AWS Certified Solutions Architect EC2 Instance Types and Cost 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A machine learning team needs GPU-accelerated instances for training deep learning models. Which EC2 instance family is purpose-built for this use case?
- R-family instances
- P-family instances (Correct answer)
- C-family instances
- I-family instances
Correct answer: P-family instances
P-family instances (P3, P4) are equipped with NVIDIA GPUs specifically designed for ML training and HPC workloads.
Question 2: A startup wants to run fault-tolerant batch processing jobs at the lowest possible cost, and the jobs can be interrupted. Which EC2 purchasing option should they use?
- On-Demand Instances
- Reserved Instances
- Spot Instances (Correct answer)
- Dedicated Hosts
Correct answer: Spot Instances
Spot Instances offer up to 90% savings over On-Demand pricing for interruptible workloads.
Question 3: Which EC2 instance type series is optimized for high-throughput network storage access and is commonly used for data warehousing?
- H1 instances
- X1 instances
- D3 instances (Correct answer)
- G4 instances
Correct answer: D3 instances
D3 instances provide dense HDD storage with high disk throughput, ideal for distributed file systems and data warehousing.
Question 4: A company purchases a 1-year Convertible Reserved Instance for an m5.xlarge. Six months later, they need to switch to a c5.2xlarge. What can they do?
- They cannot change a Reserved Instance once purchased
- Exchange it for a Convertible RI of equal or greater value (Correct answer)
- Cancel the RI and buy a new Standard RI
- Contact AWS support to downgrade the instance type
Correct answer: Exchange it for a Convertible RI of equal or greater value
Convertible Reserved Instances allow exchange for another Convertible RI of equal or greater value, enabling flexibility to change instance families.
Question 5: An architect is designing a high-performance computing cluster requiring low-latency, high-bandwidth inter-node communication. Which EC2 feature should they enable?
- Enhanced Networking with EFA (Correct answer)
- Multi-AZ deployment
- Auto Scaling groups
- Placement groups with Spread strategy
Correct answer: Enhanced Networking with EFA
Elastic Fabric Adapter (EFA) provides OS-bypass networking for HPC applications requiring ultra-low latency between instances.
Question 6: What happens to the Spot Instance when AWS needs the capacity back and the Spot price exceeds your maximum bid?
- AWS migrates the instance to an On-Demand instance automatically
- The instance receives a 2-minute interruption notice before termination (Correct answer)
- The instance is paused and resumed when capacity is available
- AWS charges you On-Demand rates instead
Correct answer: The instance receives a 2-minute interruption notice before termination
AWS provides a 2-minute interruption warning via instance metadata and CloudWatch Events before reclaiming a Spot Instance.
Question 7: A financial services company needs dedicated physical servers for regulatory compliance but wants per-hour billing flexibility. Which option best fits?
- Dedicated Hosts
- Dedicated Instances (Correct answer)
- Reserved Instances with tenancy=dedicated
- On-Demand Instances in a VPC
Correct answer: Dedicated Instances
Dedicated Instances run on hardware dedicated to a single customer but are billed per-instance-hour without managing the host directly.
AWS Certified Solutions Architect EC2 Instance Types and Cost 2
A machine learning team needs GPU-accelerated instances for training deep learning models.
Which EC2 instance family is purpose-built for this use case?