The latest AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate SAA-C03 certification actual real practice exam question and answer (Q&A) dumps are available free, which are helpful for you to pass the AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate SAA-C03 exam and earn AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate SAA-C03 certification.
Question 951
Exam Question
A gaming company hosts a browser-based application on AWS. The users of the application consume a large number of videos and images that are stored in Amazon S3. This content is the same for all users. The application has increased in popularity, and millions of users worldwide are accessing these media files. The company wants to provide the files to the users while reducing the load on the origin.
Which solution meets these requirements MOST cost-effectively?
A. Deploy an AWS Global Accelerator accelerator in front of the web servers.
B. Deploy an Amazon CloudFront web distribution in front of the S3 bucket.
C. Deploy an Amazon ElastiCache for Redis instance in front of the web servers.
D. Deploy an Amazon ElastiCache for Memcached instances in front of the web servers.
Correct Answer
B. Deploy an Amazon CloudFront web distribution in front of the S3 bucket.
Explanation
The solution that meets the requirements of providing media files to users while reducing the load on the origin in the most cost-effective manner is:
B. Deploy an Amazon CloudFront web distribution in front of the S3 bucket.
Here’s why this solution is recommended:
- Amazon CloudFront: It is a content delivery network (CDN) service that can cache and distribute static and dynamic content globally. By deploying a CloudFront web distribution in front of the S3 bucket that stores the videos and images, the content can be cached and delivered to users from edge locations closer to them. This reduces the load on the origin (S3) and improves the overall performance and user experience.
- Cost-effectiveness: CloudFront is designed to be highly cost-effective. It charges based on data transfer and requests, with pricing tiers that vary depending on the geographic region. By leveraging CloudFront’s global network of edge locations, the content can be delivered to users with reduced latency and improved performance, while minimizing the load on the origin infrastructure.
- Scalability: As the application has increased in popularity and millions of users worldwide are accessing the media files, CloudFront’s ability to scale and handle high volumes of traffic makes it an ideal choice. It can dynamically scale and distribute the content efficiently to meet user demand, without impacting the origin infrastructure.
Option A, deploying an AWS Global Accelerator, is more suitable for accelerating the performance of non-cacheable, application-level traffic, rather than serving static media files.
Options C and D, deploying ElastiCache for Redis or Memcached instances in front of the web servers, are caching solutions but are not specifically optimized for content delivery. They are typically used for improving the performance of dynamic data and database queries, rather than serving static media files.
In summary, deploying an Amazon CloudFront web distribution in front of the S3 bucket is the most cost-effective solution for providing media files to users while reducing the load on the origin, delivering content globally with low latency, scalability, and cost-efficiency.
Question 952
Exam Question
A company’s website is used to sell products to the public. The site runs on Amazon EC2 instances in an Auto Scaling group behind an Application Load Balancer (ALB). There is also an Amazon CloudFront distribution, and AWS WAF is being used to protect against SQL injection attacks. The ALB is the origin for the CloudFront distribution. A recent review of security logs revealed an external malicious IP that needs to be blocked from accessing the website.
What should a solutions architect do to protect the application?
A. Modify the network ACL on the CloudFront distribution to add a deny rule for the malicious IP address.
B. Modify the configuration of AWS WAF to add an IP match condition to block the malicious IP address.
C. Modify the network ACL for the EC2 instances in the target groups behind the ALB to deny the malicious IP address.
D. Modify the security groups for the EC2 instances in the target groups behind the ALB to deny the malicious IP address.
Correct Answer
C. Modify the network ACL for the EC2 instances in the target groups behind the ALB to deny the malicious IP address.
Explanation
To protect the application from the malicious IP address, a solutions architect should:
C. Modify the network ACL for the EC2 instances in the target groups behind the ALB to deny the malicious IP address.
Here’s why this option is the most appropriate:
- Network ACL: Network ACLs are associated with subnets and can be used to control inbound and outbound traffic at the subnet level. By modifying the network ACL for the EC2 instances in the target groups, the traffic from the malicious IP address can be explicitly denied at the subnet level.
- EC2 instances in target groups: The ALB forwards traffic to the EC2 instances in the target groups. By denying the traffic from the malicious IP address at the subnet level, it effectively blocks the traffic from reaching the EC2 instances, ensuring that the malicious IP address is unable to access the website.
Option A, modifying the network ACL on the CloudFront distribution, is not the correct approach because CloudFront uses its own set of security measures, such as AWS WAF, to control and filter traffic. Modifying the network ACL on the CloudFront distribution will not have the desired effect of blocking the malicious IP address.
Option B, modifying the configuration of AWS WAF, is not the most appropriate solution in this scenario because AWS WAF is primarily used to protect against web application layer attacks, such as SQL injection. While it can be used to block specific IP addresses, it is more efficient to block the IP address at the network level using network ACLs.
Option D, modifying the security groups for the EC2 instances, is not the optimal solution in this case because security groups control inbound and outbound traffic at the instance level, whereas the network ACL operates at the subnet level and provides a broader control over traffic.
In summary, modifying the network ACL for the EC2 instances in the target groups to deny the malicious IP address is the recommended approach to protect the application from the unauthorized access of the malicious IP address.
Question 953
Exam Question
A company is hosting its website by using Amazon EC2 instances behind an Elastic Load Balancer across multiple Availability Zones. The instances run in an EC2 Auto Scaling group. The website uses Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) volumes to store product manuals for users to download. The company updates the product content often, so new instances launched by the Auto Scaling group often have old data. It can take up to 30 minutes for the new instances to receive all the updates. The updates also require the EBS volumes to be resized during business hours. The company wants to ensure that the product manuals are always up to date on all instances and that the architecture adjusts quickly to increased user demand. A solutions architect needs to meet these requirements without causing the company to update its application code or adjust its website.
What should the solutions architect do to accomplish this goal?
A. Store the product manuals in an EBS volume. Mount that volume to the EC2 instances.
B. Store the product manuals in an Amazon S3 bucket. Redirect the downloads to this bucket.
C. Store the product manuals in an Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) volume. Mount that volume to the EC2 instances.
D.Store the product manuals in an Amazon S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) bucket. Redirect the downloads to this bucket.
Correct Answer
C. Store the product manuals in an Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) volume. Mount that volume to the EC2 instances.
Explanation
To ensure that the product manuals are always up to date on all instances and accommodate quick adjustments to increased user demand without requiring changes to the application code or website, a solutions architect should:
C. Store the product manuals in an Amazon Elastic File System (Amazon EFS) volume and mount that volume to the EC2 instances.
Here’s why this option is the most suitable:
- Amazon EFS: Amazon EFS provides a scalable and fully managed file system for EC2 instances. It supports concurrent access from multiple instances, which means that all instances can access and retrieve the latest version of the product manuals simultaneously.
- Mounting the volume: By mounting the Amazon EFS volume to the EC2 instances, all instances within the Auto Scaling group will have access to the same shared file system. As a result, any updates made to the product manuals will be immediately available to all instances without requiring any manual intervention or delays in data synchronization.
Option A, storing the product manuals in an EBS volume and mounting it to the instances, would not ensure consistent and immediate access to the latest updates. When new instances are launched by the Auto Scaling group, they would still require time to receive the updated data.
Option B, storing the product manuals in an Amazon S3 bucket and redirecting the downloads to the bucket, might provide a scalable and durable storage solution but would require changes to the application code or website to handle the redirection and manage the synchronization of the data across instances.
Option D, storing the product manuals in an Amazon S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) bucket and redirecting the downloads to the bucket, suffers from the same drawbacks as option B. Additionally, the retrieval of data from S3 might introduce latency compared to directly accessing a file system.
In summary, using Amazon EFS to store the product manuals and mounting the EFS volume to the EC2 instances ensures immediate and consistent access to the latest updates across all instances, without requiring code changes or website adjustments.
Question 954
Exam Question
A solutions architect at an ecommerce company wants to back up application log data to Amazon S3. The solutions architect is unsure how frequently the logs will be accessed or which logs will be accessed the most. The company wants to keep costs as low as possible by using the appropriate S3 storage class.
Which S3 storage class should be implemented to meet these requirements?
A. S3 Glacier
B. S3 Intelligent-Tiering
C. S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA)
D. S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access (S3 One Zone-IA)
Correct Answer
C. S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA)
Explanation
To meet the requirements of keeping costs as low as possible and being unsure about the frequency and access patterns of the logs, the appropriate S3 storage class to implement would be:
C. S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA).
Here’s why this option is suitable:
- Cost-effectiveness: S3 Standard-IA provides a lower storage cost compared to S3 Standard for infrequently accessed data. This makes it a cost-effective choice when the frequency of log access is uncertain and may vary over time.
- Availability and durability: S3 Standard-IA provides the same high availability and durability as S3 Standard. Your log data will be stored redundantly across multiple Availability Zones, ensuring resilience and data protection.
- Performance: S3 Standard-IA offers the same performance as S3 Standard, providing low-latency access to your log data when needed.
Option A, S3 Glacier, is a storage class designed for long-term archival of data that is rarely accessed. Since the frequency and access patterns of the logs are uncertain, S3 Glacier may not be suitable as it incurs additional costs and has longer retrieval times.
Option B, S3 Intelligent-Tiering, is a storage class that automatically moves objects between S3 Standard and S3 Standard-IA based on their access patterns. However, without understanding the access patterns of the logs, it may not provide significant cost savings compared to directly using S3 Standard-IA.
Option D, S3 One Zone-Infrequent Access (S3 One Zone-IA), is similar to S3 Standard-IA but stores data in a single Availability Zone. This storage class can provide cost savings, but it has reduced durability compared to S3 Standard-IA. Since the importance and durability requirements of the log data are not specified, it is safer to opt for the higher durability of S3 Standard-IA.
In summary, S3 Standard-Infrequent Access (S3 Standard-IA) would be the most appropriate storage class in this scenario, providing cost-effectiveness, availability, and performance for the backup of application log data.
Question 955
Exam Question
A company runs a fleet of web servers using an Amazon RDS for PostgreSQL DB instance. After a routine compliance check, the company sets a standard that requires a recovery point objective (RPO) of less than 1 second for all its production databases.
Which solution meets these requirements?
A. Enable a Multi-AZ deployment for the DB instance.
B. Enable auto scaling for the DB instance in one Availability Zone.
C. Configure the DB instance in one Availability Zone, and create multiple read replicas in a separate Availability Zone.
D. Configure the DB instance in one Availability Zone, and configure AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) change data capture (CDC) tasks.
Correct Answer
C. Configure the DB instance in one Availability Zone, and create multiple read replicas in a separate Availability Zone.
Explanation
To meet the requirement of a recovery point objective (RPO) of less than 1 second for all production databases, the most suitable solution is:
C. Configure the DB instance in one Availability Zone, and create multiple read replicas in a separate Availability Zone.
Here’s why this option is appropriate:
Multi-AZ deployment, as mentioned in option A, provides high availability by automatically replicating data to a standby replica in a different Availability Zone. While it helps with high availability and failover, it does not guarantee an RPO of less than 1 second.
Auto scaling, as mentioned in option B, is used to adjust the compute capacity of instances based on demand. While it helps with scaling, it does not directly address the RPO requirement.
Option D, which suggests configuring AWS Database Migration Service (AWS DMS) change data capture (CDC) tasks, is a data migration and replication service. It can be used for ongoing replication, but it does not inherently provide an RPO of less than 1 second.
Option C, on the other hand, involves configuring the primary DB instance in one Availability Zone and creating multiple read replicas in a separate Availability Zone. This setup allows for synchronous replication between the primary instance and the replicas, ensuring that data changes are replicated near real-time. By distributing the read replicas across different Availability Zones, you increase both availability and data durability.
With this configuration, if the primary DB instance fails, one of the read replicas can be promoted to become the new primary, minimizing downtime and achieving an RPO of less than 1 second.
In summary, option C, configuring the DB instance in one Availability Zone and creating multiple read replicas in a separate Availability Zone, is the most suitable solution to meet the requirement of an RPO of less than 1 second for all production databases.
Question 956
Exam Question
A solution architect has created a new AWS account and must secure AWS account root user access.
Which combination of actions will accomplish this? (Choose two.)
A. Ensure the root user uses a strong password.
B. Enable multi-factor authentication to the root user.
C. Store root user access keys in an encrypted Amazon S3 bucket.
D. Add the root user to a group containing administrative permissions.
E. Apply the required permissions to the root user with an inline policy document.
Correct Answer
A. Ensure the root user uses a strong password.
B. Enable multi-factor authentication to the root user.
Explanation
To secure AWS account root user access, the following actions should be taken:
A. Ensure the root user uses a strong password.
B. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) to the root user.
Explanation:
A strong password for the root user is important to protect against unauthorized access. It should be unique and meet AWS password policy requirements.
Enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) adds an extra layer of security by requiring an additional authentication factor, such as a physical or virtual MFA device. This helps prevent unauthorized access even if the password is compromised.
The other options mentioned are not directly related to securing the root user access:
C. Storing root user access keys in an encrypted Amazon S3 bucket is not a recommended practice. Root user access keys should be disabled or used only when necessary.
D. Adding the root user to a group containing administrative permissions is not the best practice. It is recommended to limit the use of the root user and rely on IAM users with appropriate permissions instead.
E. Applying required permissions to the root user with an inline policy document is not recommended. It is generally best practice to use IAM users with appropriate permissions and minimize the use of the root user.
In summary, to secure AWS account root user access:
A. Ensure the root user uses a strong password.
B. Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) to the root user.
Question 957
Exam Question
A company has primary and secondary data centers that are 500 miles (804.7 km) apart and interconnected with high-speed fiber-optic cable. The company needs a highly available and secure network connection between its data centers and a VPC on AWS for a mission-critical workload. A solutions architect must choose a connection solution that provides maximum resiliency.
Which solution meets these requirements?
A. Two AWS Direct Connect connections from the primary data center terminating at two Direct Connect locations on two separate devices.
B. A single AWS Direct Connect connection from each of the primary and secondary data centers terminating at one Direct Connect location on the same device.
C. Two AWS Direct Connect connections from each of the primary and secondary data centers terminating at two Direct Connect locations on two separate devices.
D. A single AWS Direct Connect connection from each of the primary and secondary data centers terminating at one Direct Connect location on two separate devices.
Correct Answer
C. Two AWS Direct Connect connections from each of the primary and secondary data centers terminating at two Direct Connect locations on two separate devices.
Explanation
To provide maximum resiliency between the company’s primary and secondary data centers and the AWS VPC, the most suitable solution is:
C. Two AWS Direct Connect connections from each of the primary and secondary data centers terminating at two Direct Connect locations on two separate devices.
Explanation:
By having two AWS Direct Connect connections from each data center terminating at two separate Direct Connect locations on two different devices, the solution ensures redundancy and resiliency. In case of a failure in one data center or Direct Connect location, the other connection will continue to provide connectivity.
Option A suggests having two Direct Connect connections from the primary data center only, which does not provide redundancy for the secondary data center.
Option B suggests having a single Direct Connect connection from each data center terminating at the same Direct Connect location and device, which introduces a single point of failure.
Option D suggests having a single Direct Connect location on two separate devices for both data centers, which again introduces a single point of failure.
Therefore, option C, with two AWS Direct Connect connections from each data center terminating at two separate Direct Connect locations on two separate devices, provides the maximum resiliency and redundancy for the network connection between the data centers and the AWS VPC.
Question 958
Exam Question
A company is hosting a website behind multiple Application Load Balancers. The company has different distribution rights for its content around the world. A solutions architect needs to ensure that users are served the correct content without violating distribution rights.
Which configuration should the solutions architect choose to meet these requirements?
A. Configure Amazon CloudFront with AWS WAF.
B. Configure Application Load Balancers with AWS WAF.
C. Configure Amazon Route 53 with a geolocation policy.
D. Configure Amazon Route 53 with a geo proximity routing policy.
Correct Answer
C. Configure Amazon Route 53 with a geolocation policy.
Explanation
To ensure that users are served the correct content based on distribution rights around the world, the most suitable configuration is:
C. Configure Amazon Route 53 with a geolocation policy.
Explanation:
Amazon Route 53 supports geolocation-based routing, which allows you to serve different content based on the geographic location of the users. By configuring a geolocation policy in Route 53, you can define specific routing rules based on the location of the users’ DNS resolver. This enables you to direct users to the appropriate Application Load Balancer (ALB) or endpoint based on their geographic location.
Option A, configuring Amazon CloudFront with AWS WAF, focuses on securing and protecting the content rather than routing users to the correct content based on distribution rights.
Option B, configuring Application Load Balancers with AWS WAF, focuses on securing the load balancer and protecting against web application attacks, but it does not address the requirement of serving the correct content based on distribution rights.
Option D, configuring Amazon Route 53 with a geo proximity routing policy, is used to route traffic to resources that are closest to the user’s geographic location, which may not align with the requirement of serving different content based on distribution rights.
Therefore, option C, configuring Amazon Route 53 with a geolocation policy, is the most appropriate choice to meet the requirement of serving the correct content without violating distribution rights.
Question 959
Exam Question
A company is developing a file-sharing application that will use an Amazon S3 bucket for storage. The company wants to serve all the files through an Amazon CloudFront distribution. The company does not want the files to be accessible through direct navigation to the S3 URL.
What should a solutions architect do to meet these requirements?
A. Write individual policies for each S3 bucket to grant read permission for only CloudFront access.
B. Create an IAM user. Grant the user read permission to objects in the S3 bucket. Assign the user to CloudFront.
C. Write an S3 bucket policy that assigns the CloudFront distribution ID as the Principal and assigns the target S3 bucket as the Amazon Resource Name (ARN).
D. Create an origin access identity (OAI). Assign the OAI to the CloudFront distribution. Configure the S3 bucket permissions so that only the OAI has read permission.
Correct Answer
D. Create an origin access identity (OAI). Assign the OAI to the CloudFront distribution. Configure the S3 bucket permissions so that only the OAI has read permission.
Explanation
To meet the requirement of serving files through an Amazon CloudFront distribution and preventing direct access to the S3 URL, the most appropriate approach is:
D. Create an origin access identity (OAI). Assign the OAI to the CloudFront distribution. Configure the S3 bucket permissions so that only the OAI has read permission.
Explanation:
By following option D, you can establish an extra layer of security and enforce that files can only be accessed through CloudFront. Here’s how it works:
Create an origin access identity (OAI): An OAI is a special CloudFront user that can be associated with an S3 bucket. It acts as the identity for CloudFront to access the objects in the S3 bucket.
Assign the OAI to the CloudFront distribution: Associate the OAI with the CloudFront distribution that will serve the files. This ensures that CloudFront uses the OAI to fetch the files from the S3 bucket.
Configure S3 bucket permissions: Update the S3 bucket permissions so that only the OAI has read permission. By removing public access and restricting access to only the OAI, direct access to the S3 URL is prevented.
Options A, B, and C are not the recommended solutions for achieving the desired outcome:
Option A suggests writing individual policies for each S3 bucket to grant read permission only to CloudFront. While this can work, it is more cumbersome and requires additional management as the number of S3 buckets increases.
Option B suggests creating an IAM user and assigning read permission to the S3 bucket objects. However, IAM users are not typically used for granting access to CloudFront.
Option C suggests writing an S3 bucket policy that assigns the CloudFront distribution ID as the Principal. While this approach is technically feasible, it is less recommended compared to using an origin access identity (OAI), which is specifically designed for this purpose.
Therefore, option D, creating an origin access identity (OAI) and configuring the S3 bucket permissions accordingly, is the recommended approach to serve files through CloudFront while preventing direct access to the S3 URL.
Question 960
Exam Question
A company currently operates a web application backed by an Amazon RDS MySQL database. It has automated backups that are run daily and are not encrypted. A security audit requires future backups to be encrypted and the unencrypted backups to be destroyed. The company will make at least one encrypted backup before destroying the old backups.
What should be done to enable encryption for future backups?
A. Enable default encryption for the Amazon S3 bucket where backups are stored.
B. Modify the backup section of the database configuration to toggle the Enable encryption check box.
C. Create a snapshot of the database. Copy it to an encrypted snapshot. Restore the database from the encrypted snapshot.
D. Enable an encrypted read replica on RDS for MySQL. Promote the encrypted read replica to primary. Remove the original database instance.
Correct Answer
C. Create a snapshot of the database. Copy it to an encrypted snapshot. Restore the database from the encrypted snapshot.
Explanation
To enable encryption for future backups of an Amazon RDS MySQL database, you should:
C. Create a snapshot of the database. Copy it to an encrypted snapshot. Restore the database from the encrypted snapshot.
Explanation:
By following option C, you can enable encryption for future backups of your Amazon RDS MySQL database. Here’s the step-by-step process:
Create a snapshot of the database: Use the “CreateSnapshot” API or the AWS Management Console to create a snapshot of the existing database.
Copy the snapshot to an encrypted snapshot: Use the “CopyDBSnapshot” API or the AWS Management Console to create a copy of the snapshot, specifying encryption options to enable encryption for the new snapshot.
Restore the database from the encrypted snapshot: Use the copied and encrypted snapshot to restore a new Amazon RDS MySQL database instance. This new instance will have encryption enabled, and future backups taken from this instance will be encrypted.
After performing these steps, you can configure the automated backup settings to ensure that future backups are encrypted. Additionally, you can safely delete the old unencrypted backups once you have made at least one encrypted backup.
Options A, B, and D are not the recommended solutions for enabling encryption for future backups:
Option A suggests enabling default encryption for the Amazon S3 bucket where backups are stored. While this can provide encryption for the stored backups, it does not directly enable encryption for RDS backups.
Option B suggests modifying the backup section of the database configuration to toggle the Enable encryption checkbox. However, there is no such option available in RDS MySQL for enabling encryption through the configuration settings.
Option D suggests enabling an encrypted read replica on RDS for MySQL, promoting it to the primary, and removing the original database instance. While this process can provide encryption for the database, it involves additional steps that are not necessary for enabling encryption specifically for backups.
Therefore, option C, creating a snapshot, copying it to an encrypted snapshot, and restoring the database from the encrypted snapshot, is the recommended approach to enable encryption for future backups of the Amazon RDS MySQL database.
