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CCSP Practice Question: A cloud operations team manages a critical…
A cloud operations team manages a critical application on AWS that uses EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The application experiences occasional high latency and timeout errors. The team has enabled detailed monitoring and CloudWatch Logs. They notice that during peak hours, the CPU utilization on some instances reaches 95%, while others remain around 40%. The security group allows traffic from a wide range of IP addresses. The team needs to improve both performance and security. Which of the following actions would BEST address the performance imbalance and also enhance security posture?
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
✓
Create an auto scaling group with a dynamic scaling policy based on average CPU utilization, change the ALB to a Network Load Balancer for lower latency, and restrict the security group rules to the minimal required IP addresses.
It addresses both the performance imbalance and security posture. A dynamic auto scaling policy based on average CPU utilization automatically adjusts capacity to handle peak loads, balancing the load across instances. Changing to a Network Load Balancer (NLB) reduces latency due to its lower overhead compared to an Application Load Balancer (ALB). Restricting security group rules to minimal required IPs enhances security. Option A is incorrect because scheduled scaling may not match unpredictable traffic patterns, and sticky sessions can worsen imbalances. Option C is incorrect because increasing instance size is a static fix that doesn't address the imbalance during variable loads. Option D is incorrect because Classic Load Balancers lack advanced features like health checks and are not suitable for modern applications; round-robin alone doesn't fix the imbalance.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Schedule a periodic cron job to launch additional instances during expected peak hours and configure the ALB to use sticky sessions.
Why it's wrong here
Scheduled scaling may not align with actual traffic patterns, and sticky sessions can cause uneven distribution.
- ✓
Create an auto scaling group with a dynamic scaling policy based on average CPU utilization, change the ALB to a Network Load Balancer for lower latency, and restrict the security group rules to the minimal required IP addresses.
Why this is correct
Dynamic auto scaling adjusts capacity based on load, NLB provides lower latency, and restricting security groups enhances security.
- ✗
Increase the instance size to a larger type that can handle peak loads and reduce the security group to allow only known IP ranges.
Why it's wrong here
Increasing size is a static change and may not cost-effectively handle variable loads; also, it does not address the imbalance.
- ✗
Replace the ALB with a Classic Load Balancer and configure it to use round-robin routing without health checks to balance traffic quickly.
Why it's wrong here
Classic Load Balancer lacks the features of ALB and turning off health checks is risky; round-robin may still send traffic to unhealthy instances.
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JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CCSP practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISC2 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 CCSP exam.