SAA-C03 Question 243
Single answerA company runs a high-traffic web application that experiences unpredictable spikes in demand. They want to ensure their compute resources automatically scale to handle traffic increases while minimizing costs during periods of low usage. Which solution should you recommend?
- A
Use an Auto Scaling group with a combination of On-Demand and Spot Instances to handle variable traffic.
- B
Manually launch and terminate EC2 instances based on traffic patterns observed from CloudWatch metrics.
- C
Deploy the application using AWS Lambda functions with Provisioned Concurrency enabled.
- D
Run the application on EC2 instances with a Reserved Instance pricing model for consistent cost savings.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
The best solution for high-traffic web applications with unpredictable spikes is to use an Auto Scaling group. This ensures the application can automatically scale in response to demand, providing both high performance and cost efficiency. Combining On-Demand and Spot Instances in the Auto Scaling group further optimizes costs while maintaining elasticity and reliability.
- A. Correct.
This option is correct. Auto Scaling groups allow the application to automatically scale up or down based on traffic patterns, and combining On-Demand and Spot Instances helps optimize costs while maintaining high performance and elasticity.
- B. Incorrect.
Manually managing EC2 instances is labor-intensive, error-prone, and does not provide the elasticity or automation needed for handling unpredictable traffic spikes.
- C. Incorrect.
While AWS Lambda is a serverless option, it's not ideal for high-traffic web applications with unpredictable load unless the application is specifically designed for serverless architecture. Provisioned Concurrency also adds cost and may not fully address the requirement of handling traffic spikes.
- D. Incorrect.
Reserved Instances are cost-effective for consistent, predictable workloads but are not suitable for applications with highly variable traffic because they lack the flexibility to scale dynamically.