Instance types and families in AWS - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Understanding AWS Instance Families

Which AWS instance family is best suited for applications that require high CPU performance but moderate memory?

A Compute Optimized (C series)

B General Purpose (T, M series)

C Storage Optimized (I, D series)

D Memory Optimized (R, X series)

💡 Hint

Think about which family focuses on CPU power rather than memory or storage.

Compute Optimized instances (C series) provide high CPU performance with moderate memory, ideal for CPU-bound applications.

❓ Architecture

intermediate

Choosing Instance Types for a Web Application

You are designing a web application that needs balanced CPU, memory, and network performance. Which instance family should you choose?

A Storage Optimized (I series)

B Compute Optimized (C series)

C Memory Optimized (R series)

D General Purpose (M series)

💡 Hint

Look for the family designed for balanced resource needs.

General Purpose instances (M series) provide a balanced mix of CPU, memory, and network resources, suitable for web applications.

❓ service_behavior

advanced

Impact of Using Burstable Instances

What happens when a burstable instance (T series) uses all its CPU credits?

A The instance is terminated and must be restarted manually.

B The instance shuts down automatically to save costs.

C The instance continues running at baseline CPU performance until credits are replenished.

D The instance performance increases beyond baseline using on-demand credits without limits.

💡 Hint

Consider how burstable instances manage CPU usage over time.

When burstable instances use all CPU credits, they continue running but only at baseline CPU performance until credits accumulate again.

❓ security

advanced

Security Considerations for Instance Families

Which instance family should you avoid for sensitive workloads that require dedicated hardware to reduce the risk of noisy neighbors?

A General Purpose (T series)

B Dedicated Hosts

C Compute Optimized (C series)

D Memory Optimized (R series)

💡 Hint

Think about which instances share hardware with others by default.

General Purpose T series instances are burstable and run on shared hardware, which may expose sensitive workloads to noisy neighbors. Dedicated Hosts provide isolated hardware.

✅ Best Practice

expert

Optimizing Cost and Performance with Instance Families

You have a batch processing job that runs for a few hours daily and requires high memory but can tolerate interruptions. Which instance family and purchasing option combination is best?

A Compute Optimized (C series) with Reserved instances

B Memory Optimized (R series) with Spot instances

C Memory Optimized (R series) with On-Demand instances

D General Purpose (M series) with Dedicated Hosts

💡 Hint

Consider cost savings and tolerance for interruptions.

Spot instances offer significant cost savings but can be interrupted. Memory Optimized R series fits high memory needs. This combination suits batch jobs that tolerate interruptions.