Right-sizing resources in AWS - Practice Problems & Coding Challenges

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Understanding Right-Sizing Benefits

Which of the following is the primary benefit of right-sizing cloud resources?

A Avoiding any monitoring of resource usage

B Increasing the number of resources regardless of workload

C Maximizing resource usage by always running at full capacity

D Reducing costs by matching resource capacity to actual workload needs

💡 Hint

Think about how using only what you need affects your bill.

Right-sizing means adjusting resources to fit the workload, which helps reduce unnecessary costs.

❓ Architecture

intermediate

Choosing the Right EC2 Instance Type

You have a web application with variable traffic that spikes during business hours. Which EC2 instance type strategy best supports right-sizing?

A Use a fixed large instance 24/7 to handle peak load

B Use the smallest instance type and manually upgrade when needed

C Use auto-scaling groups with smaller instances that scale out during peak times

D Use spot instances only without any scaling

💡 Hint

Consider how to handle changing traffic efficiently.

Auto-scaling with smaller instances allows the system to adjust capacity dynamically, matching demand and saving costs.

❓ Configuration

advanced

Analyzing CloudWatch Metrics for Right-Sizing

Given the following CloudWatch CPU utilization data for an EC2 instance over a week, which action best represents right-sizing?

Average CPU Utilization: 10%

A Downsize the instance to a smaller type to reduce costs

B Keep the instance size the same since utilization is stable

C Terminate the instance immediately

D Increase the instance size to handle more load

💡 Hint

Low CPU usage suggests the instance might be over-provisioned.

Low average CPU utilization indicates the instance is larger than needed, so downsizing saves money without impacting performance.

❓ security

advanced

Right-Sizing and Security Implications

When right-sizing resources, which security consideration is most important?

A Using default open firewall rules to simplify access

B Ensuring smaller instances have the same security groups and patches as larger ones

C Removing all security controls to improve performance on smaller instances

D Disabling encryption to reduce CPU load

💡 Hint

Think about maintaining security standards regardless of resource size.

Right-sizing should not reduce security; smaller instances must maintain the same protections as larger ones.

❓ service_behavior

expert

Impact of Right-Sizing on Auto Scaling Behavior

You have an Auto Scaling group with instances of type t3.large. After analyzing usage, you downsize to t3.medium instances. What is the expected impact on the Auto Scaling group's behavior?

A The group will launch more instances to maintain the same total capacity during scale-out events

B The group will launch fewer instances because each is smaller

C The group will stop scaling automatically until manually restarted

D The group will automatically upgrade instances back to t3.large

💡 Hint

Consider how instance size affects the number of instances needed to handle load.

Smaller instances provide less capacity, so the Auto Scaling group will launch more instances to meet demand.