A company runs an ecommerce application on AWS. Amazon EC2 instances process purchases and store the purchase details in an Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL DB cluster.
Customers are experiencing application timeouts during times of peak usage. A solutions architect needs to rearchitect the application so that the application can scale to meet peak usage demands.
Which combination of actions will meet these requirements MOST cost-effectively? (Choose two.)
A. Configure an Auto Scaling group of new EC2 instances to retry the purchases until the processing is complete. Update the applications to connect to the DB cluster by using Amazon RDS Proxy.
B. Configure the application to use an Amazon ElastiCache cluster in front of the Aurora PostgreSQL DB cluster.
C. Update the application to send the purchase requests to an Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS) queue. Configure an Auto Scaling group of new EC2 instances that read from the SQS queue.
D. Configure an AWS Lambda function to retry the ticket purchases until the processing is complete.
E. Configure an Amazon AP! Gateway REST API with a usage plan.
Show Answer
Correct Answer: A, C
Explanation: Using Amazon SQS with an Auto Scaling group decouples request ingestion from processing, allowing the system to absorb traffic spikes and scale workers based on queue depth. Amazon RDS Proxy helps Aurora handle large numbers of concurrent application connections efficiently through connection pooling, reducing connection-related timeouts during peak load. ElastiCache primarily benefits read-heavy workloads and does not accelerate write-heavy purchase transactions.
Sources:
https://codingnconcepts.com/aws/aws-certified-solutions-architect-associate-exam-questions
Question 142
A company uses Amazon S3 to host its static website. The company wants to add a contact form to the webpage. The contact form will have dynamic server-side components for users to input their name, email address, phone number, and user message.
The company expects fewer than 100 site visits each month. The contact form must notify the company by email when a customer fills out the form.
Which solution will meet these requirements MOST cost-effectively?
A. Host the dynamic contact form in Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS). Set up Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES) to connect to a third-party email provider.
B. Create an Amazon API Gateway endpoint that returns the contact form from an AWS Lambda function. Configure another Lambda function on the API Gateway to publish a message to an Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) topic.
C. Host the website by using AWS Amplify Hosting for static content and dynamic content. Use server-side scripting to build the contact form. Configure Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS) to deliver the message to the company.
D. Migrate the website from Amazon S3 to Amazon EC2 instances that run Windows Server. Use Internet Information Services (IIS) for Windows Server to host the webpage. Use client-side scripting to build the contact form. Integrate the form with Amazon WorkMail.
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: For a static website with very low traffic, a serverless architecture is the most cost-effective. Amazon API Gateway can receive the form submission, AWS Lambda can process the request, and Amazon SNS can send an email notification to subscribers. This avoids always-on compute such as ECS or EC2. Amplify Hosting with SQS does not satisfy the email notification requirement by itself, and ECS/EC2 are unnecessarily expensive for fewer than 100 visits per month.
Question 143
A company has 15 employees. The company stores employee start dates in an Amazon DynamoDB table. The company wants to send an email message to each employee on the day of the employee's work anniversary.
Which solution will meet these requirements with the MOST operational efficiency?
A. Create a script that scans the DynamoDB table and uses Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) to send email messages to employees when necessary. Use a cron job to run this script every day on an Amazon EC2 instance.
B. Create a script that scans the DynamoDB table and uses Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS) to send email messages to employees when necessary. Use a cron job to run this script every day on an Amazon EC2 instance.
C. Create an AWS Lambda function that scans the DynamoDB table and uses Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) to send email messages to employees when necessary. Schedule this Lambda function to run every day.
D. Create an AWS Lambda function that scans the DynamoDB table and uses Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS) to send email messages to employees when necessary. Schedule this Lambda function to run every day.
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: AWS Lambda scheduled to run daily (typically via Amazon EventBridge) is the most operationally efficient because it is serverless and eliminates EC2 instance management. Amazon SNS supports sending email notifications, whereas Amazon SQS is a message queue and does not send emails. Therefore, a scheduled Lambda function that scans the DynamoDB table and publishes email notifications through SNS best meets the requirements.
Question 144
A development team uses multiple AWS accounts for its development, staging, and production environments. Team members have been launching large Amazon EC2 instances that are underutilized. A solutions architect must prevent large instances from being launched in all accounts.
How can the solutions architect meet this requirement with the LEAST operational overhead?
A. Update the IAM policies to deny the launch of large EC2 instances. Apply the policies to all users.
B. Define a resource in AWS Resource Access Manager that prevents the launch of large EC2 instances.
C. Create an IAM role in each account that denies the launch of large EC2 instances. Grant the developers IAM group access to the role.
D. Create an organization in AWS Organizations in the management account with the default policy. Create a service control policy (SCP) that denies the launch of large EC2 instances, and apply it to the AWS accounts.
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D
Explanation: AWS Organizations service control policies (SCPs) provide centralized permission guardrails across multiple AWS accounts. An SCP that denies launching specified large EC2 instance types can be attached to the relevant organizational units or accounts, enforcing the restriction regardless of IAM permissions. This has the least operational overhead compared with maintaining IAM policies or roles in every account. AWS Resource Access Manager is for resource sharing, not restricting launches.
Question 145
A company uses Amazon RDS with default backup settings for its database tier. The company needs to make a daily backup of the database to meet regulatory requirements. The company must retain the backups for 30 days.
Which solution will meet these requirements with the LEAST operational overhead?
A. Write an AWS Lambda function to create an RDS snapshot every day.
B. Modify the RDS database to have a retention period of 30 days for automated backups.
C. Use AWS Systems Manager Maintenance Windows to modify the RDS backup retention period.
D. Create a manual snapshot every day by using the AWS CLI. Modify the RDS backup retention period.
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Amazon RDS automated backups already perform daily backups. You can configure the automated backup retention period between 1 and 35 days. Setting the retention period to 30 days satisfies the regulatory requirement with the least operational overhead, avoiding custom Lambda functions or manual snapshot management.
Question 146
A company creates operations data and stores the data in an Amazon S3 bucket. For the company's annual audit, an external consultant needs to access an annual report that is stored in the S3 bucket. The external consultant needs to access the report for 7 days.
The company must implement a solution to allow the external consultant access to only the report.
Which solution will meet these requirements with the MOST operational efficiency?
A. Create a new S3 bucket that is configured to host a public static website. Migrate the operations data to the new S3 bucket. Share the S3 website URL with the external consultant.
B. Enable public access to the S3 bucket for 7 days. Remove access to the S3 bucket when the external consultant completes the audit.
C. Create a new IAM user that has access to the report in the S3 bucket. Provide the access keys to the external consultant. Revoke the access keys after 7 days.
D. Generate a presigned URL that has the required access to the location of the report on the S3 bucket. Share the presigned URL with the external consultant.
Show Answer
Correct Answer: D
Explanation: A presigned S3 URL provides time-limited access to a single private object without making the bucket public or creating and managing IAM credentials. It is the most operationally efficient solution and can be configured to expire after up to 7 days when generated with AWS CLI/SDK using SigV4.
Question 147
A company is planning to run a group of Amazon EC2 instances that connect to an Amazon Aurora database. The company has built an AWS CloudFormation template to deploy the EC2 instances and the Aurora DB cluster. The company wants to allow the instances to authenticate to the database in a secure way. The company does not want to maintain static database credentials.
Which solution meets these requirements with the LEAST operational effort?
A. Create a database user with a user name and password. Add parameters for the database user name and password to the CloudFormation template. Pass the parameters to the EC2 instances when the instances are launched.
B. Create a database user with a user name and password. Store the user name and password in AWS Systems Manager Parameter Store. Configure the EC2 instances to retrieve the database credentials from Parameter Store.
C. Configure the DB cluster to use IAM database authentication. Create a database user to use with IAM authentication. Associate a role with the EC2 instances to allow applications on the instances to access the database.
D. Configure the DB cluster to use IAM database authentication with an IAM user. Create a database user that has a name that matches the IAM user. Associate the IAM user with the EC2 instances to allow applications on the instances to access the database.
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: IAM database authentication for Aurora eliminates the need to manage static database passwords. Attach an IAM role to the EC2 instances so applications can obtain temporary credentials to generate IAM authentication tokens for the database. This provides secure authentication with the least operational effort. Option A and B still rely on static passwords, and D is incorrect because IAM roles, not IAM users, should be associated with EC2 instances.
Question 148
A company is building a web application that serves a content management system. The content management system runs on Amazon EC2 instances behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). The EC2 instances run in an Auto Scaling group across multiple Availability Zones. Users are constantly adding and updating files, blogs, and other website assets in the content management system.
A solutions architect must implement a solution in which all the EC2 instances share up-to-date website content with the least possible lag time.
Which solution meets these requirements?
A. Update the EC2 user data in the Auto Scaling group lifecycle policy to copy the website assets from the EC2 instance that was launched most recently. Configure the ALB to make changes to the website assets only in the newest EC2 instance.
B. Copy the website assets to an Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) file system. Configure each EC2 instance to mount the EFS file system locally. Configure the website hosting application to reference the website assets that are stored in the EFS file system.
C. Copy the website assets to an Amazon S3 bucket. Ensure that each EC2 instance downloads the website assets from the S3 bucket to the attached Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) volume. Run the S3 sync command once each hour to keep files up to date.
D. Restore an Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) snapshot with the website assets. Attach the EBS snapshot as a secondary EBS volume when a new EC2 instance is launched. Configure the website hosting application to reference the website assets that are stored in the secondary EBS volume.
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Amazon EFS provides a shared, highly available network file system that can be mounted concurrently by multiple EC2 instances across multiple Availability Zones. All instances read and write the same files, providing near-immediate consistency for shared website assets with minimal lag. The other options rely on instance-local storage, periodic synchronization, or snapshots, which do not provide continuously shared, up-to-date content.
Question 149
A large company wants to provide its globally located developers separate, limited size, managed PostgreSQL databases for development purposes. The databases will be low volume. The developers need the databases only when they are actively working.
Which solution will meet these requirements MOST cost-effectively?
A. Give the developers the ability to launch separate Amazon Aurora instances. Set up a process to shut down Aurora instances at the end of the workday and to start Aurora instances at the beginning of the next workday.
B. Develop an AWS Service Catalog product that enforces size restrictions for launching Amazon Aurora instances. Give the developers access to launch the product when they need a development database.
C. Create an Amazon Aurora Serverless cluster. Develop an AWS Service Catalog product to launch databases in the cluster with the default capacity settings. Grant the developers access to the product.
D. Monitor AWS Trusted Advisor checks for idle Amazon RDS databases. Create a process to terminate identified idle RDS databases.
Show Answer
Correct Answer: C
Explanation: Amazon Aurora Serverless is the most cost-effective fit because the databases are low-volume and only needed while developers are actively working. Aurora Serverless automatically scales capacity based on demand and can pause/scale down when idle, reducing compute costs. Using AWS Service Catalog provides controlled self-service provisioning with enforced defaults. Options A and B rely on provisioned Aurora instances that incur ongoing instance costs, and D only identifies idle databases for termination rather than providing an on-demand managed development database solution.
Question 150
A company’s application is running on Amazon EC2 instances within an Auto Scaling group behind an Elastic Load Balancing (ELB) load balancer. Based on the application's history, the company anticipates a spike in traffic during a holiday each year. A solutions architect must design a strategy to ensure that the Auto Scaling group proactively increases capacity to minimize any performance impact on application users.
Which solution will meet these requirements?
A. Create an Amazon CloudWatch alarm to scale up the EC2 instances when CPU utilization exceeds 90%.
B. Create a recurring scheduled action to scale up the Auto Scaling group before the expected period of peak demand.
C. Increase the minimum and maximum number of EC2 instances in the Auto Scaling group during the peak demand period.
D. Configure an Amazon Simple Notification Service (Amazon SNS) notification to send alerts when there are autoscaling:EC2_INSTANCE_LAUNCH events.
Show Answer
Correct Answer: B
Explanation: Because the traffic spike is known to occur at a predictable time each year, scheduled scaling is the appropriate proactive Auto Scaling strategy. A recurring scheduled action increases capacity before demand arrives. CloudWatch CPU alarms are reactive, simply raising min/max capacity does not schedule a proactive increase by itself, and SNS notifications do not affect scaling behavior.
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