SOA-C02 Cost and Performance Optimization Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of cost and performance optimization. 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 has a production RDS MySQL instance with 500 GB of gp2 storage. The database experiences high read traffic. The SysOps team needs to improve read performance at minimal cost. What should they do?
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Create one or more RDS Read Replicas in the same region and direct read traffic to them.
Option A is correct because adding Read Replicas offloads read queries from the primary instance, improving performance cost-effectively. Option B is wrong because migrating to Aurora is more expensive. Option C is wrong because gp3 might not provide enough IOPS for read-heavy workloads. Option D is wrong because vertical scaling is more costly than horizontal scaling.
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.
✗
Migrate the database to Amazon Aurora with Auto Scaling enabled.
Why it's wrong here
Aurora is generally more expensive than MySQL with Read Replicas.
✗
Change the storage type to gp3 and increase IOPS.
Why it's wrong here
This addresses storage performance but does not offload read traffic from the primary instance.
✗
Upgrade the DB instance to a larger instance type with more vCPUs.
Why it's wrong here
Vertical scaling is more expensive than adding Read Replicas.
✓
Create one or more RDS Read Replicas in the same region and direct read traffic to them.
Why this is correct
Read Replicas distribute read load at a low cost.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
Many certification questions include familiar terms but test a specific constraint. Read the exact wording before choosing an answer that is generally true but wrong for this case.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
This question should be treated as a scenario, not a definition check. Identify the problem, the constraint and the best action. Then compare each option against those facts.
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.
Use explanations to understand the rule behind the answer.
TExam Day Tips
→Underline the problem statement mentally.
→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.
Identify which SOA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
Cost and Performance Optimization — This question tests Cost and Performance Optimization — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Create one or more RDS Read Replicas in the same region and direct read traffic to them. — Option A is correct because adding Read Replicas offloads read queries from the primary instance, improving performance cost-effectively. Option B is wrong because migrating to Aurora is more expensive. Option C is wrong because gp3 might not provide enough IOPS for read-heavy workloads. Option D is wrong because vertical scaling is more costly than horizontal scaling.
What should I do if I get this SOA-C02 question wrong?
Identify which SOA-C02 exam domain this question belongs to, then review the specific concept being tested. Practise related questions in that domain and focus on understanding why each wrong answer is tempting — not just why the correct answer is right.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Question Discussion
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