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Design High-Performing Architectures

358 questions

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Question 1Question →

A gaming company is launching a multiplayer game and expects highly unpredictable traffic spikes during promotional events. The application requires microsecond read latency for player profiles and must scale dynamically to handle sudden write surges. A solutions architect chooses to use Amazon DynamoDB to store the profile data. Which database configurations should the solutions architect implement to meet these requirements? (Select TWO.)

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Configure the DynamoDB table to use on-demand capacity mode.; Deploy Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to cache read requests.

Answer

Configure the DynamoDB table to use on-demand capacity mode and deploy Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to cache read requests.
Configuring the DynamoDB table to use on-demand capacity mode ensures that DynamoDB scales instantly to handle sudden, unpredictable write spikes without throttling. Deploying Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) provides an in-memory cache that reduces read response times from milliseconds to microseconds, meeting the low-latency read requirements.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the read latency requirement.
The application requires microsecond read latency.
Standard DynamoDB read response times are in single-digit milliseconds. Implementing Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) is required to reduce read response times to microseconds.
2
Analyze the write scaling and traffic pattern requirements.
The workload is highly unpredictable with sudden spikes.
DynamoDB on-demand capacity mode is designed for workloads with unpredictable traffic spikes, providing instant capacity scaling without the delay associated with provisioned capacity auto scaling.

Key Concept

To achieve microsecond read latency and handle highly unpredictable traffic spikes with Amazon DynamoDB, solutions architects should combine DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) for caching and on-demand capacity mode for instant scaling.
Question 2Question →

A global gaming platform is designing a network architecture to connect its on-premises development facility to multiple VPCs across different AWS Regions. The on-premises connection must be highly resilient, low-latency, and support a continuous simulation data stream of up to 5 Gbps5\text{ Gbps}. Additionally, the company hosts dynamic player APIs in both the `us-east-1` and `eu-west-1` Regions. Global players require the lowest possible network latency and high availability when accessing these dynamic endpoints. Which combination of AWS network architectures should a solutions architect implement to meet these requirements? (Select TWO.)

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Establish an AWS Direct Connect connection to a Direct Connect gateway, and attach it to an AWS Transit Gateway to route traffic to the VPCs across multiple Regions.; Deploy AWS Global Accelerator to route dynamic player API traffic to the endpoints in both Regions using anycast IP addresses.

Answer

The correct architecture combination includes establishing an AWS Direct Connect connection to a Direct Connect gateway attached to an AWS Transit Gateway, and deploying AWS Global Accelerator to route dynamic player API traffic using anycast IP addresses.
Establishing an AWS Direct Connect connection connected to a Direct Connect gateway and attached to an AWS Transit Gateway is the correct solution for the hybrid network. Direct Connect provides high bandwidth (up to 100 Gbps100\text{ Gbps}) and low latency. Utilizing AWS Global Accelerator is the correct solution for player API traffic because it assigns anycast IP addresses that route traffic over the fast, congestion-free AWS global backbone network directly to the healthy ALB endpoints, bypassing the public internet.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the on-premises throughput and multi-Region connection requirements.
Identify that the on-premises connection needs to support 5 Gbps5\text{ Gbps} across multiple Regions with low latency.
Since a single VPN tunnel is limited to 1.25 Gbps1.25\text{ Gbps}, AWS Direct Connect is required to meet the high bandwidth demand. Using a Direct Connect gateway with AWS Transit Gateway enables routing to multiple VPCs across different Regions.
2
Analyze the player API acceleration requirements for lowest latency and high availability.
Identify that the dynamic APIs are deployed in two Regions (`us-east-1` and `eu-west-1`) and require network acceleration.
AWS Global Accelerator uses anycast IP addresses to ingest traffic at edge locations and routes it over the high-performing AWS global network, which minimizes network hops and latency.
3
Evaluate and eliminate incorrect architectures.
Discard VPN due to bandwidth limits, Route 53 latency routing because it does not optimize TCP path latency, and stateful NACLs with VPC Peering because NACLs are stateless.
Eliminating invalid configurations ensures the proposed combination is both correct and optimal.

Key Concept

Designing high-performance, low-latency, and high-throughput hybrid and global network architectures using AWS Direct Connect, AWS Transit Gateway, and AWS Global Accelerator.
Question 3Question →

A weather research institute is deploying a distributed numerical weather prediction model on Amazon EC2. The application consists of tightly-coupled compute nodes that require sub-millisecond node-to-node network latency and maximum throughput to exchange state data. Additionally, a Solutions Architect must configure an Application Load Balancer (ALB) to route incoming analysis requests to the compute nodes, which listen on custom port 8080. Which combination of actions should the Solutions Architect take to meet these requirements? (Select TWO.)

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Deploy the EC2 instances in a cluster placement group.; Configure the Application Load Balancer target group health check to query port 8080.

Answer

Deploying the EC2 instances in a cluster placement group and configuring the Application Load Balancer target group health check to query port 8080.
Deploying the EC2 instances in a cluster placement group places the instances close together within a single Availability Zone, which satisfies the requirement for sub-millisecond node-to-node latency and maximum network throughput. Additionally, because the application is listening on a custom port 8080, the target group health check must be explicitly configured to query port 8080 to ensure the load balancer can correctly monitor the application's status.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the networking requirements of the distributed weather forecasting simulation nodes.
The nodes are tightly coupled and require sub-millisecond node-to-node latency and high network throughput.
This requirement determines the type of EC2 placement group needed.
2
Select the correct EC2 placement group style.
A cluster placement group is selected because it packs instances close together inside a single Availability Zone, achieving the lowest possible latency and highest network performance.
Spread and partition placement groups do not guarantee low-latency node-to-node communication.
3
Configure the Application Load Balancer target group settings for the simulation service.
The target group's health check is explicitly configured to query port 8080, matching the custom port on which the simulation service runs.
If the health check defaults to another port like 80, the load balancer will fail to reach the service, marking the healthy instances as unhealthy.

Key Concept

High-Performance Compute placement groups and target group health check port synchronization.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Question 4Question →

A solutions architect is designing a database architecture for a high-frequency financial trading application. The application requires a relational database to store transactional trade execution history, demanding high availability and the ability to scale read operations dynamically from 5,0005,000 to 50,00050,000 queries per second during market opening spikes. In addition, the application must display a real-time leaderboard showing top trading accounts with microsecond read latency. Which combination of database services and configurations should the solutions architect choose to meet these requirements? (Select two.)

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL with Aurora Replicas and Auto Scaling to scale read operations dynamically during market spikes.; Amazon ElastiCache for Redis to store and serve the real-time leaderboard data with microsecond read latency.

Answer

The correct architecture combines Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL utilizing Aurora Replicas with Auto Scaling for relational, read-scalable transaction logging, along with Amazon ElastiCache for Redis to provide microsecond read latency for the real-time leaderboard.
The correct options are the choices recommending Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL with Aurora Replicas and Auto Scaling, and Amazon ElastiCache for Redis. Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL natively supports high availability and handles read surges by dynamically adding Aurora Replicas via Auto Scaling. Amazon ElastiCache for Redis is an in-memory caching database optimized for microsecond-latency operations, which directly satisfies the leaderboard requirement.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Evaluate the relational database requirement for trade execution history.
Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL provides MySQL and PostgreSQL compatibility with auto-scaling Aurora Replicas, allowing read capacity to scale dynamically to meet spikes from 5,0005,000 to 50,00050,000 queries per second.
Relational constraints require a SQL-compatible engine, while high availability and spiky traffic require dynamic read replicas and automatic failover.
2
Evaluate the caching layer requirement for the real-time leaderboard.
Amazon ElastiCache for Redis supports in-memory data structures, enabling microsecond latency retrievals.
Microsecond read latency cannot be consistently achieved by standard relational databases under heavy load and requires an in-memory caching mechanism.
3
Filter out configurations that violate best practices, failover mechanics, or partitioning rules.
Eliminated options using RDS replicas for failover, monotonically increasing partition keys in DynamoDB, and provisioned capacity without auto scaling.
These options introduce performance bottlenecks, lack automatic failover mechanisms, or result in scaling failures under spiky workloads.

Key Concept

Combining Amazon Aurora Auto Scaling Replicas for scalable relational reads and Amazon ElastiCache for microsecond caching performance.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Question 5Question →

An insurance firm runs a distributed risk-modeling application on Amazon EC2 instances. The application consists of compute nodes that frequently communicate with each other, requiring low-latency and high-throughput node-to-node network communication. A Network Load Balancer (NLB) distributes incoming simulation jobs to these EC2 instances on custom port 8090. The target group is configured to perform health checks on port 80, which causes the NLB to mark all instances as unhealthy. Which two configuration changes should a solutions architect make to resolve these issues and optimize the compute architecture?

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Launch the EC2 instances in a cluster placement group.; Modify the target group health check configuration to query port 8090.

Answer

Deploy the EC2 instances in a cluster placement group, and modify the target group health check configuration to query port 8090.
To achieve low-latency and high-throughput communication between nodes, instances must be launched in a cluster placement group. Additionally, since the application listens on port 8090 and the target group is querying port 80, the health check port configuration must be changed to port 8090 so that the Network Load Balancer can successfully verify instance health.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the network latency and throughput requirements of the risk-modeling application.
The application requires high-throughput, low-latency node-to-node communication.
This requirement determines the correct placement group strategy.
2
Select the appropriate EC2 placement group.
A cluster placement group is selected.
Cluster placement groups place instances close together within a single Availability Zone, enabling low-latency and high-throughput TCP/IP communication.
3
Investigate the health check failure for the target group.
The target group is configured to health check on port 80, but the application runs on port 8090.
The mismatch causes the NLB health checks to fail, marking the instances as unhealthy.
4
Reconfigure the target group health check port.
The health check port is updated to 8090.
This aligns the health check with the actual port the application is listening on, allowing the NLB to detect the instances as healthy.

Key Concept

Selecting cluster placement groups for low-latency node-to-node communication and aligning target group health check ports with the application port.
Question 6Question →

A solutions architect is designing a high-throughput telemetry application on AWS. Thousands of IoT devices will send real-time environmental data every second. The architect decides to store the data in an Amazon DynamoDB table. The database schema is currently designed with `SensorType` (which has 4 unique values: 'Temperature', 'Humidity', 'Pressure', and 'AirQuality') as the partition key, and a timestamp as the sort key. During load testing, the application encounters write throttling errors even though the table has sufficient write capacity. Which modification to the database design should the solutions architect recommend to resolve the performance bottleneck?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Redesign the table schema to use a high-cardinality attribute, such as a combination of `SensorID` and a daily date string, as the partition key to distribute write operations evenly across multiple partitions.

Answer

Redesign the table schema to use a high-cardinality attribute, such as a combination of `SensorID` and a daily date string, as the partition key to distribute write operations evenly across multiple partitions.
The correct option is to redesign the table schema using a high-cardinality attribute. By using a partition key with high cardinality (such as `SensorID` or a combination of `SensorID` and a date), DynamoDB can distribute the write workload evenly across many physical partitions. This avoids hitting the partition-level limit of 1,000 Write Capacity Units (WCUs).

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the write workload and partition structure.
Identify that the current partition key `SensorType` has only 4 unique values, causing all writes to be concentrated on at most 4 partitions.
DynamoDB determines physical partition allocation by hashing the partition key.
2
Evaluate the partition limits.
Recognize that each physical partition has a maximum limit of 1,000 Write Capacity Units (WCUs). Due to the low cardinality of `SensorType`, the partition capacity is exceeded, causing throttling.
Understanding physical DynamoDB limits is necessary to identify bottlenecks.
3
Redesign the primary key for optimal distribution.
Recommend using a high-cardinality partition key like `SensorID` (optionally with a date suffix) to spread the writes across many partitions.
Distributing writes evenly prevents any single partition from exceeding the 1,000 WCU limit.

Key Concept

DynamoDB partition key cardinality and partition-level throughput limits
Estimated Time:1m 30s
Question 7Question →

A software company is building a collaborative online drafting application with users distributed across North America and Europe. The architecture requires a relational database to store document metadata and version history, supporting complex queries and auto-scaling read performance in both regions. Additionally, the application requires a data store to manage real-time collaborator session state and presence details with sub-millisecond response times. Which combination of database configurations should a solutions architect recommend to meet these requirements? (Select TWO.)

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Amazon Aurora Global Database to store relational document metadata, using read replicas in the secondary region to scale read performance.; Amazon ElastiCache for Redis to manage real-time collaborator session state and presence details with sub-millisecond latencies.

Answer

The solutions architect should choose Amazon Aurora Global Database to store relational document metadata with read replicas in the secondary region, and Amazon ElastiCache for Redis to manage real-time collaborator session state with sub-millisecond latencies.
To support a relational, globally distributed database with complex query capabilities and read scaling, Amazon Aurora Global Database is the ideal choice as it provides low-latency local reads in secondary regions. For real-time user session state requiring sub-millisecond latencies, an in-memory solution like Amazon ElastiCache for Redis is optimized for this performance envelope.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the requirement for document metadata and version history.
The database must be relational, support complex queries, and scale reads globally (North America and Europe) with low latency.
This points to Amazon Aurora Global Database, which supports cross-region read replicas and automated scaling.
2
Analyze the requirement for real-time collaborator session state.
This requires a sub-millisecond latency data store to track active users and their presence.
Amazon ElastiCache for Redis is an in-memory key-value store that provides sub-millisecond latencies suitable for real-time state tracking.
3
Evaluate and eliminate incorrect database configurations.
Eliminated options using RDS replicas for automatic failover, DynamoDB with monotonic partition keys, and DynamoDB with provisioned capacity for spiky workloads.
These options violate design practices, leading to failover misconceptions, partition key bottlenecks, or performance throttling under spiky loads.

Key Concept

Selecting and configuring high-performing databases based on latency, query patterns, and global read scalability requirements.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Question 8Question →

A gaming company is launching a global multiplayer game and needs to design a database architecture for player profiles and leaderboards. The database must support high-throughput writes with single-digit millisecond latency for players distributed across North America, Europe, and Asia. Additionally, player profile page lookups must achieve microsecond read latency to prevent page load delays. Which combination of database configurations will meet these performance requirements? (Select TWO.)

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Deploy Amazon DynamoDB global tables to replicate data with single-digit millisecond latency across multiple AWS Regions.; Enable Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) to provide microsecond read latency for player profile lookups.

Answer

Deploying Amazon DynamoDB global tables and enabling Amazon DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX).
DynamoDB global tables provide a fully managed multi-region database solution that replicates data across AWS Regions, allowing local write and read access with single-digit millisecond latency. DynamoDB Accelerator (DAX) adds a caching layer in front of the tables, reducing the latency of read lookups from milliseconds to microseconds for read-intensive workloads such as player profiles.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the workload requirements: global replication with low-latency (single-digit millisecond) writes and read-heavy profile lookups requiring microsecond latency.
Identified that DynamoDB global tables fit the multi-region write requirement, and an in-memory cache is needed for microsecond reads.
DynamoDB global tables support multi-region write replication, and DAX delivers the required microsecond read performance for DynamoDB tables.
2
Evaluate the caching options and reject configurations that process writes to read-only endpoints or cache instances as primary databases.
Eliminated Aurora read replicas for direct writes and Memcached as a primary database write target.
Read replicas cannot handle write transactions, and caching solutions do not provide persistent primary database capabilities.
3
Assess the partition key design to prevent partition bottlenecks during high-throughput writes.
Avoided partition key patterns using sequential or monotonically increasing values.
Using sequential keys distributes traffic unevenly, resulting in hot partitions that throttle overall throughput.

Key Concept

Combining multi-region active-active databases with in-memory caching to achieve high write throughput and microsecond read latencies.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Question 9Question →

A financial services organization is establishing a secure hybrid network connection between its on-premises trading platform and a VPC in the AWS Cloud. The application requires a minimum encrypted throughput of 2.0 Gbps2.0 \text{ Gbps} to replicate time-sensitive market feeds. Additionally, the network engineering team must implement stateless traffic filtering at the subnet level to restrict inbound access. Which design will meet these requirements with the lowest administrative complexity?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Establish multiple AWS Site-to-Site VPN connections to an AWS Transit Gateway, enabling Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing to aggregate the tunnel throughput. Set up Network Access Control Lists (NACLs) on the subnets to enforce stateless traffic filtering.

Answer

Establish multiple AWS Site-to-Site VPN connections to an AWS Transit Gateway, enabling Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing to aggregate the tunnel throughput, and set up Network Access Control Lists (NACLs) on the subnets to enforce stateless traffic filtering.
The correct answer combines AWS Transit Gateway and Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing, which allows the dynamic distribution of traffic across multiple active Site-to-Site VPN connections. This bypasses the 1.25 Gbps1.25 \text{ Gbps} limit of a single VPN tunnel to meet the 2.0 Gbps2.0 \text{ Gbps} requirement. Using Network Access Control Lists (NACLs) correctly provides the required stateless filtering at the subnet boundaries.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the throughput requirement of 2.0 Gbps2.0 \text{ Gbps} and the encryption requirement.
A single AWS Site-to-Site VPN tunnel has a maximum throughput of 1.25 Gbps1.25 \text{ Gbps}. To meet the 2.0 Gbps2.0 \text{ Gbps} requirement, multiple VPN tunnels must be aggregated.
Identifying the hardware and service constraints of AWS VPN connections.
2
Determine the routing mechanism to aggregate multiple VPN tunnels.
AWS Transit Gateway supports Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing, allowing traffic to be balanced across multiple VPN tunnels to achieve aggregate throughput exceeding 1.25 Gbps1.25 \text{ Gbps}.
Enabling high performance and scalability for hybrid network architectures.
3
Identify the requirement for stateless traffic filtering at the subnet level.
Network Access Control Lists (NACLs) operate at the subnet level and are stateless, whereas security groups are stateful and operate at the instance level.
Selecting the correct security control that meets the stateless and subnet-level requirements.

Key Concept

To scale VPN throughput beyond 1.25 Gbps1.25 \text{ Gbps}, you must use AWS Transit Gateway with Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing to distribute traffic across multiple Site-to-Site VPN tunnels. Stateless network filtering at the subnet level is achieved using Network Access Control Lists (NACLs).
Question 10Question →

A company has deployed a high-performance catalog search API on Amazon EC2 instances. The API application runs on the instances and is configured to listen for requests on port 8088. The instances are registered as targets in an Application Load Balancer (ALB) target group. The ALB health check status for all EC2 instances is reported as unhealthy, resulting in HTTP 502 (Bad Gateway) errors for clients. A configuration audit reveals that the target group's health check is configured to query port 80. Which action will resolve this issue and restore service availability?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Modify the target group configuration to use port 8088 or 'traffic-port' for the health check.

Answer

Modify the target group configuration to use port 8088 or 'traffic-port' for the health check.
The correct action is to modify the target group configuration to use port 8088 or 'traffic-port' for the health check. Since the API is configured to listen on port 8088, target group health checks sent to port 80 will fail because nothing is listening on that port on the EC2 instances. Aligning the health check port to port 8088 allows the load balancer to receive successful responses and mark the instances as healthy.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the ports involved in the architecture.
The application listens on port 8088, but the ALB target group health checks are targeting port 80.
Understanding where the traffic is sent versus where the health checks are pointing helps locate the source of the HTTP 502 errors.
2
Determine the configuration setting causing the mismatch.
The health check port in the target group is set to a static value of 80, which does not match the application port.
By default, target group health checks target the registered traffic port, but an explicit override to port 80 will fail if the application is not listening on that port.
3
Align the health check port with the active application port.
Update the health check settings in the target group to use port 8088 or select the 'traffic-port' option.
This configuration allows the ALB to successfully probe the catalog search API, marking the targets as healthy and routing client traffic correctly.

Key Concept

ELB Target Group Health Check Configuration
Question 11Question →

An enterprise hosts a high-frequency market data API on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB) in the us-east-1 Region. Financial clients located globally in Europe and Asia require the lowest possible latency and must avoid routing traffic over the public internet. Additionally, the security team requires that a dynamic blacklist of malicious IP addresses be blocked at the subnet boundary before reaching the ALB.

Which network architecture will meet these requirements?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Configure AWS Global Accelerator in front of the ALB to onboard client traffic onto the AWS global network at the nearest edge location. Apply stateless Network Access Control Lists (NACLs) to the ALB subnets to block the blacklisted IP addresses.

Answer

Configure AWS Global Accelerator in front of the ALB to onboard client traffic onto the AWS global network at the nearest edge location. Apply stateless Network Access Control Lists (NACLs) to the ALB subnets to block the blacklisted IP addresses.
AWS Global Accelerator uses Anycast IP addresses to route traffic over the high-speed AWS global network from the nearest edge location to the destination ALB, bypassing the public internet and reducing TCP connection establishment time. Using stateless Network Access Control Lists (NACLs) at the subnet level is the correct way to enforce explicit deny rules at the subnet boundary.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the primary network optimization requirement.
Since global clients require the lowest possible latency and must avoid routing traffic over the public internet, the solution must route traffic over the private AWS backbone.
AWS Global Accelerator routes TCP/UDP traffic over the AWS global network from the nearest edge location, whereas standard DNS routing (Route 53) still directs traffic over the public internet.
2
Evaluate the security and traffic-filtering requirement.
A blacklist of malicious IP addresses must be blocked at the subnet boundary.
Network Access Control Lists (NACLs) are stateless, operate at the subnet boundary, and support explicit deny rules, making them the correct tool for blocking specific IP addresses before they reach the ALB. Security Groups do not operate at the subnet boundary and do not support deny rules.

Key Concept

Optimizing global application latency using AWS Global Accelerator and enforcing subnet-level traffic filtering using Network ACLs.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
Question 12Question →

A financial services firm is deploying a containerized risk analysis platform on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) across two Availability Zones. The platform's pods require concurrent, shared read and write access to a persistent storage volume that supports standard POSIX file systems, permissions, and locking. The storage must handle up to 15,000 IOPS15,000\text{ IOPS} during peak processing times, and must scale throughput and capacity automatically without manual provisioning or downtime.

Which of the following configurations should a solutions architect recommend? (Select TWO.)

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Create an Amazon EFS file system configured with Elastic throughput mode and mount it using the Amazon EFS CSI driver.; Deploy an Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP Multi-AZ file system and mount the volumes using the NFS protocol.

Answer

The correct configurations are to use an Amazon EFS file system configured with Elastic throughput mode mounted via the Amazon EFS CSI driver, and to deploy an Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP Multi-AZ file system mounted via NFS.
The correct configurations are the option to use Amazon EFS with Elastic throughput mode and the option to use Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP Multi-AZ file system. Amazon EFS is built to scale automatically and supports concurrent access from multiple pods across different Availability Zones with full POSIX compatibility. Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP Multi-AZ provides a fully managed shared file system that supports POSIX compliance, NFS access, and scales performance and capacity seamlessly to meet the 15,000 IOPS15,000\text{ IOPS} demand.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the workload requirements: multi-AZ containerized platform (EKS), concurrent read/write access (shared storage), POSIX compliance (file system, permissions, locking), high IOPS, and automated scaling.
Identified that standard single-instance block storage (EBS gp3/io2 without multi-AZ support) and object storage (S3) are unsuitable.
This narrows down the selection to shared file storage solutions that natively support POSIX and multi-AZ deployments.
2
Evaluate Amazon EFS with Elastic throughput mode.
Amazon EFS satisfies the POSIX file system and concurrent access requirements across multiple Availability Zones, and Elastic throughput mode ensures automatic performance scaling.
Elastic throughput mode matches the requirement of scaling throughput automatically without manual provisioning.
3
Evaluate Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP Multi-AZ deployment.
FSx for NetApp ONTAP is fully POSIX-compliant, supports NFS, can be deployed across multiple Availability Zones, and offers high-performance throughput scaling.
It matches the high performance, multi-AZ access, and POSIX compliance requirements.

Key Concept

Selecting and configuring shared, POSIX-compliant, high-performing storage solutions (such as Amazon EFS and Amazon FSx) that support concurrent access across multiple Availability Zones and scale automatically.
Question 13Question →

A smart grid utility company collects electricity consumption readings from 1 million1\text{ million} smart meters every 15 minutes15\text{ minutes}. The total data volume during peak hours reaches 15 MB/s15\text{ MB/s} of XML data. The company needs to ingest this data, convert the format from XML to JSON in near-real-time, and store the output in Amazon S3 for downstream analytics. The ingestion pipeline must scale automatically to handle load fluctuations and require minimal operational overhead. Which combination of actions should the solutions architect recommend to meet these requirements? (Select two.)

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Use Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose to ingest the data and invoke an AWS Lambda function to transform the format from XML to JSON.; Deliver the transformed JSON records from Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose directly to the target Amazon S3 bucket.

Answer

The correct combination of actions is to use Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose to ingest the data and invoke an AWS Lambda function to transform the format from XML to JSON, and to deliver the transformed JSON records from Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose directly to the target Amazon S3 bucket.
Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose is a fully managed service that scales automatically to match stream throughput, satisfying the high performance and low operational overhead criteria. It features built-in integration with AWS Lambda to execute data transformation synchronously as data passes through the delivery stream. Delivering the results directly to Amazon S3 completes a robust, scalable, and serverless ingestion pipeline.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the scaling and operational requirements.
The pipeline must handle up to 15 MB/s15\text{ MB/s} peak traffic, scale automatically, and require minimal operational overhead.
This points toward a serverless managed ingestion service rather than provisioned streams or custom self-managed consumers.
2
Evaluate the ingestion and transformation mechanism.
Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose can ingest the data stream and trigger an inline AWS Lambda function to handle format transformation (XML to JSON) before delivery.
Firehose handles buffering, scaling, and transformation invocation serverlessly, eliminating the need to write custom scaling logic.
3
Select the destination delivery target.
Configure Amazon S3 as the target delivery destination within the Kinesis Data Firehose stream.
Firehose directly writes the output JSON files to S3, completing the end-to-end data flow with zero additional components.

Key Concept

Serverless streaming ingestion and transformation using Amazon Kinesis Data Firehose and AWS Lambda.
Question 14Question →

A company is deploying a high-performance clustered database application on 55 Amazon EC2 instances located in a single Availability Zone. The application requires shared block-level access to a single storage volume that will be formatted with a cluster-aware file system. The storage volume must deliver a consistent performance of 15,000 IOPS15,000\text{ IOPS} with sub-millisecond latencies.

Which storage configuration will meet these requirements?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Provision an Amazon EBS io2 volume, enable EBS Multi-Attach, and attach the volume to all 55 EC2 instances.

Answer

Provision an Amazon EBS io2 volume, enable EBS Multi-Attach, and attach the volume to all 55 EC2 instances.
The correct configuration is to provision an Amazon EBS io2 volume and enable EBS Multi-Attach. Multi-Attach allows attaching a single Provisioned IOPS volume to multiple Nitro-based EC2 instances within the same Availability Zone. This meets the requirement for shared block-level access with consistent performance and sub-millisecond latency. Since the database application is deployed in a single Availability Zone, this solution is fully compatible.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the architectural requirements: shared block-level storage, a single Availability Zone, 15,000 IOPS15,000\text{ IOPS}, and sub-millisecond latency.
The solution must support attaching a single block volume to multiple EC2 instances concurrently.
Standard block storage (EBS) only allows a one-to-one attachment unless Multi-Attach is enabled.
2
Evaluate the block storage options that support Multi-Attach.
Only Provisioned IOPS SSD volumes (io1 and io2) support EBS Multi-Attach; General Purpose SSD (gp3) volumes do not support this feature.
AWS restricts Multi-Attach to high-performance provisioned IOPS workloads.
3
Determine if file or object storage options are suitable.
Amazon EFS and Amazon S3 are file-level and object-level storage systems, respectively, and cannot be formatted with a block-level cluster-aware file system.
The requirement explicitly calls for block-level access for a cluster file system.

Key Concept

EBS Multi-Attach allows mounting a single Provisioned IOPS volume to multiple EC2 instances in the same Availability Zone for shared block storage.
Question 15Question →

A company runs a high-performance web application on a fleet of Amazon EC2 instances distributed across two Availability Zones. The instances require concurrent read/write access to a shared, POSIX-compliant file system to store and retrieve media assets. The storage must scale throughput automatically to handle unpredictable traffic spikes while maintaining low latency.

Which storage solution should a solutions architect recommend to meet these requirements with the least operational overhead?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Amazon EFS configured with Elastic throughput

Answer

Amazon EFS configured with Elastic throughput
The correct answer is the option proposing Amazon EFS with Elastic throughput. Amazon EFS is designed as a serverless, shared, POSIX-compliant file system that can be accessed concurrently by EC2 instances in multiple Availability Zones. Elastic throughput ensures that the storage scales dynamically to handle unpredictable spikes in traffic without operational management.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the storage requirements of the application: concurrent access, multi-AZ deployment, POSIX compliance, automatic scaling of throughput, and low operational overhead.
Amazon EFS is selected as the primary candidate because it natively provides a shared POSIX-compliant file system that spans multiple Availability Zones and supports concurrent access.
Eliminating block-based storage options (EBS) which are locked to a single Availability Zone and do not natively support standard concurrent file sharing across multiple instances.
2
Evaluate EFS throughput modes to address unpredictable spikes in traffic.
Elastic throughput mode is selected because it dynamically scales throughput based on workload demands, eliminating the need to provision or manage throughput limits manually.
Ensuring the system handles performance spikes cost-effectively and with minimal operational effort.

Key Concept

Shared file storage using Amazon EFS with Elastic throughput mode across multiple Availability Zones.
Question 16Question →

A company hosts a latency-sensitive application across two AWS Regions: us-east-1 and us-west-2. The company needs to route global user traffic to the Region that offers the lowest latency, with automatic failover if a Region becomes unhealthy. Additionally, the company must establish a secure hybrid network connection to replicate database backups from their on-premises data center to both AWS Regions. The replication traffic requires a consistent bandwidth of 2.52.5 Gbps. Which architecture should a solutions architect recommend to meet these requirements?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Deploy AWS Global Accelerator to route user traffic to the application endpoints in both Regions. Establish an AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection to an AWS Transit Gateway, enabling Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing across multiple VPN tunnels to handle the database replication traffic.

Answer

Deploy AWS Global Accelerator to route user traffic to the application endpoints in both Regions. Establish an AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection to an AWS Transit Gateway, enabling Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing across multiple VPN tunnels to handle the database replication traffic.
The correct architecture uses AWS Global Accelerator to route user traffic using the low-latency AWS global network and automatically redirects traffic around unhealthy endpoints. For the hybrid database replication, because a single AWS Site-to-Site VPN tunnel is limited to 1.251.25 Gbps, configuring multiple VPN tunnels with ECMP enabled on an AWS Transit Gateway allows the connection to scale to 2.52.5 Gbps.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Address the user latency and failover requirements.
Using AWS Global Accelerator directs users to the nearest application endpoint using the AWS edge network and provides automatic health-check-based failover.
Global Accelerator uses Anycast IP addresses and the AWS global backbone network to minimize latency and automatically route around unhealthy endpoints.
2
Address the hybrid database replication throughput requirement.
Establish a Site-to-Site VPN with multiple tunnels attached to an AWS Transit Gateway, enabling Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing.
Since a single AWS VPN tunnel has a hard limit of 1.251.25 Gbps, ECMP routing across multiple active tunnels is required to aggregate bandwidth and support the 2.52.5 Gbps throughput requirement.

Key Concept

AWS Transit Gateway ECMP routing scales VPN bandwidth beyond the 1.251.25 Gbps tunnel limit, and AWS Global Accelerator optimizes user latency with automatic failover.
Estimated Time:1m 30s
Question 17Question →

An enterprise is migrating a large-scale data analytics platform to AWS. The platform requires a hybrid network connection to synchronize transactional logs from an on-premises mainframe to multiple Amazon VPCs in the same Region. The synchronization process requires a minimum bandwidth of 3 Gbps3\text{ Gbps} and must be encrypted in transit. Due to tight project timelines, the solution must be deployed within a few days, ruling out the provisioning of a new AWS Direct Connect connection. Which network architecture will meet these requirements with the highest performance and scalability?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Deploy an AWS Transit Gateway and attach the target VPCs. Establish an AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection to the Transit Gateway, enabling Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing on both the Transit Gateway and the customer gateway. Configure at least three active VPN tunnels to aggregate the required throughput.

Answer

Deploy an AWS Transit Gateway and attach the target VPCs. Establish an AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection to the Transit Gateway, enabling Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing on both the Transit Gateway and the customer gateway. Configure at least three active VPN tunnels to aggregate the required throughput.
The correct architecture uses AWS Transit Gateway with ECMP enabled. Each Site-to-Site VPN tunnel supports up to 1.25 Gbps1.25\text{ Gbps} of throughput. By terminating the VPN connection on a Transit Gateway, you can enable ECMP to aggregate throughput across multiple active tunnels, allowing the application to reach the target 3 Gbps3\text{ Gbps} bandwidth within the required timeline.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the throughput requirement and connection constraints.
The target throughput is 3 Gbps3\text{ Gbps}, which must be encrypted and deployed quickly without Direct Connect.
This rules out a standard single VPN tunnel since it is limited to 1.25 Gbps1.25\text{ Gbps}, and rules out Direct Connect due to deployment time constraints.
2
Select a technology capable of aggregating VPN throughput.
AWS Transit Gateway supports Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing over VPN attachments.
ECMP allows the aggregation of multiple VPN tunnels to scale the total bandwidth beyond the 1.25 Gbps1.25\text{ Gbps} limit of a single tunnel.
3
Calculate the number of tunnels required.
At least three VPN tunnels (3×1.25 Gbps=3.75 Gbps3 \times 1.25\text{ Gbps} = 3.75\text{ Gbps} capacity) are needed to safely exceed the 3 Gbps3\text{ Gbps} requirement.
This guarantees that the combined capacity of the ECMP-routed tunnels satisfies the required target throughput.

Key Concept

AWS Transit Gateway VPN ECMP throughput aggregation
Question 18Question →

A software development company is migrating a collaborative code compilation platform to AWS. The platform runs on a fleet of Amazon EC2 instances distributed across multiple Availability Zones. The build workers require concurrent, shared access to a POSIX-compliant repository. The repository must support sub-millisecond latencies for file metadata operations and scale throughput dynamically to handle build bursts. Which two storage configurations should the solutions architect recommend to meet these requirements?

Select all that apply

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Create an Amazon EFS file system configured with Elastic Throughput.; Provision an Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP file system in a Multi-AZ deployment.

Answer

The solutions architect should recommend creating an Amazon EFS file system configured with Elastic Throughput and provisioning an Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP file system in a Multi-AZ deployment.
The solution requires a shared, POSIX-compliant storage system that can be accessed concurrently by EC2 instances across multiple Availability Zones with dynamic throughput scaling. Amazon EFS with Elastic Throughput meets these requirements by providing POSIX-compliant shared access that automatically scales to handle throughput spikes. Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP in a Multi-AZ deployment also supports concurrent multi-AZ access via NFS and provides high performance with sub-millisecond latencies.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify that the workload requires concurrent read/write shared access from multiple EC2 instances across different Availability Zones, pointing to a network-attached shared file system rather than block storage.
Candidate options must support shared POSIX-compliant file access across multiple Availability Zones.
Block storage like standard EBS is limited to a single Availability Zone and cannot be shared natively across zones.
2
Evaluate Amazon EFS with Elastic Throughput.
EFS supports multi-AZ POSIX-compliant shared file access and automatically scales throughput to meet unpredictable spike requirements.
Elastic Throughput dynamically scales based on workload activity without manual provisioning.
3
Evaluate Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP.
FSx for ONTAP provides Multi-AZ deployment options with low-latency POSIX-compliant NFS access and scales performance to handle bursty workloads.
It matches the performance requirements (sub-millisecond latency) and supports cross-AZ file sharing.
4
Evaluate and eliminate EBS options.
EBS volumes cannot span Availability Zones, gp3 does not support Multi-Attach, and io2 Multi-Attach requires a cluster-aware file system to prevent data corruption.
EBS is an AZ-scoped block storage service and standard file systems like ext4 lack write coordination.
5
Evaluate and eliminate S3 options.
S3 is object storage and AWS Transfer Family is for file transfer protocols, not mountable POSIX drives.
S3 does not natively provide POSIX file system capabilities.

Key Concept

Shared POSIX-compliant storage solutions that support concurrent multi-AZ access and scale throughput dynamically.
Question 19Question →

A company hosts a web application on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB) in a single AWS Region. Users from multiple locations worldwide are experiencing high latency and inconsistent performance when accessing the application. The solutions architect needs to optimize the network routing to provide the lowest possible latency and most consistent performance for these global users. Which solution should the solutions architect recommend?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Deploy AWS Global Accelerator in front of the Application Load Balancer to route user traffic over the AWS global private network.

Answer

Deploy AWS Global Accelerator in front of the Application Load Balancer to route user traffic over the AWS global private network.
AWS Global Accelerator improves application performance and latency by routing user traffic through the nearest AWS edge location and over the congestion-free AWS private network backbone to the Application Load Balancer.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the primary goal: The company wants to optimize the network path to provide the lowest latency and most consistent performance for global users accessing an application hosted in a single AWS Region.
Requires a service that routes traffic over the AWS private backbone rather than the public internet.
Routing traffic over the private AWS global network avoids internet congestion and reduces latency.
2
Evaluate AWS Global Accelerator against the requirements.
AWS Global Accelerator uses static IP addresses to ingest traffic at the closest edge location and routes it over the AWS global private network to the Application Load Balancer.
This matches the requirement to optimize performance and network paths for global users.

Key Concept

AWS Global Accelerator improves network performance and latency for global clients by routing traffic over the AWS private network backbone.
Question 20Question →

A company needs to replicate large database backups from its on-premises data center to a VPC on AWS. The replication software requires a consistent network throughput of at least 2 Gbps2\text{ Gbps}. The company wants to establish a secure, encrypted hybrid connection over the public internet, avoiding the lead time of dedicated physical circuits. Which network architecture should a solutions architect recommend to meet these requirements?

Show answer & explanation

Answer: Create an AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection to an AWS Transit Gateway, enable Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing, and establish multiple VPN tunnels to aggregate bandwidth.

Answer

Create an AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection to an AWS Transit Gateway, enable Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing, and establish multiple VPN tunnels to aggregate bandwidth.
The correct answer is to use an AWS Site-to-Site VPN connection attached to an AWS Transit Gateway with Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing enabled. An AWS Site-to-Site VPN tunnel has a maximum throughput capacity of 1.25 Gbps1.25\text{ Gbps}. To exceed this limit and achieve the required 2 Gbps2\text{ Gbps} throughput, Transit Gateway can load-balance traffic across multiple active tunnels using ECMP, aggregating the bandwidth of the tunnels.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the bandwidth constraint and connection requirements.
The replication requires at least 2 Gbps2\text{ Gbps} of bandwidth, must be secure/encrypted, must run over the public internet, and needs to be set up without long lead times.
This rules out dedicated lines like AWS Direct Connect due to lead times, leaving Site-to-Site VPN as the primary hybrid connectivity option.
2
Analyze the throughput limitations of standard AWS VPN configurations.
A single AWS Site-to-Site VPN tunnel is logically capped at 1.25 Gbps1.25\text{ Gbps}. Terminating the VPN on a Virtual Private Gateway only allows active-passive routing, meaning the max throughput remains 1.25 Gbps1.25\text{ Gbps}.
To achieve 2 Gbps2\text{ Gbps}, the architecture must support active-active tunnel load balancing to aggregate bandwidth.
3
Select a routing component that supports bandwidth aggregation.
Attaching the Site-to-Site VPN to an AWS Transit Gateway allows enabling Equal-Cost Multi-Path (ECMP) routing. This allows the system to distribute traffic across multiple active tunnels simultaneously.
By using at least two active VPN tunnels with ECMP, the combined throughput can scale beyond 1.25 Gbps1.25\text{ Gbps} to meet the 2 Gbps2\text{ Gbps} requirement.

Key Concept

AWS Transit Gateway ECMP routing allows scaling Site-to-Site VPN throughput beyond the 1.25 Gbps1.25\text{ Gbps} limit of a single tunnel by load balancing traffic across multiple active tunnels.
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