SAP-C02 Question 510
Select 3A company is running a web application on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The instances are part of an Auto Scaling group configured with a minimum of 5 instances, and they use On-Demand Instances. The application traffic fluctuates significantly during the day, peaking during business hours and dropping to minimal levels during off-hours. As a Solutions Architect, what steps can you recommend to optimize costs without impacting availability?
- A
Switch the Auto Scaling group to use a combination of On-Demand and Spot Instances with appropriate allocation strategies.
- B
Enable Auto Scaling group scheduled scaling policies to reduce the minimum number of instances during off-peak hours.
- C
Migrate the application to Amazon Lightsail to lower costs.
- D
Use AWS Savings Plans to commit to consistent usage for the On-Demand Instances.
- E
Replace the Application Load Balancer (ALB) with a Network Load Balancer (NLB) for cost efficiency.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answers: A, B, D
Explanation
To optimize costs effectively, the company should use a combination of Spot and On-Demand Instances to reduce compute costs while maintaining availability. Scheduled scaling policies allow the company to align resource allocation with predictable traffic patterns, further reducing costs. Additionally, committing to AWS Savings Plans for consistent usage ensures long-term cost savings on On-Demand Instances. Options like migrating to Lightsail or replacing the ALB are not suitable for this scenario as they do not align with the application's requirements or cost-optimization goals.
- A. Correct.
Switching to a combination of On-Demand and Spot Instances is an effective way to reduce costs since Spot Instances are significantly cheaper. The allocation strategy can ensure availability by prioritizing On-Demand Instances for critical workloads.
- B. Correct.
Enabling scheduled scaling policies allows the Auto Scaling group to adjust the number of running instances based on predictable traffic patterns, avoiding unnecessary costs during off-peak hours.
- C. Incorrect.
Migrating to Amazon Lightsail is not recommended for this scenario as Lightsail is better suited for simpler applications and may not effectively handle the scalability and flexibility needed for this web application.
- D. Correct.
Using AWS Savings Plans is a cost-effective approach for consistent usage patterns, allowing the company to save on On-Demand Instance costs by committing to a certain amount of usage.
- E. Incorrect.
Replacing the Application Load Balancer (ALB) with a Network Load Balancer (NLB) is not appropriate here, as ALB is specifically designed for HTTP/HTTPS traffic and provides features that may be critical for the web application.