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.
An EC2 Auto Scaling group runs a stateless web application with predictable daily peaks. Which two actions can reduce cost while preserving capacity during peak periods? (Choose 2.)
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Configure scheduled scaling actions for the known peak window.
Option A is correct because scheduled scaling allows you to proactively increase capacity before the predictable daily peak and reduce it afterward, ensuring you only pay for the resources needed during the peak window. This avoids over-provisioning for the entire day, directly reducing costs while maintaining performance during high-demand periods.
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.
✓
Configure scheduled scaling actions for the known peak window.
Why this is correct
Scheduled scaling adds capacity before predictable demand.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✓
Use a mixed instances policy with some Spot capacity where interruption is acceptable.
Why this is correct
Spot can reduce compute cost for stateless, fault-tolerant workloads.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Run all instances as On-Demand at maximum peak size all day.
Why it's wrong here
That preserves capacity but wastes cost outside peak periods.
✗
Disable health checks to avoid instance replacement.
Why it's wrong here
Disabling health checks reduces reliability.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates may think disabling health checks saves money by avoiding instance replacements, but this actually risks application availability and can increase costs due to undetected failures, while the real cost-saving mechanisms are proactive scaling and using cheaper instance types like Spot.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Scheduled scaling uses CloudWatch alarms or cron-like expressions to adjust the desired capacity at specific times, leveraging the Auto Scaling group's cooldown periods to prevent rapid fluctuations. Mixed instances policies with Spot Instances can reduce costs by up to 90% for fault-tolerant workloads, but require interruption handling via instance rebalancing or lifecycle hooks to maintain capacity during Spot reclaim notifications.
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: Configure scheduled scaling actions for the known peak window. — Option A is correct because scheduled scaling allows you to proactively increase capacity before the predictable daily peak and reduce it afterward, ensuring you only pay for the resources needed during the peak window. This avoids over-provisioning for the entire day, directly reducing costs while maintaining performance during high-demand periods.
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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