AWS Cloud Practitioner Essentials T4.1

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Questions and Answers

What is a key characteristic of On-Demand Instances?

Require a one-year commitment for lower pricing.

Can be interrupted without warning.

Offer the highest discounts compared to Reserved Instances.

Allow payment by the second or hour without long-term commitments. (correct)

Which type of Reserved Instance offers the highest discount?

Savings Plans.

Standard Reserved Instances. (correct)

Dedicated Hosts.

Convertible Reserved Instances.

What happens if AWS needs to reclaim a Spot Instance?

Users have a one-hour warning before termination.

Users receive a two-minute warning before the instance is reclaimed. (correct)

Instances are rebuilt on another server without loss.

The instance is automatically terminated without warning.

In which scenario is it most appropriate to use Spot Instances?

Applications where interruptions can be tolerated. Signup and view all the answers

What is the primary benefit of using Dedicated Hosts?

Full control over instance placement and licensing obligations. Signup and view all the answers

How do Savings Plans differ from Reserved Instances?

Savings Plans offer flexibility across multiple services. Signup and view all the answers

Which type of Savings Plan provides a higher discount but less flexibility?

EC2 Instance Savings Plans. Signup and view all the answers

When is it advisable to choose Reserved Instances over other options?

To manage costs for steady-state, predictable usage. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements about Instance Size Flexibility is correct?

It enables modification of instance sizes within the same family. Signup and view all the answers

What is the main consideration when selecting On-Demand Instances?

They provide flexibility for unpredictable, short-term workloads. Signup and view all the answers

What is a primary benefit of using Dedicated Instances compared to Dedicated Hosts?

They do not require physical hardware to be dedicated. Signup and view all the answers

When would using Capacity Reservations be most appropriate?

When guaranteed capacity is needed in a specific Availability Zone. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following is a characteristic of On-Demand Instances?

They are suitable for short-term, spiky workloads. Signup and view all the answers

What does instance size flexibility allow you to do?

Modify the instance size within the same instance family. Signup and view all the answers

What characterizes S3 Glacier storage class?

It has the lowest cost and is meant for long-term retention. Signup and view all the answers

Which of the following statements is true regarding data transfer charges?

Outgoing data transfers incur charges that vary by region. Signup and view all the answers

Which storage option is best for workloads requiring low-cost, infrequent access?

S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access Signup and view all the answers

What is a defining feature of Savings Plans compared to Reserved Instances?

They offer more flexibility covering multiple services. Signup and view all the answers

How are Reserved Instances shared within an AWS Organization?

RIs are shared by default across all accounts. Signup and view all the answers

What are the charges associated with EBS (Elastic Block Store) volume types primarily based on?

The amount of storage provisioned and performance IOPS where applicable. Signup and view all the answers

Study Notes

AWS Compute Purchasing Options

AWS offers various ways to buy compute resources (like EC2 instances) to optimize costs based on workload patterns.

On-Demand Instances

Pay per second/hour, no long-term commitments.
Suitable for short-term, unpredictable, or interruptible workloads.
Useful for initial testing or development on EC2.

Reserved Instances (RIs)

Commit to a one or three-year term for significant discounts (up to 72%).
Tied to a specific region.
Types:
- Standard RIs: Highest discount, less flexibility.
- Convertible RIs: Can change instance attributes (if equal/greater value).
Flexibility:
- Instance size modifications within the same instance family are allowed.
AWS Organizations:
- Pooled discounting: RIs can be shared across accounts in an organization for better cost savings.
Best suited for steady-state, predictable workloads, and applications that need booked capacity.

Spot Instances

Purchase unused EC2 capacity at up to 90% off On-Demand prices.
AWS can reclaim the instance with a two-minute warning.
Ideal for stateless, fault-tolerant, or flexible applications (like big data analysis).
Suitable for workloads that can handle interruptions (e.g., batch jobs, image processing).

Savings Plans

Flexible pricing model with lower prices in exchange for a commitment.
Types:
- Compute Savings Plans: Most flexible, covers EC2, Lambda, and Fargate.
- EC2 Instance Savings Plans: Higher discounts, less flexible (commits to instance family and region).
Best for cost savings across multiple compute services with predictable usage.

Dedicated Hosts

Fully dedicated physical servers for your use.
Addresses compliance and regulatory needs.
Useful for existing server-bound software licenses.
Suitable for users needing control over instance placement.

Dedicated Instances

Instances running on hardware dedicated to a single customer.
Unlike Dedicated Hosts, you don't control instance placement.
Suitable for similar situations, but without the need for dedicated software licenses.

Capacity Reservations

Reserve capacity for EC2 instances in a specific Availability Zone (AZ).
Ensures guaranteed access to EC2 capacity when needed.
Best for users requiring guaranteed compute capacity in a specific AZ.

Identifying and Comparing Compute Purchasing Options

On-Demand: Best for spiky or unpredictable workloads.
Reserved Instances (RIs): Best for steady-state workloads, significant cost savings.
Spot Instances: Excellent for flexible, interruptible workloads reducing costs.
Savings Plans: Ideal if you commit to consistent compute usage (covers multiple services).
Dedicated Hosts/Instances: Needed for compliance, or BYOL situations where dedicated hardware is essential.
Capacity Reservations: Guarantees capacity availability in a specific AZ.

Reserved Instance Flexibility

Instance Size Flexibility: Modify within the same instance family.
Convertible RIs: Change to another instance type, OS, or tenancy if the new RI is equal or better, within the term.
Reserved Instance Marketplace: Sell unused Standard RIs.

Reserved Instance Behavior in AWS Organizations

Sharing RIs: Shared by default across all accounts in an AWS organization.
Pooled Discounting: RI discounts apply to matching usage across accounts.

Data Transfer Charges

Incoming Data Transfer (Data In): Normally free.
Outgoing Data Transfer (Data Out): Costs apply.
Costs Vary by Region: Differing rates are applicable per region.
Inter-Region Data Transfer: Charged per GB.
Intra-Region Data Transfer:
- Same AZ: Usually free with private IPs.
- Different AZs: Costs apply.
Data Transfer Between Services:
- Same region, public IP or endpoint: typically free.

Storage Options and Tiers

Amazon S3 Storage Classes

S3 Standard: High cost, frequent access.
S3 Intelligent-Tiering: Automatically moves data into most cost-effective tiers.
S3 Standard-IA: Less frequent access, rapid retrieval needed.
S3 One Zone-IA: Low cost but less resilient.
S3 Glacier: Archival data, infrequent access, low storage cost.
S3 Glacier Deep Archive: Lowest cost, long-term retention, slow retrieval.

Pricing Factors for S3

Storage Used (per GB/month).
Requests/Retrievals (PUT, GET, etc.).
Data Transfer Out.
Management functions (replication, analytics).

EBS (Elastic Block Store) Pricing

Volume Types:
- gp2/gp3 (General Purpose SSD): Balanced cost/performance.
- io1/io2 (Provisioned IOPS SSD): High performance, high cost.
- st1 (Throughput Optimized HDD): Low cost HDD for freq. access.
- sc1 (Cold HDD): Lowest cost HDD for infrequent access.
Pricing Factors: Storage (per GB/month), performance IOPS (io1/io2).
Snapshots: Charged per GB/month.

EFS (Elastic File System) Pricing

Storage Classes: Standard, Infrequent Access (IA).
Pricing Factors: Storage Used (per GB/month), data transfer rate.

AWS Storage Gateway

Pricing Components: Volume Storage, Snapshot Storage, Data Transfer.

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Description

Explore the various purchasing options for AWS compute resources, including On-Demand, Reserved, and Spot Instances. This quiz will help you understand the advantages, flexibility, and suitability of each option based on different workload requirements.