Question

Difficulty: Very hardHigh-Performing and Elastic Compute Solutions

A genomics research organization is deploying a pipeline on AWS to perform real-time DNA sequence alignment. The workload requires a cluster of compute-intensive EC2 instances that need to exchange large datasets continuously with sub-millisecond node-to-node latency. A fleet of worker instances is managed by an Auto Scaling group behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The containerized alignment application runs on the instances and is configured to bind to custom TCP port 8443, while the ALB exposes HTTPS port 443 to external clients. The system must maximize node-to-node network performance and ensure the Auto Scaling group scales correctly without falsely terminating healthy instances. Which combination of actions should a solutions architect perform to satisfy these requirements? (Select TWO.)

  1. Launch the Auto Scaling group instances in a cluster placement group within a single Availability Zone.Answer
  2. Configure the Application Load Balancer target group health check port to 8443.Answer
  3. C
    Launch the Auto Scaling group instances in a spread placement group across multiple Availability Zones.
  4. D
    Launch the Auto Scaling group instances in a partition placement group across multiple partitions.
  5. E
    Configure the Application Load Balancer target group health check to query the default HTTP port 80.

Answer

Launch the Auto Scaling group instances in a cluster placement group, and configure the Application Load Balancer target group health check port to 8443.
To meet the requirements, the solutions architect must configure a cluster placement group and specify the correct custom health check port. A cluster placement group is designed for applications that require low network latency, high network throughput, or both, by placing instances close together within a single Availability Zone. Additionally, because the application listens on custom TCP port 8443, the target group's health checks must be explicitly pointed to port 8443. If the health checks query the default port, the ALB will fail to receive a response, mistakenly marking the healthy instances as unhealthy, which triggers unnecessary instance termination.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the node-to-node communication latency requirements.
The workload requires sub-millisecond node-to-node latency, which points to a cluster placement group because it groups instances physically close together on the same underlying hardware within a single Availability Zone.
Selecting the correct placement group type ensures maximum network throughput and low latency for tightly coupled cluster nodes.
2
Evaluate high-availability placement groups vs. cluster placement groups.
Identify that spread and partition placement groups are designed for partition isolation and fault tolerance, which increases latency and fails the low-latency requirement.
Ensures that high-performance compute requirements dictate the design choice over other placement group configurations.
3
Determine the application binding port and the load balancer health check configuration.
The application listens on custom port 8443. The ALB target group health check must be explicitly pointed to port 8443.
Mismatched health check ports (e.g., using default port 80 when the application runs on 8443) lead to false-positive unhealthy status reports and accidental instance termination by Auto Scaling.

Key Concept

High-performance compute clustering requires cluster placement groups for low-latency node-to-node networking, combined with precise health check configurations matching the application's actual port binding.
Estimated Time:3m 0s
Rate this question