MLA-C01 Question 308
Single answerYou are building a machine learning pipeline on AWS and need to define infrastructure resources, such as Amazon S3 buckets, Amazon SageMaker endpoints, and IAM roles. The pipeline will require frequent updates as the project evolves, and your team prefers a programming-based approach rather than a declarative one. Which infrastructure as code (IaC) option is the most suitable for your use case?
- A
AWS CloudFormation
- B
AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK)
- C
Amazon SageMaker Pipelines
- D
AWS Elastic Beanstalk
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
The AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK) is the most suitable IaC option for this scenario because it allows teams to define AWS infrastructure resources using familiar programming languages like Python or TypeScript. This approach aligns well with the team's preference for a programming-based methodology and supports frequent updates to the infrastructure as the project evolves. AWS CloudFormation, while a powerful declarative tool, does not meet the requirement for a programming-based approach. Other options, like Amazon SageMaker Pipelines and AWS Elastic Beanstalk, are not designed for defining general-purpose infrastructure resources.
- A. Incorrect.
AWS CloudFormation is a declarative IaC tool that uses YAML or JSON templates. While it is a powerful tool for managing resources, it may not be ideal for teams preferring a programming-based approach, as it lacks native support for imperative programming constructs.
- B. Correct.
AWS Cloud Development Kit (AWS CDK) is a programming-based IaC tool that allows developers to define infrastructure in familiar programming languages such as Python, Java, or TypeScript. It is suitable for teams that prefer an imperative, code-centric approach and need to manage infrastructure resources programmatically.
- C. Incorrect.
Amazon SageMaker Pipelines is a purpose-built tool for managing machine learning workflows, not a general infrastructure as code tool. It is not suitable for defining and managing AWS infrastructure resources like S3 buckets or IAM roles.
- D. Incorrect.
AWS Elastic Beanstalk is a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering that abstracts infrastructure management for deploying web applications. It is not an IaC tool and does not provide fine-grained control over infrastructure definitions for machine learning workflows.