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Question 921Question →

A smart home application collects frequent telemetry events from thousands of residential thermostats. The data must be recorded in an Amazon DynamoDB table.

Which partition key design should a solutions architect choose to distribute the write workload evenly across physical partitions?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: A unique thermostat identifier, which ensures a diverse and balanced distribution of write requests.

Answer

A unique thermostat identifier, which ensures a diverse and balanced distribution of write requests.
The correct answer is the option that proposes a unique thermostat identifier. In Amazon DynamoDB, partition keys should have high cardinality (many distinct values) to distribute workloads evenly across all available physical partitions. This design ensures optimal write performance and prevents throttling under high write volumes.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the write workload characteristics of the application.
The application collects telemetry events from thousands of devices frequently, representing a high-write workload.
Understanding the scale and frequency of writes is necessary to select a database key design that scales horizontally.
2
Evaluate the partition key candidates based on their cardinality.
A unique thermostat identifier has high cardinality, whereas timestamps, statuses, and regions have sequential or low cardinality.
DynamoDB distributes data across partitions based on the hash of the partition key. High-cardinality keys ensure even distribution.
3
Select the key design that avoids write bottlenecks (hot partitions).
Choosing the unique thermostat identifier distributes requests across many partitions, preventing write throttling.
This aligns with AWS best practices for high-performing DynamoDB database designs.

Key Concept

Amazon DynamoDB Partition Key Design and Cardinality
Question 922Question →

A healthcare organization manages an on-premises electronic health record (EHR) system that requires low-latency, local block storage access for active patient records. The organization needs to design a resilient hybrid storage and disaster recovery solution on AWS. The solution must support a Recovery Point Objective (RPO) of 1 hour and a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of 2 hours. In the event of an on-premises virtualization failure, the organization must be able to restore the volumes in AWS and run the EHR application on Amazon EC2 instances. Which storage configuration will meet these requirements with the lowest latency for local operations?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Configure AWS Storage Gateway in Stored Volumes mode to store the primary dataset locally for low-latency access, while asynchronously backing up the data to Amazon S3 as Amazon EBS snapshots. Restore these snapshots to EBS volumes and attach them to EC2 instances during a disaster recovery event.

Answer

Configure AWS Storage Gateway in Stored Volumes mode to store the primary dataset locally for low-latency access, while asynchronously backing up the data to Amazon S3 as Amazon EBS snapshots. Restore these snapshots to EBS volumes and attach them to EC2 instances during a disaster recovery event.
The configuration utilizing AWS Storage Gateway in Stored Volumes mode satisfies all requirements. It ensures that the entire dataset is stored on-premises to provide low-latency access to the EHR system. Additionally, it asynchronously replicates data to Amazon S3 as EBS snapshots, satisfying the low RPO. During a disaster recovery event, these snapshots can be quickly restored to Amazon EBS volumes and attached to Amazon EC2 instances, allowing the EHR application to run on AWS within the 2-hour RTO.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze on-premises latency and access requirements.
Since the application requires low-latency, local block storage access for the EHR system, Stored Volumes mode is preferred over Cached Volumes mode because it maintains the full primary copy of the data on-premises.
Stored Volumes mode ensures all active data is stored locally for immediate access, while Cached Volumes mode only stores frequently accessed data locally.
2
Evaluate backup and recovery mechanisms for meeting RTO and RPO.
Volume Gateway Stored Volumes asynchronously backs up data to Amazon S3 as incremental EBS snapshots, satisfying a low RPO.
EBS snapshots stored in Amazon S3 can be restored directly to EBS volumes in AWS within minutes, meeting the 2-hour RTO requirement.
3
Review the recovery procedure during disaster recovery on Amazon EC2.
In a disaster recovery event, create EBS volumes from the stored EBS snapshots and attach them to newly launched Amazon EC2 instances to resume EHR application operations.
This provides a clear path to run the EHR application in AWS using standard EC2 and EBS capabilities.

Key Concept

AWS Storage Gateway Volume Gateway (Stored Volumes) provides local low-latency access to the full volume dataset on-premises while maintaining point-in-time EBS snapshots in Amazon S3 for disaster recovery and EC2 restoration.

Alternative Method

An alternative hybrid solution would be using AWS Outposts to host the active patient records and application compute locally while utilizing AWS Backup to replicate EBS volumes directly to an AWS Region. However, this is significantly more expensive and complex than AWS Storage Gateway.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Question 923Question →

A global travel booking company runs a relational booking system on AWS. The application has its primary deployment in the `us-east-1` region but serves a growing user base in `eu-west-1` and `ap-southeast-1`. The database workload consists of a 90:1090:10 read-to-write ratio, and the system must handle peak write volumes of up to 10,00010,000 transactions per second. To improve performance and resilience, a solutions architect must design a database architecture that achieves:

* Low-latency local read access (under 30 ms30\text{ ms}) in all three regions.
* Minimal replication lag and zero performance overhead on the primary writer during peak write volumes.
* A disaster recovery failover capability to another region with a Recovery Time Objective (RTO) of less than 1 minute1\text{ minute}.

Which database configuration should the solutions architect recommend to meet these requirements?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Deploy Amazon Aurora Global Database with the primary cluster in `us-east-1` and secondary clusters in `eu-west-1` and `ap-southeast-1`. Configure local application instances to read from their local Aurora replica instances, and use Aurora storage-level replication to keep data synchronized.

Answer

Deploy Amazon Aurora Global Database with the primary cluster in `us-east-1` and secondary clusters in `eu-west-1` and `ap-southeast-1`. Configure local application instances to read from their local Aurora replica instances, and use Aurora storage-level replication to keep data synchronized.
The correct configuration uses Amazon Aurora Global Database because its replication is handled at the storage layer using dedicated infrastructure rather than the database engine, ensuring that replication tasks do not impact the write performance of the primary instance in `us-east-1` even during peak volumes of 10,00010,000 transactions per second. This storage-level replication maintains cross-region replication lag under 1 second1\text{ second} and supports RTO of less than 1 minute1\text{ minute} when promoting a secondary region cluster to a primary read-write cluster. It also natively supports the relational booking schema.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the database schema and application requirements.
The application requires a relational database schema. This eliminates NoSQL solutions like Amazon DynamoDB from the correct choices, although we must also evaluate the performance characteristics of the remaining relational databases.
Ensuring the selected database tier supports relational SQL transactional integrity with ACID compliance.
2
Evaluate replication performance under heavy write volumes.
Amazon RDS uses logical engine-level replication which creates performance overhead on the writer node and increases replication lag during peaks. Amazon Aurora Global Database uses storage-level replication, separating replication tasks from the primary writer node to guarantee minimal replication lag (under 1 second1\text{ second}) without performance impact.
Meeting the performance requirement of zero write overhead on the primary instance under a load of 10,00010,000 transactions per second.
3
Evaluate cross-region disaster recovery promotion times (RTO).
In the event of a regional outage, an Aurora Global Database secondary region can be promoted to primary in less than 1 minute1\text{ minute}. Promoting an RDS cross-region read replica is manual and takes several minutes.
Checking compliance with the Disaster Recovery RTO requirement of less than 1 minute1\text{ minute}.

Key Concept

Leveraging Amazon Aurora Global Database storage-level replication for global low-latency reads, minimal write performance overhead, and fast RTO cross-region failover.
Question 924Question →

An online multiplayer game studio hosts its backend on AWS and stores two categories of data in a single Amazon S3 bucket:

* Match Replay Videos: The average file size is 120 MB120\text{ MB}. These files are generated daily and are accessed frequently during the first 14 days14\text{ days} by players. After 14 days14\text{ days}, they are rarely accessed, but the studio must retain them for a total of 120 days120\text{ days} for compliance and fair-play audits. The files must be retrievable within milliseconds when requested.
* Player Telemetry Logs: The average file size is 8 KB8\text{ KB}. These files are written continuously and are accessed frequently by analytics queries for the first 10 days10\text{ days} to detect cheat signatures. After 10 days10\text{ days}, they are never accessed, but must be kept for a total of 25 days25\text{ days} for verification before being deleted.

Which lifecycle configuration is the most cost-effective for these datasets?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: For the Match Replay Videos, configure a transition rule to S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval after 14 days14\text{ days}, and an expiration rule after 120 days120\text{ days}. For the Player Telemetry Logs, keep them in S3 Standard and configure an expiration rule after 25 days25\text{ days}.

Answer

Transition the Match Replay Videos to S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval after 14 days and expire them after 120 days. Keep the Player Telemetry Logs in S3 Standard and expire them after 25 days.
The correct option minimizes costs by transitioning the large video files (which are well above the 128 KB128\text{ KB} limit and remain in the tier for 106 days106\text{ days}, satisfying the 90-day90\text{-day} minimum) to S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval. S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval is cheaper than S3 Standard-IA while satisfying the millisecond retrieval time requirement. The telemetry logs are kept in S3 Standard and deleted at 25 days25\text{ days} to prevent both the 128 KB128\text{ KB} size billing penalty and the 30-day30\text{-day} minimum storage duration penalty associated with S3 Standard-IA.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Evaluate the Match Replay Videos storage tiering constraints.
The video files are large (120 MB120\text{ MB}) and require millisecond-level retrieval after transition. They are kept for a total of 120 days120\text{ days} and transitioned after 14 days14\text{ days}, meaning they spend 106 days106\text{ days} in the target tier. This exceeds the 90-day90\text{-day} minimum storage duration for S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval, making S3 Glacier Instant Retrieval the most cost-effective choice since it supports millisecond retrieval.
Determining the correct storage tier for the video files based on size, retrieval speed, and duration without incurring minimum storage duration penalties.
2
Evaluate the Player Telemetry Logs storage tiering constraints.
The log files are small (8 KB8\text{ KB}) and short-lived (25 days25\text{ days} total retention, with transition proposed at day 10). If transitioned to S3 Standard-IA, they would reside in the tier for only 15 days15\text{ days}, which is less than the 30-day30\text{-day} minimum storage duration. Furthermore, S3 Standard-IA bills a minimum of 128 KB128\text{ KB} per object, charging 16 times more storage capacity than actual usage. Therefore, the logs should remain in S3 Standard for the full 25 days25\text{ days} and then be expired.
Analyzing size and lifespan constraints to avoid S3 Standard-IA billing penalties for small and short-lived objects.

Key Concept

Optimizing S3 Lifecycle policies by balancing storage tier unit costs against minimum storage duration constraints and minimum billing object size limitations.
Estimated Time:3m 0s
Question 925Question →

An advertising technology company stores two types of data in a single Amazon S3 bucket:

* Clickstream telemetry data: Average file size of 30 KB30\text{ KB}. Millions of files are uploaded daily. The data is accessed frequently for the first 14 days14\text{ days} for real-time campaign optimization and is deleted permanently after 25 days25\text{ days}.
* Ad campaign video assets: Average file size of 800 MB800\text{ MB}. The assets are accessed heavily during the first 30 days30\text{ days} of a campaign, are rarely accessed after that, and must be retained for 5 years5\text{ years} for audit purposes.

Which configuration represents the most cost-effective storage tiering and lifecycle strategy for these files?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Configure a lifecycle policy to keep the clickstream telemetry data in S3 Standard and delete it after 25 days25\text{ days}. For the video assets, configure a lifecycle policy to transition them directly to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 30 days30\text{ days}.

Answer

Keep clickstream telemetry in S3 Standard and delete it after 25 days25\text{ days}; transition video assets directly to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 30 days30\text{ days}.
The correct option is to keep the clickstream telemetry data in S3 Standard and transition the video assets directly to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 30 days30\text{ days}. This avoids early deletion penalties and the minimum object size capacity charges for the clickstream files (which are only 30 KB30\text{ KB} in size and are deleted after 25 days25\text{ days}), while securing the lowest storage rate for the large video assets (800 MB800\text{ MB}) that are rarely accessed after 30 days30\text{ days} and must be archived for 5 years5\text{ years}.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Evaluate storage requirements for clickstream telemetry data.
Clickstream data has a small average file size (30 KB30\text{ KB}) and a short lifespan (25 days25\text{ days}).
Transitioning objects under 128 KB128\text{ KB} to S3 Standard-IA or Glacier Instant Retrieval results in paying for the minimum capacity charge of 128 KB128\text{ KB} per object. Furthermore, deleting them at day 2525 (only 11 days11\text{ days} after transitioning at day 1414) violates the minimum storage duration rules (30 days30\text{ days} for Standard-IA, 90 days90\text{ days} for Glacier Instant Retrieval), triggering early deletion charges. Transition request costs for millions of small files also exceed potential storage savings. Therefore, clickstream data must remain in S3 Standard until deletion.
2
Evaluate storage requirements for ad campaign video assets.
Video assets are large (800 MB800\text{ MB}), rarely accessed after 30 days30\text{ days}, and must be retained for 5 years5\text{ years}.
Since the video assets are large and rarely accessed after the initial 30 days30\text{ days}, transitioning them to S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 30 days30\text{ days} is highly cost-effective. The 5 -year5\text{ -year} retention period easily satisfies S3 Glacier Deep Archive's 180 -day180\text{ -day} minimum storage duration rule, minimizing storage costs to the absolute lowest rate (0.00099 USD/GB/month0.00099\text{ USD/GB/month}).
3
Combine the evaluations into a single, cost-optimal lifecycle policy.
S3 Standard with deletion at day 2525 for telemetry; transition to S3 Glacier Deep Archive at day 3030 for video assets.
This strategy avoids all minimum storage duration and size penalties for the small files while achieving the lowest possible storage rate for the large video files, representing the most cost-optimized lifecycle configuration.

Key Concept

Amazon S3 Lifecycle Policies and Storage Tier Cost Optimization
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Question 926Question →

An enterprise operates a multi-VPC architecture in the `eu-west-1` Region. An ETL application running on Amazon EC2 instances in VPC A (Production) regularly extracts large datasets from an RDS MySQL database and transfers 120 TB120\text{ TB} of data monthly to an Amazon Redshift cluster in VPC B (Analytics). Currently, all inter-VPC traffic is routed through an AWS Transit Gateway. A solutions architect is tasked with optimizing the network design to reduce monthly data transfer costs without introducing network performance bottlenecks. Which routing strategy is the most cost-effective?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Establish a VPC Peering connection between VPC A and VPC B, and update the route tables in both VPCs to route the database traffic through the peering connection.

Answer

Establish a VPC Peering connection between VPC A and VPC B, and update the route tables in both VPCs to route the database traffic through the peering connection.
Establishing a VPC Peering connection directly between VPC A and VPC B is the most cost-effective solution. VPC Peering does not charge hourly fees or data processing fees. It only charges standard intra-region data transfer rates (which are free within the same Availability Zone or cost 0.01perGBineachdirectionacrossdifferentAvailabilityZones).Byroutingthe0.01 per GB in each direction across different Availability Zones). By routing the 120\text{ TB}ofdatathroughaVPCPeeringconnectioninsteadofAWSTransitGateway,thecompanyavoidsthe of data through a VPC Peering connection instead of AWS Transit Gateway, the company avoids the 0.02 per GB Transit Gateway data processing fee, saving $2,400\$2,400 monthly.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the current architecture and identify the cost drivers.
Current data transfer of 120 TB120\text{ TB} (120,000 GB120,000\text{ GB}) over AWS Transit Gateway incurs a data processing fee of 0.02 per GB0.02\text{ per GB} in `eu-west-1`, resulting in 120,000×0.02=$2,400120,000 \times 0.02 = \$2,400 per month in processing charges alone (excluding attachment fees).
Understanding the cost breakdown of the current architecture allows us to identify the primary driver of high network expenses.
2
Evaluate alternative inter-VPC routing options in terms of data processing cost, hourly fees, and throughput limits.
VPC Peering charges $0 per GB\$0\text{ per GB} for data processing. AWS PrivateLink charges $0.01 per GB\$0.01\text{ per GB} for data processing. NAT Gateways charge $.045 per GB\$.045\text{ per GB} for data processing. Site-to-Site VPN is limited to 1.25 Gbps1.25\text{ Gbps} per tunnel and incurs internet egress fees.
Comparing the processing costs and performance constraints of each service helps determine which routing mechanism minimizes overhead.
3
Select the option that eliminates data processing fees without introducing bandwidth constraints.
VPC Peering is selected because it completely bypasses the Transit Gateway's data processing fee and provides unconstrained line-rate performance between the two VPCs.
VPC Peering offers direct, private connectivity with no processing fee, making it the most cost-effective and highest-performing routing choice.

Key Concept

Selecting the most cost-effective network routing mechanism based on data volume, where VPC Peering is preferred over AWS Transit Gateway and AWS PrivateLink for high-volume traffic due to the absence of per-GB data processing fees.
Question 927Question →

An engineering company runs distributed vehicle collision simulation models across a fleet of Amazon EC2 instances. The simulation nodes require sub-millisecond, low-latency node-to-node communication to synchronize physics engines in real-time. Additionally, a central scheduler distributes job configurations to these instances through a Network Load Balancer (NLB) on TCP port 443, which maps to the simulation application listening on TCP port 8080 on the instances. Which combination of configurations will meet the performance requirements and ensure the load balancer correctly routes traffic to the instances? (Select TWO.)

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Deploy the EC2 instances within a single Availability Zone using a cluster placement group.; Configure the target group for the Network Load Balancer to perform health checks on TCP port 8080.

Answer

Deploy the EC2 instances within a single Availability Zone using a cluster placement group, and configure the target group for the Network Load Balancer to perform health checks on TCP port 8080.
The correct options are deploying the EC2 instances in a single Availability Zone using a cluster placement group, and configuring the target group for the Network Load Balancer to perform health checks on TCP port 8080. A cluster placement group packs instances close together within a single Availability Zone, enabling workloads to achieve low-latency and high-throughput network performance. The health check port must match the application port (8080) so that the load balancer can verify the application is running and successfully route requests.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze inter-node latency requirements.
The simulation nodes require sub-millisecond, low-latency node-to-node communication. To satisfy this, a cluster placement group is necessary because it places instances physically close together on the underlying hardware.
Cluster placement groups ensure that instances are launched within a single Availability Zone, maximizing network throughput and minimizing packet latency.
2
Analyze the load balancer health check configuration.
The application listens on TCP port 8080, while the Network Load Balancer routes traffic to the instances. The health check must target port 8080.
If the health check is configured to use default port 80, the load balancer will receive connection timeouts or resets because the application is not listening on that port. This results in the instances being falsely marked unhealthy.

Key Concept

Selecting cluster placement groups for low-latency tightly-coupled compute workloads, and aligning ELB target group health check ports with the application listening port.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Question 928Question →

A media company hosts a containerized video transcoding application on AWS Fargate. The transcoding tasks require a steady-state baseline of 12 tasks running 24/7, and scale up to 50 tasks during peak evening hours. The application's metadata database runs on Amazon RDS for MySQL and requires continuous 24/7 operation. Which combination of purchasing strategies will minimize compute costs while ensuring the application meets its availability requirements? (Select TWO.)

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Purchase a Compute Savings Plan to cover the baseline capacity of the AWS Fargate tasks.; Purchase Amazon RDS Reserved Instances for the MySQL database.

Answer

Purchase a Compute Savings Plan to cover the baseline capacity of the AWS Fargate tasks, and purchase Amazon RDS Reserved Instances for the MySQL database.
To minimize compute costs for a 24/7 baseline containerized workload on AWS Fargate, purchasing a Compute Savings Plan is the most effective approach. For the database tier running on Amazon RDS that also operates 24/7, purchasing Amazon RDS Reserved Instances provides the necessary discount. Together, these two strategies minimize the steady-state baseline costs of both compute components.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the compute requirements for the containerized transcoding tier.
The Fargate tasks have a 24/7 baseline of 12 tasks and a dynamic scaling component up to 50 tasks.
Identifying the baseline allows for commitment-based discounts, while the scaling portion requires flexible models like On-Demand or Spot.
2
Select the appropriate purchasing strategy for the Fargate baseline.
A Compute Savings Plan is selected to cover the baseline of 12 tasks.
Compute Savings Plans offer up to 66% savings on Fargate workloads in exchange for a 1- or 3-year commitment, matching the continuous baseline requirement.
3
Analyze the database tier requirements and choose the right purchasing strategy.
Amazon RDS Reserved Instances are selected for the MySQL database.
The database operates 24/7 continuously, making it ideal for RDS Reserved Instances. Compute Savings Plans do not apply to RDS.

Key Concept

Selecting cost-optimized purchasing options (Savings Plans and Reserved Instances) for heterogeneous AWS workloads.
Question 929Question →

A company needs to implement a cost-governance strategy. They want to receive proactive notifications when their monthly AWS costs are forecasted to exceed a predefined threshold. Additionally, they need to perform a detailed retrospective analysis of their spending patterns by service over the past 90 days. Which combination of AWS Cost Management tools should the company use to achieve these goals? (Select TWO.)

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: AWS Budgets to establish cost thresholds and send email notifications when forecasted monthly costs exceed the budget limit.; AWS Cost Explorer to perform interactive analysis of historical spending trends and filter costs by service over the past 90 days.

Answer

The company should use AWS Budgets to configure proactive notifications based on forecasted costs, and AWS Cost Explorer to analyze historical cost trends filtered by service over the past 90 days.
The correct combination of tools is AWS Budgets and AWS Cost Explorer. AWS Budgets satisfies the proactive monitoring requirement by sending alerts when forecasted costs are projected to exceed a specified threshold. AWS Cost Explorer satisfies the retrospective analysis requirement by providing interactive graphs to review past billing data filtered by service over a 90-day period.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Determine the tool required for proactive alerts based on forecasted monthly spending thresholds.
AWS Budgets is selected.
AWS Budgets allows setting custom budgets that trigger alerts on forecasted or actual cost parameters.
2
Determine the tool required for retrospective, filtered analysis of historical cloud costs.
AWS Cost Explorer is selected.
AWS Cost Explorer provides a visual, interactive dashboard to inspect and group historical cost data (such as by service over 90 days).

Key Concept

Distinguishing between proactive budgeting tools and retrospective visual cost analysis tools in AWS.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
Question 930Question →

An educational institution runs a student voting application during the annual student council election. The application experiences a sudden, unpredictable surge in database writes for a single day, but remains completely idle for the rest of the year. The system uses an Amazon DynamoDB table. Which capacity mode should the solutions architect choose to minimize costs while preventing write throttling?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: On-Demand capacity mode

Answer

On-Demand capacity mode
On-Demand capacity mode is ideal for highly unpredictable and spiky workloads with long periods of inactivity. It provides instant scaling to handle traffic bursts without throttling and incurs zero cost when the database is idle, satisfying both performance and cost constraints.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the database workload characteristics
The workload consists of a sudden, unpredictable peak lasting one day and a long idle period of 364 days.
Understanding the traffic pattern is critical for choosing between provisioned and on-demand database capacity models.
2
Evaluate the capacity scaling requirements
The scaling must be instantaneous to avoid throttling during the sudden spike, ruling out reactive auto-scaling models.
DynamoDB Auto Scaling relies on CloudWatch metrics and takes minutes to provision new throughput, leading to initial throttling on instant spikes.
3
Select the most cost-effective configuration that prevents throttling
On-Demand capacity mode provides pay-per-request pricing, scales instantly, and costs nothing when the table is idle.
This configuration aligns perfectly with the goal of minimizing idle costs while accommodating unpredictable, instantaneous bursts of traffic.

Key Concept

DynamoDB capacity planning for unpredictable and sporadic workloads
Estimated Time:45s
Question 931Question →

A company is designing a secure architecture for a reporting application that runs on Amazon EC2 instances in a private subnet. The application must retrieve a database password that is updated every 30 days. Additionally, developers who are managed in an external corporate directory need administrative access to manage these EC2 instances. The company's security policy prohibits the use of long-term credentials or hardcoded secrets.

Which combination of actions should a solutions architect recommend to meet these requirements? (Select TWO.)

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Configure AWS IAM Identity Center to federate the external directory, allowing developers to access AWS using temporary credentials associated with an administrative role.; Attach an IAM role to the EC2 instances using an instance profile, and configure the application to retrieve the database password dynamically from AWS Secrets Manager.

Answer

The solutions architect should recommend configuring AWS IAM Identity Center for directory federation and using an IAM role on the EC2 instances alongside AWS Secrets Manager for database password retrieval.
Configuring AWS IAM Identity Center enables secure, centralized identity federation with the external corporate directory, providing developers with short-term credentials via IAM roles. Associating an IAM role with the EC2 instances allows them to assume permissions securely without embedded credentials, and AWS Secrets Manager securely stores and automatically rotates the database password.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Configure identity federation for developer access.
Developers use temporary credentials via AWS IAM Identity Center.
Secures access for external directory users without the need for long-term IAM access keys.
2
Configure EC2 instance profiles and IAM roles.
The application on the EC2 instances automatically receives temporary security credentials.
Eliminates the need to store hardcoded AWS credentials on the instances.
3
Store sensitive database credentials in AWS Secrets Manager.
Secrets are encrypted at rest and can be rotated automatically every 30 days.
Secures the database password and meets the rotation requirement seamlessly.

Key Concept

IAM role-based access, identity federation, and secure secrets management.
Question 932Question →

A company hosts a machine learning application on Amazon EC2 instances inside a private subnet of a VPC. The application frequently downloads large training datasets from an Amazon S3 bucket within the same AWS Region. Currently, the EC2 instances access Amazon S3 through a NAT Gateway, which has caused a significant increase in NAT Gateway data processing charges. What is the most cost-effective network routing solution to eliminate these data processing charges?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Create a gateway VPC endpoint for Amazon S3 and configure the route tables of the private subnet to direct traffic to the endpoint.

Answer

Create a gateway VPC endpoint for Amazon S3 and configure the route tables of the private subnet to direct traffic to the endpoint.
Creating a gateway VPC endpoint for Amazon S3 is the most cost-effective solution. Gateway endpoints are free to create, do not charge for data processing, and allow instances in a private subnet to connect securely to Amazon S3 within the AWS network without traversing a NAT Gateway or going over the public internet.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the destination and the source of the traffic causing the NAT Gateway charges.
The source is EC2 instances in a private subnet, and the destination is an Amazon S3 bucket in the same Region.
Understanding the source and destination allows selecting the correct type of VPC endpoint.
2
Select the most cost-effective VPC endpoint type for Amazon S3.
Amazon S3 supports Gateway VPC Endpoints, which are available at no additional cost, unlike Interface VPC Endpoints which incur hourly and data processing fees.
Gateway endpoints are specifically designed to provide free, secure routing from a VPC to Amazon S3 and DynamoDB.
3
Route the private subnet traffic through the Gateway VPC Endpoint.
Add a route to the subnet route table pointing to the Gateway VPC endpoint (using the prefix list for S3).
This configuration ensures that S3-bound traffic bypasses the NAT Gateway and is routed directly to S3 within the AWS network.

Key Concept

Gateway VPC Endpoints for cost-effective private routing to Amazon S3
Question 933Question →

A company has migrated its e-commerce platform to AWS. The platform experiences seasonal traffic fluctuations, leading to variable monthly infrastructure costs. The finance team needs a solution to detect and receive notifications about sudden, unexpected spend spikes that deviate from historical usage patterns, without the need to define and maintain static budget thresholds. Which AWS service or feature should a solutions architect recommend to satisfy these requirements?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: AWS Cost Anomaly Detection

Answer

AWS Cost Anomaly Detection
The correct option is AWS Cost Anomaly Detection. It uses machine learning to continuously monitor cost and usage, dynamically establishing a baseline of historical spend and alerting on unusual anomalies without requiring the manual configuration of static thresholds.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the requirements for alerting on unexpected cost increases without pre-defined static thresholds.
The requirement demands dynamic cost monitoring that adjusts to seasonal patterns and alerts on unusual spikes.
Standard static budgets will either trigger false positives during peak seasons or fail to trigger during low seasons.
2
Evaluate AWS Cost Anomaly Detection against these requirements.
AWS Cost Anomaly Detection uses machine learning to establish dynamic baselines and automatically alerts on outliers.
This eliminates the need to configure or update static limits manually.
3
Evaluate alternative options such as AWS Budgets and AWS Cost Explorer.
AWS Budgets depends on static limits, while AWS Cost Explorer reports are retrospective rather than real-time or near-real-time alerts.
These alternatives fail to meet the dynamic alerting requirement with minimal administrative overhead.

Key Concept

AWS Cost Anomaly Detection dynamically monitors costs using machine learning models to identify unusual spend spikes without relying on static thresholds.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
Question 934Question →

A company is deploying a distributed application on Amazon EC2. The application requires the instances to be placed on distinct physical hardware racks to minimize correlated failures. Which EC2 configuration should the solutions architect select?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: A spread placement group

Answer

A spread placement group
A spread placement group places instances on distinct physical hardware racks to reduce the risk of simultaneous failures. This is the recommended placement strategy when instances must be kept strictly isolated from each other at the hardware level.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the primary requirement, which is to place EC2 instances on distinct physical hardware racks to minimize correlated failures.
The requirement points to a spread placement strategy.
Spread placement groups ensure that each instance is placed on distinct racks with their own network and power source.
2
Evaluate the available EC2 placement group options and other configurations against this requirement.
A spread placement group is the correct choice, whereas cluster placement groups are for low-latency clustering and EBS/ELB options do not address instance placement.
Selecting the correct placement group directly addresses the resilience and physical isolation requirements.

Key Concept

EC2 Placement Groups
Estimated Time:45s
Question 935Question →

A company has an on-premises data center connected to AWS via a 1 Gbps1\text{ Gbps} AWS Direct Connect connection with a private virtual interface (VIF). An application running on-premises replicates 30 TB30\text{ TB} of backup files monthly to an Amazon S3 bucket. Currently, the traffic routes from the on-premises network, through the private VIF into a VPC, and then through a NAT Gateway to reach the Amazon S3 public endpoints. The company wants to minimize data transfer costs.

Which network routing modification will meet these requirements most cost-effectively?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Configure a public virtual interface (VIF) on the AWS Direct Connect connection to access the Amazon S3 bucket directly.

Answer

Configure a public virtual interface (VIF) on the AWS Direct Connect connection to access the Amazon S3 bucket directly.
Configuring a public virtual interface (VIF) on the AWS Direct Connect connection enables the on-premises router to receive route advertisements for AWS public IP addresses, including Amazon S3. This allows the backup traffic to be routed directly to S3 over the Direct Connect connection. It bypasses the VPC, avoiding NAT Gateway hourly and data processing charges, as well as the per-GB data processing fees associated with Interface VPC Endpoints.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze current cost drivers
The application routes S3 traffic through a NAT Gateway inside the VPC, which incurs a processing fee of 0.045perGB(0.045 per GB ( 1,350 USD/monthfor USD/month for 30\text{ TB}$).
Identifying where the current costs are coming from is necessary to optimize network design.
2
Evaluate Gateway and Interface VPC Endpoints for S3
Gateway VPC Endpoints do not support on-premises routing over Direct Connect. Interface VPC Endpoints support on-premises access but charge a processing fee of 0.01perGB(0.01 per GB ( 300$ USD/month).
Understanding endpoints allows you to determine their viability and costs for hybrid environments.
3
Evaluate AWS Direct Connect Public VIF
A public VIF routes S3 traffic directly over the existing Direct Connect connection to public AWS endpoints without needing a VPC transition, avoiding both NAT Gateway and Interface endpoint fees.
A public VIF is the most cost-effective architecture for dedicated hybrid-to-public service paths.

Key Concept

AWS Direct Connect Virtual Interface Types and S3 Routing Optimization
Question 936Question →

An energy exploration firm runs a distributed seismic data processing application on Amazon EC2 instances. The application performs heavy parallel calculations and requires sub-millisecond node-to-node network latency across all instances to synchronize state. The application is accessed by internal visualization tools on port 7001, and a Network Load Balancer (NLB) is deployed to distribute client requests. The operations team notices that newly launched instances fail health checks and are not receiving traffic. Which configuration will resolve the health check failures and satisfy the low-latency network requirements?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Create the instances inside a cluster placement group. Route traffic to port 7001 in the NLB target group, and set the health check port to 7001.

Answer

The correct configuration is to create the EC2 instances inside a cluster placement group and configure the NLB target group to route traffic and perform health checks on the application's port, which is port 7001.
The correct configuration launches the instances in a cluster placement group to ensure they are physically close enough to achieve sub-millisecond node-to-node latency, and sets the health check port to port 7001 to match the port on which the seismic application is running, allowing the load balancer to verify instance health successfully.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the network latency requirement.
The application requires sub-millisecond node-to-node communication for distributed seismic processing.
EC2 cluster placement groups must be used to locate instances close together on the underlying hardware, providing low-latency and high-throughput network performance.
2
Identify the cause of the load balancer health check failure.
The application is listening on port 7001, but the default health check settings or mismatched port configurations point to a different port.
If the load balancer attempts to check health on a port where no service is running (such as port 80), the checks will fail and instances will be marked unhealthy.
3
Select the correct combination of placement group and port settings.
Combine a cluster placement group with a target group configured to perform health checks on port 7001.
This satisfies both the sub-millisecond latency requirement and ensures the load balancer accurately detects instance health on the correct application port.

Key Concept

Tightly-coupled compute workloads require cluster placement groups for low-latency network communication, and target group health checks must align with the application port to prevent routing failures.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Question 937Question →

A digital service provider manages multiple AWS accounts for independent client organizations using AWS Organizations. The provider needs to implement a billing and cost management system that achieves the following requirements:

* Client A must receive a custom proforma invoice showing a 10% discount on all Amazon EC2 usage.
* Client B must receive a custom proforma invoice showing standard AWS list prices.
* Both clients must be able to set up threshold-based budget alerts based on their specific custom proforma costs.
* Neither client should have visibility into the provider's actual negotiated AWS pricing or the other client's billing data.

Which combination of steps should a solutions architect take to meet these requirements with the least operational overhead?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Create two billing groups in AWS Billing Conductor, designating a primary account for Client A and Client B respectively. Establish a custom pricing rule with a 10% discount for Amazon EC2, add it to a pricing plan, and associate it with Client A's billing group. Associate a pricing plan with standard AWS list prices to Client B's billing group. Instruct each client's primary account to configure budgets in AWS Budgets, setting the cost type to Proforma.

Answer

Create two billing groups in AWS Billing Conductor, designating primary accounts for each client. Set up a custom pricing plan with a 10% EC2 discount for Client A, and a standard list pricing plan for Client B. Configure AWS Budgets with the Proforma cost type in the primary accounts of the billing groups to handle threshold-based alerts.
The correct solution involves creating billing groups in AWS Billing Conductor and setting up proforma budgets. AWS Billing Conductor allows an organization to partition its consolidated billing data into logical billing groups and apply custom pricing rules (such as a 10% discount on EC2). Designated primary accounts in each billing group can access proforma cost data. By configuring AWS Budgets in these primary accounts with the cost type set to 'Proforma', clients can proactively monitor their custom-priced costs and receive alerts when thresholds are reached, ensuring complete isolation of actual negotiated rates and other clients' details.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Define custom pricing rules and plans in AWS Billing Conductor.
A custom pricing rule is created applying a 10% discount to Amazon EC2 services, and it is added to a pricing plan associated with Client A's billing group. A pricing plan reflecting standard AWS list prices is associated with Client B's billing group.
This establishes the distinct proforma billing rates required for the different clients without altering actual payer rates.
2
Assign accounts to billing groups and designate primary accounts.
Client A's accounts are grouped into one billing group with one designated primary account. Client B's accounts are grouped into another billing group with a different primary account.
Designating primary accounts grants each client self-service access to their specific proforma billing datasets, keeping their views isolated from each other and from the management account's actual cost data.
3
Configure AWS Budgets in the primary accounts of each billing group using the Proforma cost type.
Proactive budgets are created in the primary accounts that monitor proforma costs and trigger alerts when predefined thresholds are met.
AWS Budgets integrates with AWS Billing Conductor proforma data, allowing target-level alerting based on the custom-rated costs rather than actual negotiated costs.

Key Concept

Using AWS Billing Conductor to create isolated proforma pricing plans and integrating them with AWS Budgets using the Proforma cost type for proactive alerting.
Question 938Question →

A healthcare provider stores two types of files in an Amazon S3 bucket for patient consultations: session audio recordings (average size 180 MB180\text{ MB}) and session text transcripts (average size 40 KB40\text{ KB}). The audio recordings are accessed frequently for the first 15 days15\text{ days}, after which they are rarely accessed, but must be retained for a total of 45 days45\text{ days} before deletion. The text transcripts are accessed frequently for the first 10 days10\text{ days}, after which they are rarely accessed, but must be deleted after a total of 25 days25\text{ days}. Which lifecycle configuration is the most cost-effective for this data?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Transition the audio recordings to S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) after 15 days15\text{ days} and delete them after 45 days45\text{ days}. Keep the text transcripts in S3 Standard and delete them after 25 days25\text{ days}.

Answer

Transition the audio recordings to S3 Standard-IA after 15 days15\text{ days} and delete them after 45 days45\text{ days}. Keep the text transcripts in S3 Standard and delete them after 25 days25\text{ days}.
The correct strategy transitions the audio recordings to S3 Standard-IA after 15 days15\text{ days} and deletes them after 45 days45\text{ days}. Since 180 MB180\text{ MB} exceeds the 128 KB128\text{ KB} minimum object size and the 30 days30\text{ days} in S3 Standard-IA matches the minimum storage duration, no penalties are incurred. The text transcripts are kept in S3 Standard because their small size (40 KB40\text{ KB}) and short post-frequent lifespan (15 days15\text{ days}) would trigger both the 128 KB128\text{ KB} minimum size charge and the 30 days30\text{ days} minimum storage duration penalty if transitioned to S3 Standard-IA.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Evaluate the storage characteristics and lifecycle requirements of the audio recordings.
The audio recordings are large (180 MB180\text{ MB}) and will spend 30 days30\text{ days} in the transitioned state (day 1515 to day 4545). This perfectly matches the S3 Standard-IA requirements of a 128 KB128\text{ KB} minimum object size and a 30-day30\text{-day} minimum storage duration.
To ensure that S3 Standard-IA is cost-effective, the objects must not trigger capacity or duration penalties.
2
Evaluate the storage characteristics and lifecycle requirements of the text transcripts.
The text transcripts are small (40 KB40\text{ KB}) and would spend only 15 days15\text{ days} in the transitioned state (day 1010 to day 2525). Transitioning them to S3 Standard-IA would trigger a capacity charge penalty (billed at 128 KB128\text{ KB}) and a duration penalty (billed for 30 days30\text{ days}).
Small objects with a short lifecycle should remain in S3 Standard to avoid the overhead of Infrequent Access minimums.
3
Determine the optimal configuration by combining the two analysis steps.
Transitioning only the audio recordings to S3 Standard-IA while keeping the text transcripts in S3 Standard minimizes the total cost.
This configuration avoids all minimum storage penalties while taking advantage of cheaper storage tiers for the larger, longer-lived audio data.

Key Concept

Cost-effective Amazon S3 lifecycle transitions require analyzing object size thresholds and minimum storage duration limits.
Question 939Question →

A meteorological research center stores two types of data in a single Amazon S3 bucket:

* Satellite Images: Average file size is 15 MB15\text{ MB}. These files are accessed frequently for the first 14 days14\text{ days}, after which they are rarely retrieved but must be retained for 1 year1\text{ year} for climate modeling.
* Station Telemetry Logs: Average file size is 5 KB5\text{ KB}. These logs are analyzed immediately upon upload, may be re-processed up to 10 days10\text{ days} after ingestion, and are no longer needed afterward.

Which TWO lifecycle configuration actions will result in the most cost-effective storage solution for this data?

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Transition the Satellite Images to S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) 14 days14\text{ days} after upload.; Configure an expiration rule to permanently delete the Station Telemetry Logs 10 days10\text{ days} after upload without transitioning them to another storage class.

Answer

The correct answer is to transition the Satellite Images to S3 Standard-IA 14 days after upload and permanently delete the Station Telemetry Logs 10 days after upload without transitioning them.
Transitioning the Satellite Images to S3 Standard-IA after 14 days is correct because the average file size (15 MB) exceeds the 128 KB minimum size threshold, and the remaining 351 days of retention exceed the 30-day minimum storage duration of S3 Standard-IA. Deleting the Station Telemetry Logs after 10 days without transitioning them is correct because their average size (5 KB) is well below the 128 KB minimum billing size for S3 Standard-IA, and their 10-day retention is below the 30-day minimum storage duration. Thus, keeping them in S3 Standard and deleting them directly avoids both size and duration penalties.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the file sizes and access patterns of both datasets to determine eligibility for Infrequent Access tiers.
The Satellite Images average 15 MB (well above the 128 KB minimum billing size for S3 Standard-IA), while the Station Telemetry Logs average 5 KB (far below the 128 KB minimum billing size).
S3 Standard-IA has a minimum billing size of 128 KB per object; smaller objects are billed as 128 KB, which makes transitioning them highly cost-inefficient.
2
Evaluate the retention periods and lifecycle durations against the minimum storage duration requirements of S3 Standard-IA and S3 One Zone-IA.
The Satellite Images need to be kept for 365 days (transitioned after 14 days, leaving 351 days in S3 Standard-IA, which is well above the 30-day minimum). The Station Telemetry Logs are only kept for 10 days total (which is below the 30-day minimum storage duration of S3 Standard-IA and S3 One Zone-IA).
S3 Standard-IA and S3 One Zone-IA charge a minimum of 30 days of storage. Transitioning objects that will be deleted in fewer than 30 days results in a prorated penalty charge for the remaining days.
3
Select the optimal lifecycle actions based on the analysis.
Transition the Satellite Images to S3 Standard-IA after 14 days, and directly expire the Station Telemetry Logs from S3 Standard after 10 days.
This configuration maximizes cost savings for the large files while avoiding size and duration penalties for the small, short-lived files.

Key Concept

Selecting S3 storage classes based on object size thresholds and minimum storage duration constraints.
Question 940Question →

A company is planning to migrate a relational database to AWS. The database experiences highly variable traffic, with high read/write activity during business hours and nearly zero activity at night. The application requires high availability with automatic failover. The company wants to minimize costs by paying only for the database capacity actually used. Which database configuration is the most cost-effective?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Amazon Aurora Serverless v2 configured with Multi-AZ

Answer

Amazon Aurora Serverless v2 configured with Multi-AZ
Amazon Aurora Serverless v2 is the most cost-effective choice because it automatically scales database capacity up and down based on actual application demand. During periods of low activity or at night, it scales down to minimal capacity, ensuring the company only pays for the database capacity consumed. It also supports Multi-AZ deployments, which fulfills the high availability and automatic failover requirements.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the workload requirements and identify that traffic is highly variable with near-zero activity at night, requiring a dynamic scaling solution to optimize costs.
Aurora Serverless v2 is selected as the primary database candidate due to its ability to scale capacity automatically based on real-time demand.
To align database capacity with actual usage and minimize idle capacity costs.
2
Evaluate the high availability and automatic failover requirements.
Deploying Aurora Serverless v2 in a Multi-AZ configuration ensures automatic failover capability while keeping compute costs aligned with actual usage.
To meet the high availability requirement without compromising the cost-optimization goal.
3
Review and eliminate alternative options based on AWS cost optimization and architectural constraints.
Fixed-size RDS with Compute Savings Plans is eliminated due to scope limitations, Single-AZ with Read Replicas is eliminated due to failover limitations, and DynamoDB with provisioned capacity is eliminated due to schema and scaling mismatches.
To ensure the selected solution is both architecturally sound and the most cost-effective.

Key Concept

Auto-scaling database capacity dynamically for variable workloads while meeting high availability standards
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