Question

Difficulty: MediumDefine the benefits of the AWS Cloud

A human resources software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider experiences extreme compute demands only during the final three days of each month when processing payroll for all of its clients. The rest of the month, the system requires minimal resources. The company wants to optimize its architecture on AWS to avoid paying for idle infrastructure and to eliminate the need to predict peak workloads.

Which of the following AWS Cloud benefits most directly align with these goals? (Select TWO.)

  1. Stop guessing capacityAnswer
  2. Trade fixed expense for variable expenseAnswer
  3. C
    Shift variable operating expenses into fixed capital expenses
  4. D
    Implement permanent over-provisioning to achieve dynamic elasticity
  5. E
    Build monolithic applications to achieve highly predictable scaling patterns

Answer

The benefits of 'Stop guessing capacity' and 'Trade fixed expense for variable expense' are correct.
The correct options are 'Stop guessing capacity' and 'Trade fixed expense for variable expense'. The SaaS provider has a periodic, variable workload that runs for only three days a month. By choosing 'Stop guessing capacity', they can leverage auto-scaling to dynamically handle the payroll workload without having to predict peak capacity beforehand. By choosing 'Trade fixed expense for variable expense', they pay only for the compute capacity they consume during those three days, avoiding the fixed cost of owning and running idle servers during the rest of the month.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the business requirements of the SaaS provider.
The company has a highly variable workload (running only 3 days a month) and wants to avoid paying for idle infrastructure while eliminating the need to predict peak workloads.
Understanding the specific operational and financial challenges is necessary to map them to the corresponding AWS Cloud benefits.
2
Identify the AWS benefit that addresses variable workload sizing and prediction.
The benefit 'Stop guessing capacity' allows auto-scaling to meet actual demand, preventing under-provisioning or over-provisioning.
This directly resolves the need to predict peak workloads for the monthly payroll run.
3
Identify the AWS benefit that addresses cost optimization for idle resources.
The benefit 'Trade fixed expense for variable expense' allows paying only for resources used rather than investing in physical infrastructure.
This directly resolves the requirement to avoid paying for idle infrastructure during off-peak times.

Key Concept

AWS Cloud Benefits (Stop guessing capacity and Trade fixed expense for variable expense)
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