CV0-004 Cloud Architecture and Design Practice Question
An organization runs a batch processing job that runs for 2 hours every night. The job can tolerate interruptions and can resume from the last checkpoint. Which cloud purchasing option minimizes cost?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap here is assuming that reserved instances are always the cheapest for long-running jobs, but the key differentiator is the workload's tolerance for interruptions—spot instances win for fault-tolerant, checkpointable batch jobs.
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
✓
Spot instances
Spot instances are the correct choice because they offer the largest discount (up to 90% off on-demand) for workloads that can tolerate interruptions and resume from checkpoints. The batch job's ability to be interrupted and restart from the last checkpoint aligns perfectly with spot instance behavior, where instances can be reclaimed by the cloud provider with a two-minute warning. This makes spot instances the most cost-effective option for this fault-tolerant, time-flexible workload.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Reserved instances
Why it's wrong here
Reserved instances suit steady, predictable workloads running continuously, since you commit to a one- or three-year term. This job runs only two hours nightly and tolerates interruption, so Spot instances, which reclaim capacity at steep discounts, cut cost far more than any reservation commitment.
- ✓
Spot instances
Why this is correct
Spot instances use spare cloud capacity priced far below on-demand rates, and they can be reclaimed with little notice. The job tolerates interruptions and resumes from checkpoints, so eviction causes no data loss. This fault tolerance is exactly the constraint that makes spot pricing the cheapest viable option.
- ✗
Dedicated hosts
Why it's wrong here
Dedicated hosts provide single-tenant physical servers for licensing or compliance requirements, billed per host regardless of use. This two-hour interruptible batch job needs no host isolation, so Spot instances, which price spare capacity dynamically, deliver the lowest cost instead.
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On-demand instances
Why it's wrong here
On-demand instances bill the full per-second rate for the entire two-hour run and offer no discount for the interruption-tolerant, checkpoint-resumable workload. They suit unpredictable short-lived workloads; Spot instances, which exploit that tolerance, minimise cost here.
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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.