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 SysOps administrator manages a web application running on Amazon EC2 instances that run 24/7 for the next 12 months. The workload is steady and predictable. Which EC2 purchasing option provides the highest cost savings for this use case?
Correct. Standard Reserved Instances offer the highest discount for a steady, predictable 24/7 workload with a 1-year or 3-year term.
B
Spot Instances
Why wrong: Incorrect. Spot Instances can be terminated with little notice, making them unsuitable for a 24/7 steady workload.
C
On-Demand Instances
Why wrong: Incorrect. On-Demand is the most expensive option with no commitment discount.
D
Savings Plans (Compute)
Why wrong: Incorrect. While Compute Savings Plans offer flexibility and savings, for a steady-state workload Standard RIs often provide a higher discount.
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Standard Reserved Instances
Standard Reserved Instances provide the highest cost savings for a steady, predictable 24/7 workload over a 12-month period because they offer a significant discount (up to 72% compared to On-Demand) in exchange for a commitment to a specific instance family, region, and term length. Since the workload runs continuously without interruption, the upfront payment or partial upfront payment for a 1-year term maximizes savings without the risk of interruption or the need for flexibility.
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.
✓
Standard Reserved Instances
Why this is correct
Correct. Standard Reserved Instances offer the highest discount for a steady, predictable 24/7 workload with a 1-year or 3-year term.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Spot Instances
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. Spot Instances can be terminated with little notice, making them unsuitable for a 24/7 steady workload.
✗
On-Demand Instances
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. On-Demand is the most expensive option with no commitment discount.
✗
Savings Plans (Compute)
Why it's wrong here
Incorrect. While Compute Savings Plans offer flexibility and savings, for a steady-state workload Standard RIs often provide a higher discount.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often choose Savings Plans (Compute) because they offer flexibility across instance families, but for a predictable, steady-state workload with a fixed instance type, Standard Reserved Instances provide the highest discount and capacity guarantee, making them the optimal choice for cost savings.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Standard Reserved Instances are tied to a specific Availability Zone and instance type, offering capacity reservations that guarantee resource availability, which is critical for production workloads. Under the hood, AWS applies the discount at the billing level by matching the running instance attributes to the reservation, and the savings are calculated based on the difference between the On-Demand rate and the reserved rate over the term. In real-world scenarios, if the workload changes or the instance type is no longer needed, unused reservations can be sold on the Reserved Instance Marketplace, but this adds complexity and potential loss of savings.
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: Standard Reserved Instances — Standard Reserved Instances provide the highest cost savings for a steady, predictable 24/7 workload over a 12-month period because they offer a significant discount (up to 72% compared to On-Demand) in exchange for a commitment to a specific instance family, region, and term length. Since the workload runs continuously without interruption, the upfront payment or partial upfront payment for a 1-year term maximizes savings without the risk of interruption or the need for flexibility.
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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This SOA-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the SOA-C02 exam.
Question Discussion
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