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 runs a production database on Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL. The SysOps administrator wants to improve query performance for a read-heavy application without increasing costs significantly. Which THREE actions should the administrator take? (Choose three.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Optimize slow queries by reviewing the slow query log
Option C is correct because reviewing the slow query log in RDS for PostgreSQL allows the administrator to identify and optimize poorly performing queries, which directly improves query performance without incurring additional infrastructure costs. This is a standard performance tuning practice that targets the root cause of read-heavy application slowdowns.
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.
✗
Enable Multi-AZ deployment
Why it's wrong here
Provides high availability, not read performance.
✗
Increase the allocated storage size
Why it's wrong here
More storage does not directly improve query performance.
✓
Optimize slow queries by reviewing the slow query log
Why this is correct
Identifies and fixes inefficient queries.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Implement an Amazon ElastiCache cluster to cache frequent query results
Why this is correct
Reduces database load for repeated queries.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Add one or more Read Replicas
Why this is correct
Offloads reads from the primary instance.
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 confusing Multi-AZ deployment with read scaling; candidates often assume Multi-AZ improves read performance, but it only provides a standby replica for failover, not for serving read traffic.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
RDS for PostgreSQL logs slow queries via the `log_min_duration_statement` parameter, which can be set to capture queries exceeding a threshold (e.g., 1000 ms). Analyzing these logs with tools like `pgBadger` helps pinpoint missing indexes, inefficient joins, or full table scans. In a read-heavy scenario, optimizing such queries reduces CPU and I/O load, often yielding more performance gain than scaling hardware.
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.
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: Optimize slow queries by reviewing the slow query log — Option C is correct because reviewing the slow query log in RDS for PostgreSQL allows the administrator to identify and optimize poorly performing queries, which directly improves query performance without incurring additional infrastructure costs. This is a standard performance tuning practice that targets the root cause of read-heavy application slowdowns.
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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Question Discussion
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