SOA-C02 Question 309
Single answerYour company is running a batch processing workload that processes financial data every night. The workload starts at 11:00 PM and must complete by 5:00 AM. The workload is fault-tolerant and can handle a few interruptions without affecting the final output, as the job can resume from the last checkpoint. As an AWS SysOps Administrator, how can you optimize the cost of this workload?
- A
Use On-Demand Instances to ensure the workload completes within the required time frame.
- B
Use EC2 Spot Instances with a proper checkpointing mechanism to save progress and restart if interrupted.
- C
Use Reserved Instances to lock in a consistent price for the workload over a long-term commitment.
- D
Use EC2 Auto Scaling with On-Demand Instances to handle variability in resource requirements.
Show answer and explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Spot Instances are the most cost-effective option for fault-tolerant workloads, such as batch processing, that can withstand interruptions. By using a checkpointing mechanism, the workload can resume from its last state if an interruption occurs, ensuring that the job completes within the required time frame while minimizing costs.
- A. Incorrect.
On-Demand Instances are more expensive compared to Spot Instances. While they ensure availability, they are not cost-efficient for fault-tolerant workloads like batch processing.
- B. Correct.
Spot Instances are highly cost-effective and suitable for fault-tolerant workloads that can handle interruptions. Using a checkpointing mechanism allows the workload to resume from the last saved state, making it ideal for this scenario.
- C. Incorrect.
Reserved Instances provide cost savings for predictable, long-term workloads but are not ideal for short-term, fault-tolerant batch processing jobs.
- D. Incorrect.
EC2 Auto Scaling with On-Demand Instances can handle variable workloads, but it does not provide the cost benefits of Spot Instances, especially for fault-tolerant jobs.