Design cost-optimized architectures
32 free practice questions with explanations
PassNova has 32 free AWS Solutions Architect (SAA-C03) practice questions on Design cost-optimized architectures, each with a clear explanation. Practise them in the browser with instant feedback — 100% free, no sign-up, on any device. Updated for 2026.
Design cost-optimized architectures: example questions & answers
Here are 6 example questions from this topic. Practise the full set of 32 free in the browser.
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A company needs to store infrequently accessed data that must be retrieved within milliseconds when needed. Which S3 storage class is the MOST cost-effective for this requirement?
- A S3 Standard
- B S3 Standard-Infrequent Access ✓
- C S3 Glacier Deep Archive
- D S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval
Answer: S3 Standard-IA offers millisecond access at a lower storage cost than S3 Standard, ideal for infrequently accessed data that still needs rapid retrieval. Glacier classes have retrieval delays.
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A workload has predictable steady-state usage running 24/7 for the next three years. Which EC2 pricing model offers the LOWEST cost?
- A On-Demand Instances
- B Spot Instances
- C Reserved Instances or Savings Plans ✓
- D Dedicated Hosts billed hourly
Answer: For steady, long-term workloads, Reserved Instances or Savings Plans provide significant discounts over On-Demand in exchange for a one or three year commitment.
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A fault-tolerant batch processing job can be interrupted and resumed without issue. Which EC2 purchasing option minimizes cost?
- A Reserved Instances
- B On-Demand Instances
- C Spot Instances ✓
- D Dedicated Hosts
Answer: Spot Instances offer the deepest discount for interruptible, fault-tolerant workloads because they use spare EC2 capacity that can be reclaimed with short notice.
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A company wants to store database backups for seven years to meet compliance requirements at the lowest possible cost, with retrieval times of several hours being acceptable. Which storage class is BEST?
- A S3 Standard
- B S3 Standard-Infrequent Access
- C S3 Glacier Deep Archive ✓
- D S3 Intelligent-Tiering
Answer: S3 Glacier Deep Archive is the lowest-cost storage class, designed for long-term archival where retrieval times of hours are acceptable, ideal for multi-year compliance backups.
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A company wants to run code in response to S3 object uploads without provisioning or managing servers. Which service should be used?
- A Amazon EC2
- B AWS Lambda ✓
- C Amazon ECS on EC2
- D AWS Batch
Answer: AWS Lambda runs code in response to events such as S3 uploads without server management, billing only for compute time used, making it ideal for event-driven processing.
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A solutions architect wants to reduce the operational burden of patching and managing the underlying OS for a containerized workload. Which option requires the LEAST management?
- A Amazon ECS on EC2
- B Amazon EKS on self-managed nodes
- C AWS Fargate ✓
- D EC2 instances running Docker manually
Answer: AWS Fargate is a serverless compute engine for containers that removes the need to provision and manage the underlying EC2 instances, reducing operational overhead.