AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
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A company hosts a three-tier web application on Amazon EC2 instances in a single Availability Zone. The web application uses a self-managed MySQL database that is hosted on an EC2 instance to store data in an Amazon Elastic Block Store (Amazon EBS) volume. The MySQL database currently uses a 1 TB Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2) EBS volume. The company expects traffic of 1,000 IOPS for both reads and writes at peak traffic.
The company wants to minimize any disruptions, stabilize performance, and reduce costs while retaining the capacity for double the IOPS. The company wants to move the database tier to a fully managed solution that is highly available and fault tolerant.
Which solution will meet these requirements MOST cost-effectively?
Other
Community
UAnonymous
A
Use a Multi-AZ deployment of an Amazon RDS for MySQL DB instance with an io2 Block Express EBS volume.
B
Use a Multi-AZ deployment of an Amazon RDS for MySQL DB instance with a General Purpose SSD (gp2) EBS volume.
C
Use Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering access tiers.
D
Use two large EC2 instances to host the database in active-passive mode.
Explanation:
Explanation
Correct Answer: B
Why Option B is correct:
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Fully managed solution: Amazon RDS for MySQL provides a fully managed database service, meeting the requirement to move away from self-managed EC2 instances.
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High availability and fault tolerance: Multi-AZ deployment provides automatic failover to a standby instance in another Availability Zone, ensuring high availability and fault tolerance.
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Cost-effectiveness: General Purpose SSD (gp2) volumes are significantly cheaper than Provisioned IOPS SSD (io2) volumes. The company currently uses io2 but only needs 1,000 IOPS (reads + writes).
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IOPS capacity: gp2 volumes provide baseline performance of 3 IOPS per GB, so a 1 TB gp2 volume provides 3,000 IOPS baseline performance. This exceeds the current requirement of 1,000 IOPS and provides capacity for double the IOPS (2,000 IOPS).
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Performance stabilization: RDS with gp2 provides consistent baseline performance with burst capability, which stabilizes performance compared to self-managed EC2.
Why other options are incorrect:
Option A: While Multi-AZ RDS with io2 Block Express would meet the technical requirements, it's not the MOST cost-effective solution. io2 volumes are expensive and designed for I/O-intensive workloads requiring up to 256,000 IOPS. The company only needs 1,000 IOPS with capacity for 2,000 IOPS, making gp2 more cost-effective.
Option C: Amazon S3 Intelligent-Tiering is for object storage, not for database storage. MySQL databases require block storage (EBS), not object storage.
Option D: Using two large EC2 instances in active-passive mode would not be a fully managed solution and would require manual management, monitoring, and failover configuration. This increases operational overhead and doesn't provide the same level of automation as RDS Multi-AZ.
Key AWS Concepts:
- RDS Multi-AZ: Provides high availability with automatic failover
- gp2 vs io2: gp2 is cost-effective for moderate I/O workloads (up to 16,000 IOPS), while io2 is for I/O-intensive workloads requiring guaranteed performance
- IOPS calculation: gp2 provides 3 IOPS/GB baseline (1 TB = 3,000 IOPS)
- Cost optimization: Choose storage type based on actual I/O requirements to avoid overprovisioning
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