- A
Purchase Compute Savings Plans for a 1-year or 3-year term with a commitment that covers the expected compute spend.
Compute Savings Plans apply to EC2, Fargate, and Lambda usage, regardless of instance size, family, OS, or region (within the plan's scope). This provides maximum flexibility and significant discounts.
- B
Purchase EC2 Instance Savings Plans for the most commonly used instance family and region.
Why wrong: EC2 Instance Savings Plans are tied to a specific instance family in a region. They do not cover Fargate tasks and are less flexible if instance types change.
- C
Purchase Standard Reserved Instances for the EC2 instances and convert Fargate tasks to use Spot Instances.
Why wrong: Standard RIs apply only to EC2 and not to Fargate. Spot Instances could be used for fault-tolerant workloads, but the question asks for a single purchasing option that covers both compute services.
- D
Use On-Demand instances for both EC2 and Fargate because the administrator does not want to make a commitment.
Why wrong: On-Demand is the most expensive option. Since the workloads are steady, a Savings Plan or RI would provide significant cost savings.
Quick Answer
The answer is to purchase Compute Savings Plans for a 1-year or 3-year term with a commitment that covers the expected compute spend. This is correct because Compute Savings Plans offer the highest flexibility among AWS discount models, automatically applying to Amazon EC2 instances regardless of family, size, or region, as well as to AWS Fargate tasks, making them ideal for a mixed, steady workload. On the AWS Certified SysOps Administrator Associate SOA-C02 exam, this question tests your ability to distinguish between Savings Plans types—specifically that Compute Savings Plans cover both EC2 and Fargate, while EC2 Instance Savings Plans lock you into a specific family and region. A common trap is choosing EC2 Instance Savings Plans for cost savings, but that would not cover Fargate tasks. Remember the memory tip: “Compute covers all compute”—if you see both EC2 and Fargate in the scenario, always pick Compute Savings Plans for maximum flexibility and savings.
SOA-C02 Cost and Performance Optimization Practice Question
This SOA-C02 practice question tests your understanding of cost and performance optimization. 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 runs a mix of Amazon EC2 instances and AWS Fargate tasks that are used for both production and development workloads. The usage is steady and predictable. The SysOps administrator wants to maximize cost savings across both compute services without having to manage specific instances or sizes. Which purchasing option should the administrator recommend?
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
Purchase Compute Savings Plans for a 1-year or 3-year term with a commitment that covers the expected compute spend.
Compute Savings Plans offer the most flexibility, automatically applying to EC2 instances (regardless of instance family, size, or region) and Fargate tasks. Since the company has a mix of both services and wants to maximize savings without managing specific instances or sizes, a 1-year or 3-term Compute Savings Plan with a commitment matching expected spend provides up to 66% savings while covering all compute usage. This aligns with the steady and predictable workload described.
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.
- ✓
Purchase Compute Savings Plans for a 1-year or 3-year term with a commitment that covers the expected compute spend.
Why this is correct
Compute Savings Plans apply to EC2, Fargate, and Lambda usage, regardless of instance size, family, OS, or region (within the plan's scope). This provides maximum flexibility and significant discounts.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Purchase EC2 Instance Savings Plans for the most commonly used instance family and region.
Why it's wrong here
EC2 Instance Savings Plans are tied to a specific instance family in a region. They do not cover Fargate tasks and are less flexible if instance types change.
- ✗
Purchase Standard Reserved Instances for the EC2 instances and convert Fargate tasks to use Spot Instances.
Why it's wrong here
Standard RIs apply only to EC2 and not to Fargate. Spot Instances could be used for fault-tolerant workloads, but the question asks for a single purchasing option that covers both compute services.
- ✗
Use On-Demand instances for both EC2 and Fargate because the administrator does not want to make a commitment.
Why it's wrong here
On-Demand is the most expensive option. Since the workloads are steady, a Savings Plan or RI would provide significant cost savings.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
AWS often tests the distinction between Compute Savings Plans and EC2 Instance Savings Plans, where candidates mistakenly choose the latter thinking it covers all EC2 usage, but fail to recognize that Compute Savings Plans also include Fargate and Lambda, making them the only option for a mixed compute environment.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Compute Savings Plans apply to any compute usage covered by the EC2, Fargate, and Lambda services, automatically adjusting to changes in instance family, size, region, or operating system. The discount is applied to eligible usage up to the committed hourly amount, with any usage beyond that charged at On-Demand rates. This is ideal for predictable workloads because the commitment is based on spend (e.g., $10/hour) rather than specific instance attributes, allowing the administrator to scale or change instance types without losing the discount.
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.
Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SOA-C02 question test?
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: Purchase Compute Savings Plans for a 1-year or 3-year term with a commitment that covers the expected compute spend. — Compute Savings Plans offer the most flexibility, automatically applying to EC2 instances (regardless of instance family, size, or region) and Fargate tasks. Since the company has a mix of both services and wants to maximize savings without managing specific instances or sizes, a 1-year or 3-term Compute Savings Plan with a commitment matching expected spend provides up to 66% savings while covering all compute usage. This aligns with the steady and predictable workload described.
What should I do if I get this SOA-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: Jun 30, 2026
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