CV0-004 Cloud Architecture and Design Practice Question
A cloud engineer is deploying a stateful application on Amazon EC2 that requires a persistent block storage volume with the highest possible IOPS and lowest latency for a database. The database will run on a single instance in one Availability Zone, and the engineer needs to choose the appropriate Amazon EBS volume type. Which volume type should the engineer select?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that General Purpose SSD (gp3) can be scaled to meet any performance requirement, when in fact it has a maximum IOPS limit far below what Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2 Block Express) can deliver.
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
✓
Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2 Block Express)
Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2 Block Express) delivers the highest IOPS and lowest latency among EBS volume types, making it the correct choice for a performance-critical single-instance database. The other options are either throughput-oriented HDDs for sequential workloads or a general-purpose SSD that, while cost-effective, does not provide the extreme performance required in this scenario.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon EBS Cold HDD (sc1)
Why it's wrong here
Cold HDD (sc1) is the lowest-cost EBS volume type intended for infrequently accessed data with large sequential reads. It provides the lowest IOPS and highest latency among EBS volume types, making it a poor fit for a performance-sensitive database. It also cannot be used as a boot volume. This option would severely degrade database performance and is not appropriate for the stated requirements.
- ✓
Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2 Block Express)
Why this is correct
Amazon EBS Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2 Block Express) is designed for critical, I/O-intensive database workloads that require the highest levels of IOPS and consistently low latency. It supports up to 256,000 IOPS and 4,000 MB/s per volume with sub-millisecond latency, and offers 99.999% durability. It is the best choice for a single-instance database requiring maximum performance.
- ✗
Amazon EBS General Purpose SSD (gp3)
Why it's wrong here
General Purpose SSD (gp3) provides a balance of price and performance, with a baseline of 3,000 IOPS and 125 MB/s that can be independently scaled up to 16,000 IOPS and 1,000 MB/s. While it is suitable for many workloads, it cannot match the extreme IOPS and sub-millisecond latency of io2 Block Express for a high-performance database. Therefore, gp3 does not meet the requirement for the highest possible IOPS and lowest latency.
- ✗
Amazon EBS Throughput Optimized HDD (st1)
Why it's wrong here
Throughput Optimized HDD (st1) is a low-cost magnetic volume designed for frequently accessed, throughput-intensive workloads such as big data and log processing. It cannot be used as a boot volume and delivers performance in terms of throughput (MiB/s), not IOPS. For a database requiring the highest IOPS and lowest latency, st1 is unsuitable because it has higher latency and lower IOPS than SSD-backed options.
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Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official CompTIA exam blueprint
This CV0-004 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA 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 CV0-004 exam.