and EFA support.
- B
VPC peering between multiple VPCs
Why wrong: VPC peering does not improve performance; it connects separate VPCs.
- C
AWS Global Accelerator
Why wrong: Global Accelerator is for user-facing traffic, not inter-node HPC.
- D
Placement Groups (Cluster Placement Group)
Cluster placement groups place instances in the same rack, reducing latency.
- E
Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA)
EFA provides OS-bypass for low latency MPI communication.
Question 1,406 of 1,746
SAP-C02 Design for New Solutions Practice Question
This SAP-C02 practice question tests your understanding of design for new solutions. Read the scenario carefully and evaluate each option against the stated constraints before committing to an answer. 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 is designing a high-performance computing (HPC) workload on AWS. The workload requires tightly coupled inter-node communication with low latency and high bandwidth. Which THREE services or features should the architect consider to meet these requirements? (Choose three.)
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
✓
EC2 instances with enhanced networking and high-throughput (e.g., p4d, p3dn)
EC2 instances like p4d and p3dn are designed for HPC workloads, offering enhanced networking (up to 100 Gbps) and high-throughput capabilities. These instances support Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA) and are optimized for tightly coupled inter-node communication, providing the low latency and high bandwidth required for HPC.
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.
- ✓
EC2 instances with enhanced networking and high-throughput (e.g., p4d, p3dn)
Why this is correct
These instance types offer high network bandwidth and EFA support.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
VPC peering between multiple VPCs
Why it's wrong here
VPC peering does not improve performance; it connects separate VPCs.
- ✗
AWS Global Accelerator
Why it's wrong here
Global Accelerator is for user-facing traffic, not inter-node HPC.
- ✓
Placement Groups (Cluster Placement Group)
Why this is correct
Cluster placement groups place instances in the same rack, reducing latency.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✓
Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA)
Why this is correct
EFA provides OS-bypass for low latency MPI communication.
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 may confuse VPC peering or Global Accelerator as solutions for inter-node latency, but these services address different problems (cross-VPC connectivity and global traffic optimization) and do not reduce latency for tightly coupled HPC communication within a single cluster.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA) is a network interface that bypasses the operating system kernel and uses OS-bypass (e.g., Libfabric) to enable direct memory access between instances, achieving microsecond-level latency and up to 100 Gbps throughput. Cluster Placement Groups ensure instances are in a single Availability Zone with low-latency, high-bandwidth links (typically 10 Gbps for non-EFA, but EFA enhances this further). In real-world scenarios, molecular dynamics simulations (e.g., NAMD, GROMACS) rely on these features to scale across thousands of cores with minimal communication overhead.
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 healthcare organisation deploys an application with a public-facing web tier and a private database tier. The database subnet has no public IP and only accepts connections from the web tier's security group. Questions like this test whether you can design cloud network isolation using VNets/VPCs, subnets, and security group rules.
What to study next
Got this wrong? Here's your next step.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAP-C02 question test?
Design for New Solutions — This question tests Design for New Solutions — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: EC2 instances with enhanced networking and high-throughput (e.g., p4d, p3dn) — EC2 instances like p4d and p3dn are designed for HPC workloads, offering enhanced networking (up to 100 Gbps) and high-throughput capabilities. These instances support Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA) and are optimized for tightly coupled inter-node communication, providing the low latency and high bandwidth required for HPC.
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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